A/RES/57/73 disarmament under strict and effective international control, in particular in the field of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, with a view to strengthening international peace and security, in accordance with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, Recalling the provisions on nuclear-weapon-free zones of the Final Document of the Tenth Special Session of the General Assembly, 4 the first special session devoted to disarmament, Stressing the importance of the treaties of Tlatelolco, 2 Rarotonga, 3 Bangkok 5 and Pelindaba, 6 establishing nuclear-weapon-free zones, as well as the Antarctic Treaty, 7 to, inter alia, achieve a world entirely free of nuclear weapons, Underlining the value of enhancing cooperation among the nuclear-weaponfree zone treaty members by means of mechanisms such as joint meetings of States parties, signatories and observers to those treaties, Recalling the applicable principles and rules of international law relating to the freedom of the high seas and the rights of passage through maritime space, including those of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 8 1. Welcomes the continued contribution that the Antarctic Treaty7 and the treaties of Tlatelolco, 2 Rarotonga,3 Bangkok 5 and Pelindaba6 are making towards freeing the southern hemisphere and adjacent areas covered by those treaties from nuclear weapons; 2. Calls for the ratification of the treaties of Rarotonga and Pelindaba by all States of the region, and calls upon all concerned States to continue to work together in order to facilitate adherence to the protocols to nuclear-weapon-free zone treaties by all relevant States that have not yet done so; 3. Welcomes the steps taken to conclude further nuclear-weapon-free zone treaties on the basis of arrangements freely arrived at among the States of the region concerned, and calls upon all States to consider all relevant proposals, including those reflected in its resolutions on the establishment of nuclear-weapon-free zones in the Middle East and South Asia; 4. Affirms its conviction of the important role of nuclear-weapon-free zones in strengthening the nuclear non-proliferation regime and in extending the areas of the world that are nuclear-weapon-free, and, with particular reference to the responsibilities of the nuclear-weapon States, calls upon all States to support the process of nuclear disarmament and to work for the total elimination of all nuclear weapons; 5. Calls upon the States parties and signatories to the treaties of Tlatelolco, Rarotonga, Bangkok and Pelindaba, in order to pursue the common goals envisaged in those treaties and to promote the nuclear-weapon-free status of the southern _______________ 4 Resolution S-10/2. Treaty on the South-East Asia Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone. 6 A/50/426, annex. 7 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 402, No. 5778. 8 See The Law of the Sea: Official Texts of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 and of the Agreement relating to the Implementation of Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 with Index and Excerpts from the Final Act of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.97.V.10). 5 2