The 2000 NPT Review
Conference (RevCon)
14 April - 19 May 2000, New York
Statement
by
H.E. Mr. Naken Kasiev, State Secretary of the Kyrgyz Republic
at
the 2000 Review Conference
of the Parties to the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear
Weapons
New
York, May 1, 2000
Mr.
President:
Allow
me to join the previous speakers in congratulating you on your
assumption of the presidency of the 2000 Review Conference. As the
first Review Conference after the historic indefinite extension of the
Non-Proliferation Treaty, this meeting has special significance. It
comes at a time of increased challenges to the global nonproliferation
regime, and it provides an opportunity to revive and reinforce the
spirit of cooperation for nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament
evident at the 1995 Review and Extension Conference. My delegation
pledges to work with you, Mr. President, to achieve that outcome. It
is critically important that the 2000 Review Conference serve as an
effective forum for substantive debate on those issues which the
States Parties regard as important to the future of the
nonproliferation regime.
At
the 1995 NPT Review and Extension Conference, the Kyrgyz Republic
applauded the adoption without a vote of three interconnected
decisions and a resolution on the Middle East. Today, at the 2000
Review Conference, it is our task to build upon this future-oriented
set of decisions. It is especially important to recognize that we are
now engaged in a qualitatively different review process, no longer
confined to a retrospective examination of NPT implementation. Guided
by the 1995 Principles and Objectives and the mandate of the decision
on Strengthening the Review Process, we need to look forward and
identify practical means to strengthen the implementation of the NPT
in all its dimensions and to achieve its universality. Toward that
end, Mr. President, my delegation hopes that this conference will
produce two final documents. One of these would be a review document
evaluating the results of the implementation of the Treaty during the
past five years. The other would be a forward-looking document
outlining the areas in which and the means by which further progress
can be achieved.
As
we appraise what the NPT regime has accomplished, we should
acknowledge that the initial high expectations that followed the 1995
Review and Extension Conference remain only partly fulfilled.
Completion of the negotiation of a Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban
Treaty in 1996 represents the most striking progress that has been
made on the disarmament front. The May 1998 nuclear tests conducted in
South Asia and the rejection of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty by
the U.S. Senate in 1999, however, demonstrate the fragile and
incomplete nature of the disarmament process and the urgency of the
task at hand. Although the Test Ban Treaty is not perfect, it provides
us with the best available opportunity to realize one of the
long-standing objectives of the NPT, and we hope that the Review
Conference will call for its early entry into force.
Another
positive development since 1995 has been the establishment of nuclear-weapon-free
zones in Africa and Southeast Asia. Negotiated nuclear-weapon-free
zones now cover the whole of the Southern Hemisphere, in addition to
Antarctica, the seabed, and outer space, and constitute one of the
most promising approaches to nonproliferation and disarmament.
In
this regard, the significant progress that has been made in creating a
nuclear-weapon-free zone in Central Asia is noteworthy. The five
Central Asian states share the belief that the establishment of a
nuclear-weapon-free zone in our region, on the basis of arrangements
freely arrived at between our states, and taking into account its
special characteristics, will strengthen peace and security at the
regional and global levels. The events in South Asia in May of 1998
highlighted the importance of regional approaches to disarmament and
nonproliferation, by which members of the international community can
strengthen the global nonproliferation regime at a time when it faces
serious challenges and dangers.
Mr. President,
The
Kyrgyz Republic would like to call particular attention to the
efforts, under United Nations auspices, of a working group on the
establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Central Asia. In July
1998, the working group held a meeting in Bishkek involving the five
Central Asian States, the five nuclear weapons states, the United
Nations, and International Atomic Energy Agency. The group has also
held meetings in Geneva, Tashkent, New York, and Sapporo, the most
recent one of which concluded earlier this month. As a result of these
meetings, our states have produced a nearly completed treaty
establishing a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Central Asia. We are
grateful to the United Nations, the Regional Centre for Peace and
Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific, the International Atomic Energy
Agency, and the Government of Japan for their support of negotiations
for establishing this zone. We would welcome the continued assistance
of interested international organizations and states as this process
moves to completion.
