DYB2011-Part-II-web

United Nations Disarmament Yearbook 2011: Part II
288
security situation in the Middle East, including adherence to and compliance
with the Treaty by States in the region, was a major consideration for ratification,
as well as the completion of the verification regime.
The Syrian Arab Republic abstained from the voting on the draft resolution on
the CTBT, maintaining that such an important treaty must not ignore the legitimate
concerns of non-nuclear-weapon States, which had not been offered sufficient
guarantees against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons, nor had access to
peaceful nuclear technology. The Treaty text did not entail a commitment on the part
of nuclear-weapon States to eliminate their nuclear arsenals within a reasonable period
of time, and was confined to banning nuclear explosions without addressing new types
of weapons. The Syrian Arab Republic also stressed that inspection measures could
lead to abuses in national data monitoring or control, possibly for political purposes.
It considered it strange that the Treaty authorized signatory States to take measures
against non-signatory States, which was tantamount to a violation of State sovereignty.
Citing Israel’s possession and development of nuclear weapons and other weapons of
mass destruction and its refusal to accede to the NPT or to submit its nuclear facilities
to IAEA verification, it believed that efforts at creating a nuclear-weapon-free zone in
the Middle East were hampered. It expressed reservations with regard to all paragraphs
of all draft resolutions on the CTBT that had been adopted to date, and those to
be adopted.
66/516. Missiles (decision)
The General Assembly, recalling its
past resolutions and decisions on the subject,
decided to include in the provisional agenda
of its sixty-seventh session the item entitled
“Missiles”.
Chapter II. Biological and chemical weapons
66/21. Prohibition of the development and manufacture of new
types of weapons of mass destruction and new systems of such
weapons: report of the Conference on Disarmament
This resolution was last introduced
in 2008. The General Assembly requested
the Conference on Disarmament to keep the
matter under review with a view to making
recommendations on undertaking specific
negotiations on identified types of such
weapons, when necessary. It also called upon
Introduced by: Islamic Republic of Iran (17 Oct.)
GA vote: w/o vote (2 Dec.)
1st Cttee vote: w/o vote (26 Oct.)
For text and sponsors, see Yearbook, Part I, p. 200.
Introduced by: Belarus (17 Oct.)
GA vote: 168-1-1 (2 Dec.)
1st Cttee vote: 173-1-1 (27 Oct.)
For text, sponsors and voting pattern, see
Yearbook, Part I, pp. 6-8.
all States to give favourable consideration to those recommendations, requested the
Conference to report the results of any consideration of the matter in its annual reports
to the General Assembly, and decided to include this item in the provisional agenda of
its sixty-ninth session.