Washington -- The United States is summoning the world to a
no-holds-barred fight against terrorism and drug trafficking.
Addressing the United Nations General Assembly, President Clinton
called for adoption by all nations of the Declaration on Crime and
Public Security, which would bar any country from offering sanctuary
to terrorists and drug distributors. He urged nations to become party
to 10 conventions on terrorism, and proposed a new convention on
combatting bomb attacks in public places.
The President's address also drew attention to arms control issues,
including the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), and the possibility
of further cuts in nuclear arsenals. He urged adoption of a treaty
banning production and use of anti-personnel land mines.
Following is the text of the September 24 Fact Sheet from the White
House on all the above issues:
As we enter the 21st century, the greatest threats to our freedom and
security will come from a nexus of new threats: rogue states,
terrorism, international crime, drug trafficking and the spread of
weapons of mass destruction. President Clinton has made unprecedented
progress in meeting these challenges and making Americans safer and
more secure. But there is more to do. Today, at the United Nations,
President Clinton called on all nations to commit to a coalition of
zero tolerance for aggression, terrorism and lawless behavior.
Building on steps he has already taken, President Clinton called for
specific measures that will enable Americans and people around the
world to enter the 21st century more secure.
TERRORISM, INTERNATIONAL CRIME AND COUNTERNARCOTICS
In his September 24, 1996 address to the United Nations General
Assembly, President Clinton outlined new U.S. initiatives to combat
terrorism, international crime and narcotics trafficking:
-- Declaration on Crime and Public Security: President Clinton urged
all nations to adopt the Declaration on Crime and Public Security,
which President Clinton proposed last year and which was recently
adopted by consensus by the UN Crime Commission and the UN Economic
and Social Council. The Declaration, and its no sanctuary pledge,
would make clear to terrorists, drug traffickers, alien smugglers and
international criminals that they will have no place to run, no place
to hide. The Declaration provides for cooperation among nations of the
world to join together to fight back, forming networks of law
enforcement to beat the networks of crime.
-- Ten International Conventions on Terrorism: President Clinton
encouraged other governments to become a party to these conventions in
the interest of strengthening international cooperation to tight
terrorism. These agreements establish the principle that a state which
obtains custody of persons responsible for a terrorist attack must
either submit the perpetrator to prosecution or extradite them to a
state that will do so.
-- An International Convention on Terrorist Bomb Attacks: President
Clinton is proposing a new international convention that would create
a legal framework for international cooperation in combating terrorist
bomb attacks on public places. At this time, no treaty deals
specifically with terrorist bombings such as the World Trade Center
bombing. This treaty, which is now being developed by the United
States to share with its (G-7/P-8 partners, would obligate states
party to prosecute or extradite perpetrators of large bomb attacks
intended to cause large casualties.
-- Re-Targeting Defense Resources to Fight Drugs: President Clinton
has decided to provide over $100 million worth of equipment and
training to aid our foreign allies in the fight against drug
traffickers. Included in this transfer would be helicopters,
surveillance aircraft, boats, vehicles, communications gear and field
equipment for Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru and nations in the
eastern Caribbean.
-- Control Chemicals Used to Make Illegal Drugs: President Clinton
asked other nations that produce chemicals used to make illegal drugs
to join together to create an informal arrangement to control their
export. Through cooperative and complimentary approaches with other
nations, we will limit and deny access to these chemicals to those who
would use them to produce illegal drugs
ARMS CONTROL AND NONPROLIFERATION
In his September 24, 1996 address to the United Nations General
Assembly, President Clinton outlined further U.S. arms control and
nonproliferation goals to further curb the proliferation of weapons of
mass destruction and reduce the dangerous legacy of Cold War weapons'
stockpiles:
-- Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC): President Clinton called on the
Senate to pass the CWC to protect Americans from chemical attack and
take the fight to rogue states and terrorists by banning poison gas
from the earth. He also urged other nations to sign and ratify the
treaty without delay.
-- Fissile Material Cutoff: President Clinton called on the Conference
on Disarmament to begin negotiations without delay on a fissile
material cutoff treaty that would end the unsafeguarded production of
these materials for nuclear weapons forever. This nondiscriminatory
ban would add momentum to current efforts to reduce global stocks of
these deadly materials, and help fulfill the promise of the NPT
Extension and Review Conference.
-- Further Reductions in Nuclear Force: President Clinton called on
Russia to secure ratification of START II by the Duma. The President
also reaffirmed his intent to begin discussions with Russia on the
possibility of further reductions in nuclear forces, including
limitations on and monitoring of warheads and fissile material, as
soon as START II enters into force.
-- Strengthen then Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT): President
Clinton pushed for full compliance with the NPT and strengthened tools
-- including environmental sampling and access to undeclared
facilities -- needed to assure compliance. He urged all nations that
have not signed the NPT to do so without delay.
-- Biological Weapons Convention (BWC): President Clinton called for
strengthening the means to monitor compliance with the BWC at the
upcoming BWC Review Conference -- through such measures as mandatory
declarations and on-site inspections -- with the goal of completing a
legally-binding protocol by 1998.
-- Anti-personnel landmines (APL): President Clinton called for swift
negotiation of a world-wide ban on the use, stockpiling, production
and transfer of anti-personnel landmines.