These
positive developments, however, do not in themselves guarantee the
continued integrity of the NPT. Stringent accountability by all
parties to the NPT - especially by the nuclear-weaponstate parties -
is required. Regrettably, the slow pace of nuclear arms reductions
since 1995 gives rise to sentiments that the nuclear-weapons-states
are not pursuing their disarmament obligations in good faith. In order
to eliminate these doubts, it is important for the nuclear weapons
states to reaffirm their commitment to nuclear disarmament as
specified under Article VI of the NPT. It is also incumbent on these
states to realize this commitment.
The
Kyrgyz Republic shares the concerns expressed by the United Nations
Secretary-General in his report to the Millennium Assembly about the
stalemate in strategic arms control and the absence today of
negotiations to reduce tactical nuclear weapons. The need to reduce
and eliminate this latter category of nuclear weapons also was
underlined by a research project sponsored by the United Nations
Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), whose initial findings
were presented at a conference in Geneva in March 2000. Among the
sound recommendations of the UNIDIR study is for the issue of tactical
nuclear weapons disarmament to receive more attention at this Review
Conference.
Mr. President,
My
delegation also wishes to associate itself with other speakers who
stress the importance of moving forward on such important
nonproliferation and disarmament matters as the implementation of
START II, the prompt negotiation of START III, reductions in the alert
levels of currently deployed nuclear weapons, accelerated negotiation
of a convention banning the production of fissile material for nuclear
weapons or other nuclear explosive purposes, and deeper reductions in
and safeguarding of stockpiles of weapons-usable fissile material. My
delegation notes with regret the current deadlock in the Conference on
Disarmament, which impedes progress towards a convention banning the
production of fissile material for nuclear weapons. This Review
Conference may wish to consider alternative means of moving this
important aspect of the disarmament agenda forward.
My
delegation also would like to express concern about the possible
negative implications for the global nonproliferation regime of the
deployment of national ballistic missile defenses, currently under
consideration by some countries. While the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile
Treaty is not subject to review at this conference, the impact its
possible collapse would have on the implementation of the NET is a
topic that the conference should consider.
Mr. President,
My
delegation would also like to see the Review Conference closely
examine other issues related to compliance by states Parties with the
NPT. In this regard, the Kyrgyz Republic strongly endorses the
International Atomic Energy Agency's strengthened safeguards system,
based on the Model Additional Protocol. The Kyrgyz republic has signed
a safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency on
18 March 1998, and plans in the near future to negotiate an additional
protocol to that agreement.
The
process of disarmament requires strict procedures for the safe
handling, transport, storage, and disposal of sensitive nuclear
material. We believe the Review Conference should consider taking new
steps to reinforce export controls, to strengthen nuclear safety
practices for the transportation of nuclear materials, to enhance
physical protection measures, to combat illicit trafficking in nuclear
materials, and to develop more effective means to counter the threat
of nuclear terrorism.
Mr. President,
The
Kyrgyz Republic also believes more attention should be given to
mitigating the environmental consequences of past and present nuclear
weapons programs. As noted in the report of the Main Committee III of
the 1995 NPT Review and Extension Conference, which was adopted by
consensus, there have been exceptional instances in which serious
environmental consequences have resulted from uranium mining and
associated nuclear fuel-cycle activities in the production of nuclear
weapons.
This
often overlooked environmental problem caused by nuclear weapons
production and borne by the Kyrgyz Republic, among other states, is
another reason why we attach such great importance to the work of this
Review Conference. We would like to reiterate the call made at the
1995 Review and Extension Conference for all Governments and
international organizations that have expertise in the field of
cleanup and disposal of radioactive contaminants to consider giving
appropriate assistance as may be requested for remedial purposes in
these affected areas.
Today,
as we enter the new millennium, we are at a critical juncture, which
may well determine the future of the NPT. Old ways of thinking are no
longer adequate for the new and difficult challenges confronting the
nonproliferation regime. Although the NPT is strong in numbers and in
the benefits it provides states Parties, we must avoid complacency.
It, like any living organism, requires ongoing care and nurturing. Mr.
President, my delegation welcomes the opportunity at this Review
Conference to work with you and other states Parties to ensure the
long‑term integrity and effectiveness of the NPT.
Thank
you, Mr. President.
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