The 2000 NPT Review
Conference (RevCon)
14 April - 19 May 2000, New York
STATEMENT
BY
MR.
MATHIAS DAKA
CHARGE
D'AFFAIRES OF ZAMBIA
TO
THE UNITED NATIONS
ON
THE
2000
REVIEW CONFERENCE OF THE PARTIES
TO
THE TREATY ON THE NON-PROLIFERATION
OF
NUCLEAR WEAPONS:
April
27, 2000
Mr.
Chairman,
Your
Excellencies,
Ladies
and Gentlemen,
My
delegation is pleased that your Excellency, Ambassador Abdallah Baali,
a national of Algeria, a country with which Zambia maintains friendly
relations is presiding over the First Review Conference following the
indefinite extension of the NPT in 1995. I have every confidence that,
given your well known and immense knowledge of disarmament issues
coupled with your long diplomatic skills, you will steer our
deliberations to a successful conclusion. I also welcome the election
of our equally experienced other members of the bureau.
Mr.
Chairman,
It
is the hope of my delegation that all the outstanding issues in our
implementation of the NPT will, at this First Review Conference be
resolved to ensure that the faith in the international community has
in the Treaty is reaffirmed. While individual countries such as my
own, Zambia, are committed to the preamble and articles of the Treaty,
there is great concern that the package at the 1995 NPT Review and
Extension Conference has not been fulfilled by the nuclear Weapon
States. This is very regrettable and a betrayal of confidence, to say
the least.
The
lack of progress in this regard will only serve to undermine this
important Treaty, which is a pillar of the non-proliferation regime.
The Treaty is essential to international peace and security, as the
NPT plays a crucial role in not only nonproliferation, and nuclear
disarmament, but most importantly, in the promotion of . the peaceful
uses energy, on which a large number of countries gathered here,
depend.
My
delegation would, therefore, like this Conference to address the
reluctance by the Nuclear Weapon Power States to undertake their
commitment to fully implement the package that was endorsed at the
1995 NPT Review and Extension Conference. At that Conference, all of
us State Parties committed ourselves to strengthening the Review
process of the Treaty. We took very important decisions on principles
and objectives for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament. These
decisions included the extension of the Treaty on the NonProliferation
of Nuclear Weapons and of course, the full implementation of the
resolution on the Middle East that we adopted at the same Review and
Extension Conference.
Mr.
Chairman,
My
delegation appreciates the difficulties encountered in the entire
preparatory process of this Conference. We hope this Conference will,
therefore, set an agenda for non-proliferation in the new millennium.
In this regard, Zambia notes with satisfaction that at the Third
Preparatory Session for this Conference, there was discussion and
consideration of the proposals regarding the provision in Article VI
of the NPT and in paragraph 3 and 4(c) of the 1995 decision on
principles and objectives for Nuclear Non‑Proliferation and
Disarmament. I appeal to this Conference to establish a subsidiary
body to Main Committee I, of the Conference, which should deliberate
on practical steps for systematic and progressive efforts to eliminate
all nuclear weapons. A second subsidiary body should be created to
Main Committee II to consider and make recommendations for proposals
on the implementation of the resolution in the Middle East.
Mr.
Chairman,
Zambia
is concerned that five years after the indefinite extension of the NPT,
undue restrictions on exports of materials, equipment and technology
for peaceful purposes to developing countries still persist. In this
regard, my delegation would like to underscore the fact that this is a
violation of the commitments made at the 1995 Review and Extension
Conference. My delegation would further like to appeal to all those
States concerned to ensure that their expressed concerns of perceived
proliferation should not be used to justify any form of restriction on
exports to non-nuclear weapons States of material, equipment and
technology to facilitate the full exploitation of nuclear energy for
peaceful purposes.
In
this regard, the Zambian delegation would like to request this
Conference to ensure that proliferation concerns are properly
addressed through appropriate multilateral fora. To be more effective,
all non-proliferation control arrangements should be transparent and
open to participation by all States. In recent years, my Government
has observed with deep concern the attempts by some members of the NPT
regime, to use the International Atomic Energy Agency's Technical
Cooperation Programme as a tool for political purposes in clear
violation of the Agency's statutes.
Mr.
Chairman,
The
Conference should reaffirm the legitimate vote of the Conference on
Disarmament (CD) to pursue nuclear disarmament on the basis of the
Model Protocol Additional of May 1997. My delegation firmly believes
that such a move would further strengthen the existing safeguards
agreement. In this way, this August Conference would contribute in a
more meaningful way, to the moral responsibility of our countries to
implement the commitments made at the Review and Extension Conference,
the very first time that Sovereign States agreed to freely give up
their aspirations to possess a whole category of weapon systems in the
interest of peace.
In
conclusion, my delegation reaffirms its total commitment to fulfill
the requirements under the Treaty. In the same vein, the Nuclear
Weapons States should fulfill their part of the obligations under
Chapter VI by reaffirming their unequivocal commitment to the ultimate
elimination of nuclear weapons. My delegation believes that such a
move would strengthen our declared commitment to achieve general and
complete disarmament under strict and effective international control.
I
thank you, Mr. Chairman.
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