General Assembly Distr.: Limited

9 October 2002

Original: English

Fifty-seventh session

First Committee

Agenda item 66 (d)

General and complete disarmament: measures to uphold
the authority of the 1925 Geneva Protocol

South Africa, On behalf of the States Members of the United Nations that are members of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries.

The General Assembly,

Recalling its previous resolutions on the subject, in particular resolution 55/33 J of 20 November 2000,

Determined to act with a view to achieving effective progress towards general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control,

Recalling the long-standing determination of the international community to achieve the effective prohibition of the development, production, stockpiling and use of chemical and biological weapons as well as the continuing support for measures to uphold the authority of the Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare, signed at Geneva on 17 June 1925, as expressed by consensus in many previous resolutions,

Emphasizing the necessity of easing international tension and strengthening trust and confidence between States,

Welcoming also the initiatives by some States Parties to withdraw their reservations to the 1925 Geneva Protocol,

1.        Takes note of the note by the Secretary-General contained in document A/57/96;

2.        Renews its previous call to all States to observe strictly the principles and objectives of the Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare, signed at

Geneva on 17 June 1925, and reaffirms the vital necessity of upholding its provisions;

3.        Calls upon those States that continue to maintain reservations to the 1925 Geneva Protocol to withdraw those reservations;

4.        Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its fifty-ninth session a report on the implementation of the present resolution.