Colombia Calls For
Disarmament, Pushes For 13 Steps
UNITED NATIONS - Colombia Wednesday
urged nuclear weapons states to take the
necessary steps towards disarmament at the
Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) month-
long Review Conference.
"We encourage states that possess nuclear
weapons to honor their unequivocal
commitment to eliminate their nuclear
arsenals, with the goal of achieving general
and complete nuclear disarmament," Colombian
Ambassador to the UN Claudia Blum said on
the third day of the NPT Review Conference.
"Likewise, we urge them to comprehensively
apply the 13 Practical Steps adopted in the
2000 NPT Review Conference."
The 13 Steps are considered crucial in
making progress towards ultimate
disarmament. One of those steps is the entry
into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test
Ban Treaty (CTBT), which bans all nuclear
blasts for military or civilian purposes.
Another of the 13 steps is reaching an
agreement on banning the production of
fissile material for nuclear weapons or
other nuclear explosive devices.
"Aware that the nuclear threat resides not
only in existing nuclear arsenals, but also
in the possible development of new weapons,
we insist on thee importance of negotiating
a multilateral, non-discriminatory and
verifiable treaty that bans the production
of fissionable material for nuclear weapons
or other explosive nuclear devices," Blum
said.
"Hoping to prevent the production of new
nuclear weapons and the improvement of the
currently existing ones, as well as
liberating the planet from the consequences
of radiation, we insist also in thee
necessity of achieving a comprehensive ban
of all nuclear tests," she added.
As many NPT-members have been doing over the
past three days, Blum endorsed the role of
the UN atomic watchdog, the International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), as a verifier
and guarantor that nuclear programs are only
and exclusively peaceful in nature.
"Nevertheless," she said, "the Agency cannot
carry out this role if it does not have the
necessary legal tools. Therefore, we urge
states that have not yet done so, to sign
and ratify the Safeguards Agreements and
Additional Protocols."
Blum reiterated her country's commitment to
the Treaty of Tlatelolco, which created a
nuclear-weapons free zone in Latin America
and the Caribbean. Colombia joined the
Treaty the day it opened for signatures on
Feb. 14, 1967.
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