Vatican City, 30 October 2014 (VIS) –
On 14 October, Archbishop Bernardito Auza, Holy See Permanent
Observer at the United Nations, spoke during the General Debate of
the UNGA First Committee held in New York. “The past year has seen
progress on the elimination of chemical weapons”, he affirmed; “yet
reports of the continued use of chemical weapons, including chlorine
gas, reminds the international community to redouble its efforts to
eliminate once and for all chemical weapons and any use as a weapon
of dual-use chemicals”.
“With regard to nuclear weapons, the
third conference on the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons, which
will be held in December in Vienna, Austria, is a sobering reminder
of the deep frustration of the international community at the lack of
speedy progress on nuclear disarmament, and of the inhuman and
immoral consequences of the use of weapons of mass destruction”. He
remarked that the ninth Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review
Conference will take place very soon in New York, and that nearly all
the States represented in the room are parties to the treaty. “The
NPT’s central promise of nuclear weapons States to gradually disarm
in exchange for non-nuclear-weapon States to refrain from acquiring
nuclear arms remains at an impasse”.
As a consequence, he continued, the
Holy See delegation “urges this Committee and the preparation for
the ninth NPT Review Conference to focus on the need to move beyond
nuclear deterrence, and work toward the establishment of lasting
peace founded on mutual trust, rather than a state of mere
non-belligerence founded on the logic of mutual destruction. In this
regard, the Holy See urges all states to sign and/or ratify the
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty without further delay, because it is a
core element of the international nuclear disarmament and
non-proliferation regime”, adding that the establishment of weapons
of mass destruction free zones, in the opinion of the Holy See
delegation, “would be a big step in the right direction, as it
would demonstrate we can indeed move toward a universal agreement to
eliminate all weapons of mass destruction”.
The archbishop concluded by emphasising
that the Holy See “welcomes the progress, however modest, in the
areas of conventional weapons”, but remains “deeply concerned
that the flow of conventional arms continues to exacerbate conflicts
around the globe”. He expressed the delegation’s hope that “this
year’s session will respond to this challenge, and recognise the
grave consequences of the proliferation and use of conventional
weapons on human life throughout the world”.
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