Cablegram UN992 NEW YORK, 11 December 1946, 9.26 p.m.
MOST IMMEDIATE SECRET
Assembly 401. Disarmament.
The following is the text of the Disarmament Resolution as reported to the Sub-Committee by the Drafting Group. [1]
1. With a view to strengthening international peace and security in conformity with the purposes and principles of the United Nations, the General Assembly recognises the necessity of an early general regulation and reduction of armaments and armed forces.
Accordingly the General Assembly recommends that the Security Council give prompt consideration to formulating the practical measures, according to their priority, which are essential to provide for the general regulation and reduction of armaments and forces and to assure that such regulation and reduction of armaments and forces will be generally observed by all participants and not unilaterally by only some of the participants. The plans formulated by the Security Council shall be submitted to the States Members for ratification in accordance with Article 26 of the Charter.
2. As an essential step towards the urgent objective of eliminating from national armaments atomic and all other major weapons adaptable to mass destruction, and the early establishment of international control of atomic energy and other modern scientific discoveries and technical developments to ensure their use only for peaceful purposes, the General Assembly urges the expeditious fulfilment by the Atomic Energy Commission of its terms of reference as set forth in section 5 of the General Assembly resolution of January 24th, 1946. [2] In order to ensure that the general prohibition, regulation and reduction of armaments are directed towards the major weapons of modern warfare and not merely towards the minor weapons, the General Assembly recommends that the Security Council expedite consideration of the reports which the Atomic Energy Commission will make to the Security Council and that it facilitate the work of that Commission, and also that the Security Council expedite consideration of a draft convention or conventions for the creation of an International system of control and inspection, these conventions to include the prohibition of atomic and all other major weapons adaptable now or in the future to mass destruction.
3. The General Assembly further recognises that essential to the general regulation and reduction of armaments is the provision of practical and effective safeguards by way of inspection and other means to protect complying States against the hazards of violations and evasions. Accordingly the General Assembly recommends to the Security Council that it give prompt consideration to the working out of proposals to provide such practical and effective safeguards in connection with the control of atomic energy and other limitation or regulation of armaments.
To ensure the adoption of measures for the reduction of armaments and armed forces and prohibition of the use of atomic energy for military purposes and of other major weapons adaptable now or in the future for mass destruction, there shall be established within the framework of the Security Council, which bears the main responsibility for peace and security, an international system, as mentioned at the end of paragraph 2, operating through special organs, which organs shall derive their powers and status from the convention or conventions under which they are established.
4. The General Assembly, regarding the problem of security as closely connected with that of disarmament, recommends the Security Council to accelerate as much as possible the placing at its disposal of the armed forces mentioned in Article 43 of the Charter. It recommends the Governments to undertake the progressive and balanced withdrawal, taking account of the needs of occupation, of their forces stationed in ex-enemy territories, and the withdrawal without delay of forces stationed in the territories of member states without their consent freely and publicly expressed in treaties or agreements consistent with the Charter and not contradicting international agreements. It further recommends a corresponding reduction of national armed forces, and a general progressive and balanced reduction of these national armed forces.
5. The General Assembly calls upon the Governments of all States to render every possible assistance to the Security Council and the Atomic Energy Commission in order to promote the establishment of international peace and collective security with the least diversion for armaments of the world’s human and economic resources.
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1 See Document 311.
2 See Volume IX, Document 47, and note 3 thereto.
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[AA:A1838/2, 852/10/4]