RCIMUN resolution

FORUM: Disarmament Committee

QUESTION OF: Ways to encourage rogue states to sign, ratify and implement the Nuclear Non-Proliferation (NPT) and Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaties (CTBT)

SUBMITTED BY: Costa Rica

The Government of Costa Rica,

Recognizing that the Comprehensive Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) has been signed by 180 countries since adoption by the UN General Assembly in 1996, and that only nine countries (USA, China, the DPRK, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, and Pakistan) still need to ratify it before the Treaty can enter into force,

Reaffirming that the proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons continues to constitute a threat to international peace and security,

Recalling that Article VI of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) requires parties to the Treaty to “pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race…….and on a treaty on general and complete disarmament",

Further recalling UN Resolution 1540, adopted by the Security Council on 28 April 2004 obliging Member States to refrain from supporting by any means non-State actors from developing, acquiring, manufacturing, possessing, transporting, transferring or using nuclear, chemical or biological weapons and their delivery systems,

Underscoring Costa Rica’s unwavering commitment to global nuclear disarmament and its political and technical support of non-proliferation activities for over 50 years, and recalling that Costa Rica was the first country in the region to propose a Latin American nuclear arms control arrangement at a meeting of the Organization for the American States (OAS) Council in 1958,

Recalling Costa Rica’s earlier initiative presented to the UN in 1997 of the Model Nuclear Weapons Convention (MNWC), and including an updated version of the MNWC jointly submitted to the General Assembly by Costa Rica and Malaysia in January 2008 (A/62/650),

Recalling that in 2009, Costa Rica is one of the 10 non-permanent members that serve two-year rotating terms on the UN Security Council, and that Costa Rica holds the chair for the UN Security Council 1540 Committee,

Reaffirming earlier UN Resolutions 1673 and 1810 extending the mandate of the committee, and requesting a report to the Security Council no later than 24 April 2011,

1. Invites all Member States to fully implement UN Security Council Resolution 1540, supplemented by Resolutions 1673 (2006) and 1810 (2008), and requests Member States to comply with its primary recommendations to adopt national laws and measures to combat the proliferation of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons and their delivery systems,

2. Encourages Member States who have not yet done so to sign, ratify and implement the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), and to support the ratification process through adoption of the following measures:

(a) Calls upon the Secretary General to appoint a Special Envoy to the CTBT and to the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), with a view to undertaking bilateral negotiations with Member States that have not yet signed or ratified the CTBT, bringing the prestige of the Secretary General’s office to bear on the ratification process;

(b) Requests the UN’s Special Envoy and members of the 1540 Committee, as appropriate, to visit the Member States who have yet to sign, ratify or implement the CTBT, with a view to addressing the main concerns and bottlenecks of the respective heads of state or parliamentary bodies;

3. Requests Member States to establish a trust fund to provide funding and legal assistance to Member States not able to fund the costs of ratifying the CTBT;

4. Proposes that regional meetings and seminars be organized by governments with the participation of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) like the James Martin Center for Non-Proliferation Studies (CNS) to raise awareness of the importance of ratifying the CTBT;

5. Calls upon ratifying states to nominate Regional Representatives to coordinate efforts at regional cooperation and informal consultations with all interested countries, with a view to furthering the ratification process,

6. Encourages the new US Administration and President Barack Obama to press for Senate approval and ratification of the CTBT signed by President Clinton in 1996, and to work with the Committee on Hemispheric Security through its membership in the Organization for the American States (OAS),

7. Proposes that the UN’s Special Envoy, working with the 1540 Committee and relevant NGOs, undertake consultations with nations like Iran and the Democratic Republic of Korea (DPRK) in an effort to provide funding or alternative sources of energy to these states,

8. Urges the DPRK to fulfill its commitments for successful implementation of the Six Party Talks,

9. Encourages Israel to join the NPT and place its nuclear facilities under the full scope of safeguards recommended by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA),

10. Urges India and Pakistan to overcome mutual mistrust and reach a joint proposal for signature/ratification of the CTBT by both states,

11. Urges Member States to press Indonesia, Egypt and China to ratify the CTBT before the upcoming 2010 Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.