Fiftieth session
Agenda item 78
RESOLUTION ADOPTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
The General Assembly,
Bearing in mind the Declaration on the Denuclearization of
Africa Official Records of the General Assembly, Twentieth Session,
Annexes, agenda item 105, document A/5975. adopted by the Assembly
of Heads of State and Government of the Organization of African
Unity at its first ordinary session, held at Cairo from 17 to
21 July 1964, in which they solemnly declare their readiness to
undertake, through an international agreement to be concluded
under United Nations auspices, not to manufacture or acquire control
of atomic weapons,
Recalling its resolution 2033 (XX) of 3 December 1965,
in which it endorsed the above-mentioned Declaration and expressed
the hope that the African States would initiate studies, as they
deemed appropriate, with a view to implementing the denuclearization
of Africa, and take the necessary measures, through the Organization
of African Unity, to achieve that end,
Recalling also article VII of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation
of Nuclear Weapons, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 729, No.
10485. which acknowledges the right of any group of States to
conclude regional treaties in order to ensure the total absence
of nuclear weapons in their respective territories,
Bearing in mind paragraph 60 of the Final Document of the
Tenth Special Session of the General Assembly, Resolution S-10/2.
the first special session devoted to disarmament, which states
that the establishment of nuclear-weapon-free zones on the basis
of arrangements freely arrived at among the States of the region
concerned constitutes an important disarmament measure,
Bearing in mind also the provisions of resolution CM/Res.1592
(LXII)/Rev.1 on the implementation of the Treaty declaring Africa
a nuclearweapon-free zone, adopted by the Council of Ministers
of the Organization of African Unity at its sixty-second ordinary
session, held at Addis Ababa from 21 to 23 June 1995, A/50/647,
annex I.
Noting the adoption by the Assembly of Heads of State and
Government of the Organization of African Unity at its thirty-first
ordinary session, held at Addis Ababa from 26 to 28 June 1995,
of the African Nuclear-Weapon- FreeZone Treaty (the Pelindaba
Treaty), See A/50/426.
Noting also that the Treaty contains three Protocols open
to the signature of States that, de jure or de facto, are internationally
responsible for territories that lie within the limits of the
geographical zone established in the Pelindaba Treaty and to the
signature of States possessing nuclear weapons, and convinced
that the cooperation of such States is necessary for the greater
effectiveness of the Treaty,
Recognizing that the establishment of nuclear-weapon-free
zones contributes to the strengthening of the international non-proliferation
regime,
Considering that the establishment of nuclear-weapon-free
zones, especially in the Middle East, would enhance the security
of Africa and the viability of the African nuclear-weapon-free
zone,
1. Welcomes with special satisfaction the adoption by the African
leaders of the final text of the African Nuclear-Weapon-Free-Zone
Treaty (the Pelindaba Treaty), 5/ which constitutes an event of
historic significance in the efforts to prevent the proliferation
of nuclear weapons and to promote international peace and security
and which, at the same time, recognizes the right of African countries
to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes in order to accelerate
the economic and social development of their peoples;
2. Invites the African States to sign and ratify the Pelindaba
Treaty as soon as possible;
3. Calls upon all States to respect the continent of Africa as
a nuclear-weapon-free zone;
4. Calls upon the States contemplated in Protocol III to the Pelindaba
Treaty to take all necessary measures to ensure the speedy application
of the Treaty to territories for which they are, de jure or de
facto, internationally responsible and which lie within the limits
of the geographical zone established in the Treaty;
5. Calls upon the nuclear-weapon States to bring the necessary
support to the Pelindaba Treaty by signing the Protocols that
concern them as soon as the Treaty becomes available for signature;
6. Expresses its profound gratitude to the Secretary-General for
the diligence with which he has rendered effective technical advice
and financial assistance to the Organization of African Unity
towards the six meetings of the Group of Experts to Prepare a
Draft Treaty on an African Nuclear-WeaponFree Zone, set up jointly
by the Organization of African Unity and the United Nations;
7. Also expresses its gratitude to the Secretary-General of the
Organization of African Unity and the Director General of the
International Atomic Energy Agency for the diligence with which
they assisted the Group of Experts to Prepare a Draft Treaty on
an African Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone;
8. Requests the Secretary-General, within existing resources,
to extend assistance to the African States in 1996 in order to
achieve the aims of the present resolution;
9. Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its fifty-first
session an item entitled "African Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone
Treaty".
90th plenary meeting
12 December 1995 .