Conference on Disarmament concludes first part of annual session.

The crisis in the Persian Gulf area was a poignant reminder of "the truth that peace and stability in international relations rest on full respect for the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations", Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar told the Geneva-based Conference on Disarmament, as the first part (22 January-28 March) of its three-part 1991 session opened.

In a message read by Conference Secretary-General Miljan Komatina, Mr. Perez de Cuellar said that developments in the field of arms limitation and disarmament had "created conditions for an enlarged and enhanced role for the United Nations in evolving new concepts of international security", one that should be "commensurate with its increased responsibilities in the peace-making and peace-keeping fields".

The 39-member body, which adopts its decisions by consensus, is the world's single multilateral negotiating body on disarmament. It is currently composed of the five nuclear-weapon States (China, France, Soviet Union, United Kingdom and United States) and 34 non-nuclear-weapon States.

On the Conference agenda are: nuclear-test ban, cessation of the nuclear-arms race and nuclear disarmament; prevention of nuclear war, including all related matters; chemical weapons; prevention of an arms race in outer space; effective international arrangements to assure non-nuclear-weapon States against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons; new types of weapons of mass destruction and new systems of such weapons; radiological weapons; and a comprehensive programme of disarmament.

The Conference's Ad Hoc Committees on chemical weapons, radiological weapons, negative security assurances, a nuclear-test ban, and prevention of an arms race in outer space were re-established during the session.

The second and third parts of its 1991 session are scheduled for 14 May to 27 June and 23 July to 14 September, respectively.

Debate: Focus on Gulf

Addressing the Conference on 22 January, Maj. Britt Theorin, Chairman of the Swedish Disarmament Commission, noted the "irony of history" that weapons in Iraq's arsenal were being turned against some of their suppliers. Chemical weapons had to be destroyed "once and for all", she said, adding that a total ban on those weapons should be concluded urgently.

Ali Akbar Velayati, Iran's Foreign Minister, said on 14 February that the Persian Gulf had become the "test site" for the most destructive weapons of the present time. It was clear, he stressed, that the war would not solve problems, but would exacerbate existing inequalities and injustices, leading to an escalated arms race.

A tranquil and stable "European house" was closely connected with a successful continuation of negotiations on convention forces in Europe, Hungarian Foreign Minister Geza Jeszensky told the Conference on 20 February.

Nuclear and chemical threats were not the only dangers facing mankind, he stated. Conventional disarmament should be added to the disarmament agenda. The Conference could provide a framework for an exchange of information on conventional force levels and measures to reduce them, Mr. Jeszensky said.

Chemical weapons

convention

Serguei B. Batsanov of the USSAR, Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee on Chemical Weapons and the current Conference President, in a press conference said the Gulf war had demonstrated that the Conference was "rather late" on concluding a chemical weapons convention.

Mr. Hyltenius of Sweden said that political issues involved in drafting the chemical weapons convention had been addressed much more than in the past. The most comprehensive efforts, he said, had been made on undiminished security and universal adherence. An increased number of non-member States of the Conference had participated in the negotiations, a "good sign for its future", he added.

The Netherlands and Canada reported on their joint trial challenge inspection of a military facility, which they had carried out in connection with verification aspects of a future chemical weapons convention.

Hendrik Wagenmakers of the Netherlands said the exercise showed that under circumstances of managed access, sensitive information could be adequately protected at the military site, while the team could still obtain enough information to draw reliable conclusions on the presence of chemical weapons.

Nuclear Tests

Miguel Marin Bosch of Mexico on 7 February presented a paper, co-authored by six countries, on verification of the amendment proposal to convert the Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT) of 1963 into a comprehensive test ban treaty. Draft Protocol II had been submitted to the parties to the Treaty during the Amendment Conference held in New York from 7 to 18 January (see page 30).

Ola Dahlman of Sweden, Chairman of the Ad Hoc Group of Scientific Experts on Seismic Events, reported that 26 nations had participated in the Group's thirty-first session (11-21 February). It was the last of a series of meetings in preparation for the full-scale testing within the Group's Second Large Technical Test, planned for 22 April to 9 June 1991.

It was to be possibly the largest single multilateral experiment ever undertaken to test a component of a verification system for arms limitation and disarmament, he stated.

So far, 28 countries had indicated they might establish national data centres and participate in the Test's main phase. Full-scale testing requires hundreds of scientists, engineers and technicians at seismological and communications centres worldwide, Mr. Dahlman said.

Arms and the

environment

Uruguay's Foreign Minister Hector Gros-Espiell said on 21 February that disarmament negotiations should not occur in a "closed domain" without outside contracts or public input. He said there was a clear relationship between arms control and environmental protection, particularly the inability to prohibit nuclear-weapons tests that would cause environmental deterioration.

In a statement to the Conference read by Mr. Komatina on 7 March, participants in the Women's Conference on the relationship between arms and the environment--which took place concurrently at the Palais des Nations in Geneva--said the Gulf war had demonstrated the enormous damage that weapons and war could inflict on the environment. With the world facing a serious ecological crisis, they stated, inadequate attention had been paid to the real and potential environmental costs of all types of weaponry.