A/RES/57/73 GA

United Nations A/RES/57/73 General Assembly Distr.: General 8 January 2003 Fifty-seventh session Agenda item 66 (l) 02 54287 Resolution adopted by the General Assembly [on the report of the First Committee (A/57/510)] 57/73. Nuclear-weapon-free southern hemisphere and adjacent areas The General Assembly, Recalling its resolutions 51/45 B of 10 December 1996, 52/38 N of 9 December 1997, 53/77 Q of 4 December 1998, 54/54 L of 1 December 1999, 55/33 I of 20 November 2000 and 56/24 G of 29 November 2001, Welcoming the adoption by the Disarmament Commission at its 1999 substantive session of a text entitled “Establishment of nuclear-weapon-free zones on the basis of arrangements freely arrived at among the States of the region concerned”,1 Welcoming also the ratification by Cuba of the Treaty of Tlatelolco,2 which fulfils the establishment of the first inhabited nuclear-weapon-free zone, encompassing all States of Latin America and the Caribbean, Welcoming further the ratification by the Kingdom of Tonga of the Treaty of Rarotonga,3 in December 2001, which completes the list of original parties to the South Pacific nuclear-free-zone treaty, Welcoming the endorsement from heads of State and Government at the thirty- third Pacific Islands Forum, held in Suva from 15 to 17 August 2002, for a nuclear- weapon-free southern hemisphere, Welcoming also the meeting between the Secretary General of the Agency for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean and representatives of the Pacific Islands Forum secretariat, held in New York in April 2002, aimed at identifying areas for further cooperation, Determined to pursue the total elimination of nuclear weapons, Determined also to continue to contribute to the prevention of the proliferation of nuclear weapons in all its aspects and to the process of general and complete _______________ 1 Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-fourth Session, Supplement No. 42 (A/54/42), annex I. 2 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 634, No. 9068. 3 See The United Nations Disarmament Yearbook, vol. 10: 1985 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.86.IX.7), appendix VII. A/RES/57/73 2 disarmament under strict and effective international control, in particular in the field of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, with a view to strengthening international peace and security, in accordance with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, Recalling the provisions on nuclear-weapon-free zones of the Final Document of the Tenth Special Session of the General Assembly,4 the first special session devoted to disarmament, Stressing the importance of the treaties of Tlatelolco,2 Rarotonga,3 Bangkok5 and Pelindaba,6 establishing nuclear-weapon-free zones, as well as the Antarctic Treaty,7 to, inter alia, achieve a world entirely free of nuclear weapons, Underlining the value of enhancing cooperation among the nuclear-weapon- free zone treaty members by means of mechanisms such as joint meetings of States parties, signatories and observers to those treaties, Recalling the applicable principles and rules of international law relating to the freedom of the high seas and the rights of passage through maritime space, including those of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea,8 1. Welcomes the continued contribution that the Antarctic Treaty7 and the treaties of Tlatelolco,2 Rarotonga,3 Bangkok5 and Pelindaba6 are making towards freeing the southern hemisphere and adjacent areas covered by those treaties from nuclear weapons; 2. Calls for the ratification of the treaties of Rarotonga and Pelindaba by all States of the region, and calls upon all concerned States to continue to work together in order to facilitate adherence to the protocols to nuclear-weapon-free zone treaties by all relevant States that have not yet done so; 3. Welcomes the steps taken to conclude further nuclear-weapon-free zone treaties on the basis of arrangements freely arrived at among the States of the region concerned, and calls upon all States to consider all relevant proposals, including those reflected in its resolutions on the establishment of nuclear-weapon-free zones in the Middle East and South Asia; 4. Affirms its conviction of the important role of nuclear-weapon-free zones in strengthening the nuclear non-proliferation regime and in extending the areas of the world that are nuclear-weapon-free, and, with particular reference to the responsibilities of the nuclear-weapon States, calls upon all States to support the process of nuclear disarmament and to work for the total elimination of all nuclear weapons; 5. Calls upon the States parties and signatories to the treaties of Tlatelolco, Rarotonga, Bangkok and Pelindaba, in order to pursue the common goals envisaged in those treaties and to promote the nuclear-weapon-free status of the southern _______________ 4 Resolution S-10/2. 5 Treaty on the South-East Asia Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone. 6 A/50/426, annex. 7 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 402, No. 5778. 8 See The Law of the Sea: Official Texts of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 and of the Agreement relating to the Implementation of Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 with Index and Excerpts from the Final Act of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.97.V.10). A/RES/57/73 3 hemisphere and adjacent areas, to explore and implement further ways and means of cooperation among themselves and their treaty agencies; 6. Welcomes the vigorous efforts being made among States parties and signatories to those treaties to promote their common objectives, and considers that an international conference of States parties and signatories to the nuclear-weapon- free-zone treaties might be held to support the common goals envisaged in those treaties; 7. Encourages the competent authorities of the nuclear-weapon-free-zone treaties to provide assistance to the States parties and signatories to those treaties so as to facilitate the accomplishment of these goals; 8. Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its fifty-eighth session the item entitled “Nuclear-weapon-free southern hemisphere and adjacent areas”. 57th plenary meeting 22 November 2002

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