INDONESIA REAFFIRMS TOTAL, ABSOLUTE COMMITMENT TO NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT by Fardah

   Jakarta, March 28, 2014 (Antara) - At the Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) in the Hague recently, Indonesia reaffirmed its total and absolute commitment to the pursuit of nuclear disarmament, non-proliferation and the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

        According to Indonesia in its progress report presented during the summit, it realizes that the goal of a world free of nuclear weapon is the best way to stop proliferation and to ensure that nuclear and radioactive materials are not diverted for terrorist acts.

         Indonesia called upon all nations to promote universal adoption and full implementation of multilateral treaties whose aim is to prevent the proliferation of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.

         Vice President Boediono, accompanied by among others Foreign Affairs Minister Marty Natalegawa and the Foreign Ministry's Director General for Multilateral Affairs Hasan Kleib, represented Indonesia in the summit.

         "Let me express Indonesia's firm belief that the most definitive guarantee in the effort to avoid the use of nuclear materials for non-peaceful purposes is destroying nuclear weapons," the vice president said at the summit.

        Indonesia announced that it had initiated the implementation of a National Legislation Implementation Kit (NLIK) on nuclear security.

        The government submitted NLIK on nuclear security as gift in the 2014 Nuclear Security Summit with the objective to help states with building blocks to develop a comprehensive national legislation in accordance with their own respective legal cultures and internal processes.

         Boediono said he was satisfied with the results of the Summit and particularly happy that Indonesia's suggestion that every nation should have a law on nuclear security was accepted.

         "The national legislation model was supported by 29 nations, and it will continue to increase," Minister Marty Natalegawa said.  
    The 29 countries include the United States, South Korea, the Netherlands, Australia, and several European, African and Asian nations.

         He said the bill demonstrated that Indonesia was serious about its initiative in the Nuclear Security Summit.

          Since 2013, the government had started the process of drawing up a draft law on nuclear security with the view to submit it to the parliament in 2015.

          "Indonesia has started, and the nation will have a Law on Nuclear Security in 2015," the minister said.

        In early March 2014, Indonesia passed a law to ratify "the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism (ICSANT)."
   The government of Indonesia realizes the importance of strengthening its national legislation, which in turn can reinforce and complement existing law such as the Law No. 10 Year 1997 on Nuclear Energy.

         The law is expected to cover among other things total prohibition of the use, possession and transfer of nuclear weapons and enhance the national nuclear security architecture.

         In the progress report, Indonesia also informed the summit about its plan to establish an Indonesia Centre of Excellence on Nuclear Security and Emergency Preparedness (I-CoNSEP) to contribute to the development of nuclear security at the national and the regional levels. The Center is expected to be launched in 2014.  
    Indonesia has advocated nuclear disarmament in various regional forums, especially in the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and the NAM (Non-Aligned Movement).

         In 2011, the country demonstrated a stronger commitment to promoting a peaceful world free from nuclear threats by ratifying the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).

         The Indonesian House of Representatives passed a legislation officially endorsing the CTBT on December 6, 2011. The CTBT bans all nuclear explosions in all environments for military or civilian purposes.

          The Nuclear Summit 2014, which was attended by 58 world leaders including U.S. President Barack Obama, was held in the Hague on March 24-25.

         In a communiqué reached by the leaders in the two-day event to seek ways to boost nuclear security around the globe, the leaders agreed to increase global cooperation and prevent nuclear material from falling into the hands of terrorists.

         Leaders at the summit reaffirmed the fundamental responsibility of countries "to maintain at all times effective security" of all nuclear and other radioactive materials, including nuclear materials used in nuclear weapons and nuclear facilities under their control, according to the communiqué, Xinhua reported.

         The document urged countries to take appropriate measures to prevent non-state actors from obtaining such materials, emphasizing the importance of "robust national legislation and regulations" on nuclear security.

        "We emphasize the need to further strengthen and coordinate international cooperation in the field of nuclear security," added the 36-point communiqué.

         Countries, regulatory bodies, research and technical support organizations, the nuclear industry and other relevant stakeholders are encouraged to build "a strong security culture" and "share good practices and lessons," it said.

         In 2009, President Obama delivered a speech in Prague in which he called nuclear terrorism one of the greatest threats to international security.

         The NSS 2014 is the third such event after the first NSS was held in Washington in 2010 and the second one was held in Seoul in 2012. The Fourth NSS will be organized in the United States in 2016.

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T.F001/A/BESSR/A/A. Abdussalam) 28-03-2014 22:05:00