AG/RES. 2008 (XXXIV-O/04): Inter-American Support For The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty

(Adopted at the fourth plenary session held on June 8, 2004)

Having seen the Annual Report of the Permanent Council to the General Assembly (AG/doc.4265/04), in particular the section on the Committee on Hemispheric Security;

RECALLING resolutions AG/RES. 1747 (XXX-O/00), AG/RES. 1791 (XXXI-O/01), AG/RES. 1876 (XXXII-O/02) and AG/RES. 1938 (XXXIII-O/03), "Inter-American Support for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty";

RECOGNIZING that the establishment of nuclear-weapon-free zones is an effective and concrete mechanism which contributes to the maintenance of international peace and security;

BEARING IN MIND:

That, in operative paragraph 4 of resolution AG/RES. 1937 (XXXIII-O/03), "Consolidation of the Regime Established in the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean (Treaty of Tlatelolco)," the General Assembly reaffirms "its commitment to continue striving for a nonproliferation regime that is universal, genuine, and nondiscriminatory in every aspect"; and

The commitment by member states to undertake effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament, according to Article VI of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT);

RECOGNIZING the value of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) in strengthening the nuclear nonproliferation and nuclear disarmament regimes and its contribution to the consolidation and maintenance of international peace and security;

REAFFIRMING the need for universal adoption of the CTBT, negotiated within the United Nations framework;

NOTING that the CTBT has, thus far, been signed by 29 member states of the OAS and ratified by 21 of them; and, in particular, that it has now been ratified by six of the eight states of the region whose ratification is required for the treaty to enter into force; and

RECALLING:

That in the Declaration on Security in the Americas the states of the Hemisphere reaffirmed their commitment to arms control, disarmament, and the nonproliferation of all weapons of mass destruction; and

The Final Declaration of the Conference on Facilitating the Entry into Force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), held in Vienna, Austria, from September 3-5, 2003, with the participation of 107 States,

RESOLVES:

1. To urge the States of the Hemisphere to implement the "Measures to Promote the Entry into Force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT)," adopted at the Conference on Facilitating the Entry into Force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), held in Vienna, Austria, from September 3-5, 2003.

2. To urge those states of the Hemisphere that have not yet done so, in particular the states listed in Annex 2 to the Treaty, to sign and/or ratify the CTBT, as appropriate, so that it may enter into force as soon as possible.

3. To urge the states of the Hemisphere to refrain, until the Treaty comes into force, from contravening the spirit of the obligations set forth therein, and to maintain, in particular, the moratorium on all kinds of nuclear tests, in accordance with the commitments undertaken during the sixth Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference, held in 2000.

4. To invite all states of the Hemisphere that have International Monitoring System facilities to take the pertinent measures to facilitate the preparatory work for the CTBT’s verification regime, which is to be operational when the Treaty enters into force.

5. To entrust the Permanent Council with holding, through its Committee on Hemispheric Security, a special meeting, in 2005, on a worldwide comprehensive nuclear test ban, with the participation of the Agency for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean (OPANAL) and the participation of the United Nations, the Preparatory Commission for the CTBT Organization, and other international institutions with competence in this area.

6. To instruct the Permanent Council to carry out the activities mentioned in this resolution in accordance with the resources allocated in the program-budget of the Organization and other resources.

7. To request the Permanent Council to report to the General Assembly at its thirty-fifth regular session on the implementation of this resolution.

8. To request the Secretary General to transmit this resolution to the United Nations Secretary-General and to the Executive Secretary of the Preparatory Commission for the CTBT Organization.

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[1]. The United States does not support the CTBT and will not become a party to it. The United States will continue to work, as appropriate, with working groups of the CTBTO PrepCom and with its Provisional Technical Secretariat on the International Monitoring Systems (IMS) and IMS-related activities. The United States continues to observe its nuclear testing moratorium and has no plans to conduct a nuclear explosive test. The United States’ stockpile stewardship program continues to ensure the safety and reliability of US nuclear weapons.