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) 

(Resolution adopted at the fourth plenary session, held on June 10, 2003) 

            THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, 

            Having seen the Annual Report of the Permanent Council to the General Assembly (AG/doc.4156/03 add. 4), in particular the section on the matters entrusted to the Committee on Hemispheric Security; 

            RECALLING its previous resolutions on this topic, especially resolutions AG/RES. 1499 (XXVII-O/97), AG/RES. 1571 (XXVIII-O/98), AG/RES. 1622 (XXIX-O/99), AG/RES. 1748 (XXX-O/00), AG/RES. 1798 (XXXI-O/01), and AG/RES. 1903 (XXXII-O/02); 

CONVINCED: 

That the creation of nuclear-weapon-free zones that comply with international criteria is an important step that significantly strengthens all aspects of the international nonproliferation regime, thus contributing to the maintenance of international peace and security; and  

That, as stated in the preamble to the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean (Treaty of Tlatelolco), militarily denuclearized zones are not an end in themselves, but rather a means for achieving general and complete disarmament at a later stage; 

RECOGNIZING that the Treaty of Tlatelolco has become the model for the establishment of other nuclear-weapon-free zones in various regions of the world, such as the South Pacific (Treaty of Rarotonga), Southeast Asia (Treaty of Bangkok), and Africa (Treaty of Pelindaba), which, when they enter into force, will cover more than half the countries of the world and all territories in the Southern Hemisphere; and 

            NOTING WITH SATISFACTION that, with the deposit of the last instrument of ratification, by Cuba, on October 23, 2002, the nuclear disarmament regime, established in the vast zone defined by the Treaty of Tlatelolco, moved towards its full force, 

RESOLVES: 

            1.         To urge those states of the region that have not yet done so to sign or ratify the amendments to the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean (Treaty of Tlatelolco), approved by the General Conference of the Agency for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean (OPANAL) through its resolutions 267 (E-V), 268 (XII), and 290 (E-VII). 

            2.         To reaffirm the importance of strengthening OPANAL as the appropriate legal and political forum for ensuring unqualified observance of the Treaty of Tlatelolco in its zone of application and cooperation with the agencies of other nuclear-weapon-free zones. 

            3.         To call upon those states that have not yet done so to negotiate and implement, as soon as possible, agreements with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for application of that Agency's safeguards to their nuclear activities, as stipulated in Article 13 of the Treaty of Tlatelolco. 

            4.         To reaffirm its commitment to continue striving for a nonproliferation regime that is universal, genuine, and nondiscriminatory in every aspect. 

            5.         To entrust the Permanent Council with holding, in the framework of the Committee on Hemispheric Security, a meeting on consolidation of the regime established in the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean, with the support of OPANAL and the participation of the United Nations and other international organizations competent in the area. 

            6.         To recognize the work of OPANAL in ensuring compliance with the obligations undertaken in the Treaty of Tlatelolco. 

            7.         To express its appreciation to OPANAL for the recommendations that it presented to the preparatory body of the Special Conference on Security. 

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

            9.         To request the Secretary General to transmit this resolution to the Secretary General of OPANAL and to the Secretary-General of the United Nations.