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UNITED
NATIONS
General Assembly
Distr.
GENERAL
A/RES/50/69
9 January 1996
Fiftieth session
Agenda item 69
RESOLUTION ADOPTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
[on the report of the First Committee (A/50/589)]
50/69. Prevention of an arms race in outer space
The General Assembly,
Recognizing the common interest of all mankind in the exploration
and use of outer space for peaceful purposes,
Reaffirming the will of all States that the exploration and use
of outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, shall
be for peaceful purposes, shall be carried out for the benefit and in
the interest of all countries, irrespective of their degree of
economic or scientific development, and shall be the province of all
mankind,
Reaffirming also provisions of articles III and IV of the Treaty
on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration
and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, 1/
Recalling the obligation of all States to observe the provisions
of the Charter of the United Nations regarding the use or threat of
use of force in their international relations, including in their
space activities,
Reaffirming further paragraph 80 of the Final Document of the
Tenth Special Session of the General Assembly, 2/ in which it is
stated that in order to prevent an arms race in outer space further
measures should be taken and appropriate international negotiations
held in accordance with the spirit of the Treaty,
Recalling also its previous resolutions on this issue and taking
note of the proposals submitted to the General Assembly at its tenth
special session and at its regular sessions, and of the
recommendations made to the competent organs of the United Nations and
to the Conference on Disarmament,
Recognizing the grave danger for international peace and security
of an arms race in outer space and of developments contributing to it,
Emphasizing the paramount importance of strict compliance with
existing arms limitation and disarmament agreements relevant to outer
space, including bilateral agreements, and with the existing legal
regime concerning the use of outer space,
Considering that wide participation in the legal regime
applicable to outer space could contribute to enhancing its
effectiveness,
Noting that bilateral negotiations, begun in 1985 between the
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United States of America,
were conducted with the declared objective of working out effective
agreements aimed, inter alia, at preventing an arms race in outer
space,
Welcoming the re-establishment of the Ad Hoc Committee on the
Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space at the 1994 session of the
Conference on Disarmament, in the exercise of the negotiating
responsibilities of this sole multilateral body on disarmament, to
continue to examine and identify, through substantive and general
consideration, issues relevant to the prevention of an arms race in
outer space,
Noting that the Ad Hoc Committee on the Prevention of an Arms
Race in Outer Space, taking into account its previous efforts since
its establishment in 1985 and seeking to enhance its functioning in
qualitative terms, continued the examination and identification of
various issues, existing agreements and existing proposals, as well as
future initiatives relevant to the prevention of an arms race in outer
space, 3/ and that this contributed to a better understanding of
a number of problems and to a clearer perception of the various
positions,
Regretting the inability of the Conference on Disarmament to
re-establish the Ad Hoc Committee on the Prevention of an Arms Race in
Outer Space in 1995,
Emphasizing the mutually complementary nature of bilateral and
multilateral efforts in the field of preventing an arms race in outer
space, and hoping that concrete results will emerge from those efforts
as soon as possible,
Convinced that further measures should be examined in the search
for effective and verifiable bilateral and multilateral agreements in
order to prevent an arms race in outer space,
Stressing that the growing use of outer space increases the need
for greater transparency and better information on the part of the
international community,
Recalling in this context its previous resolutions, in particular
resolutions 45/55 B of 4 December 1990, 47/51 of 9 December 1992 and
48/74 A of 16 December 1993, in which, inter alia, it reaffirmed the
importance of confidence-building measures as means conducive to
ensuring the attainment of the objective of the prevention of an arms
race in outer space,
Conscious of the benefits of confidence- and security-building
measures in the military field,
Recognizing that there has been agreement in the Ad Hoc Committee
that the conclusion of an international agreement or agreements to
prevent an arms race in outer space remained the fundamental task of
the Committee and that the concrete proposals on confidence-building
measures could form an integral part of such agreements,
1. Reaffirms the importance and urgency of preventing an arms
race in outer space and the readiness of all States to contribute to
that common objective, in conformity with the provisions of the Treaty
on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration
and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies; 1/
2. Reaffirms its recognition, as stated in the report of the Ad
Hoc Committee on the Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space, that
the legal regime applicable to outer space by itself does not
guarantee the prevention of an arms race in outer space, that this
legal regime plays a significant role in the prevention of an arms
race in that environment, that there is a need to consolidate and
reinforce that regime and enhance its effectiveness, and that it is
important strictly to comply with existing agreements, both bilateral
and multilateral;
3. Emphasizes the necessity of further measures with
appropriate and effective provisions for verification to prevent an
arms race in outer space;
4. Calls upon all States, in particular those with major space
capabilities, to contribute actively to the objective of the peaceful
use of outer space and of the prevention of an arms race in outer
space and to refrain from actions contrary to that objective and to
the relevant existing treaties in the interest of maintaining
international peace and security and promoting international
cooperation;
5. Reiterates that the Conference on Disarmament, as the single
multilateral disarmament negotiating forum, has the primary role in
the negotiation of a multilateral agreement or agreements, as
appropriate, on the prevention of an arms race in outer space in all
its aspects;
6. Requests the Conference on Disarmament to re-establish the
Ad Hoc Committee on the Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space in
1996 and to consider the question of preventing an arms race in outer
space;
7. Also requests the Conference on Disarmament to intensify its
consideration of the question of the prevention of an arms race in
outer space in all its aspects, building upon areas of convergence and
taking into account relevant proposals and initiatives, including
those presented in the Ad Hoc Committee at the 1994 session of the
Conference and at the forty-ninth and fiftieth sessions of the General
Assembly;
8. Further requests the Conference on Disarmament to
re-establish an ad hoc committee with an adequate mandate at the
beginning of its 1996 session and to continue building upon areas of
convergence, taking into account the work undertaken since 1985, with
a view to undertaking negotiations for the conclusion of an agreement
or agreements, as appropriate, to prevent an arms race in outer space
in all its aspects;
9. Recognizes, in this respect, the growing convergence of
views on the elaboration of measures designed to strengthen
transparency, confidence and security in the peaceful uses of outer
space;
10. Urges the Russian Federation and the United States of
America to resume their bilateral negotiations with a view to reaching
early agreement for preventing an arms race in outer space and to
advise the Conference on Disarmament periodically of the progress of
their bilateral sessions so as to facilitate its work;
11. Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its fifty-
first session the item entitled "Prevention of an arms race in outer
space".
90th plenary meeting
12 December 1995
Notes
1/ Resolution 2222 (XXI), annex.
2/ Resolution S-10/2.
3/ Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-ninth Session,
Supplement No. 27 (A/49/27), sect. III.D (para. 5 of the quoted text).
.