7 September 2004

Rhianna Tyson, Reaching Critical Will

The 2004 session of the Conference on Disarmament has drawn to a close. The President of the Conference, Ambassador U Mya Than of Myanmar, will deliver a resolution based on the CD’s Final Report to the General Assembly First Committee in New York, October 2004.

Another year has passed, and still the Conference has failed to adopt a formal program of work or to officially establish (or re-establish) any mechanism to facilitate progress on any of its agenda items.

The report notes the intensive consultations undertaken by successive Presidents of the CD, and highlights the informal plenary meetings that characterized the 2004 session. While many delegations considered these informal meetings “useful and constructive,” the report notes “a general feeling among the Member States that efforts should be further intensified in conducting consultations and in exploring possibilities with a view to overcoming the current impasse.”

The report also notes the decision taken February 12 on the enhancement of engagement of civil society in its work. 

In a message to the CD delivered on his behalf, Secretary-General Kofi Annan reaffirmed that disarmament remained a high priority in the international community. In the context of recent events, he urged Member States to embark on new efforts to strengthen the effectiveness of arms control and disarmament agreements, and to revitalize the multilateral disarmament machinery, including the Conference.

Also this week, many well-known delegates delivered their farewell addresses as they prepare to leave their posts in Geneva, including David Broucher of the United Kingdom, Christian Faessler of Switzerland and Mohamed Salah Dembri of Algeria.

After a minute of silence for the victims of the Beslan tragedy, the departing ambassadors, as well as those from Chile, Germany, the US, Italy and France, addressed the conference.

The UK’s Ambassador Broucher declared that the greatest contribution the non-nuclear weapon States could make to nuclear disarmament was to continue to renounce nuclear weapons and to make sure their partners did the same. Progress towards nuclear disarmament should remain an “urgent priority,” he maintained, and that States Parties to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) had the responsibility to fulfil their obligations under the NPT. A next step, Mr. Broucher concluded, was an agreement to halt the future production of fissile materials for nuclear weapons. An FMCT, together with the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), would in his view create the “platform” on which further progress could be built.

Swiss Ambassador Christian Faessler delivered a bleak outgoing statement, noting that “there was not much room for optimism when one looked at the situation of international disarmament.” Citing the growing dangers of nuclear proliferation, the fears of an arms race in outer space and increasing acts of terrorism, he remained convinced that if the international community was to ensure global peace and security, legally binding instruments had to enter into force to put an end to proliferation.

Yet determined not to leave on such a pessimistic note, Mr. Faessler acknowledged the small results produced through multilateral efforts, such as the implementation of the Ottawa Convention. Yet progress on an FMCT and PAROS have been held “hostage” by members of the Conference, and he appealed to all States to accept the A5 proposal and to make any possible suggestions for amendment.

Chile’s Ambassador Juan Martabit expressed support for the human security approach to the CD’s deliberations. “Security,” he noted, when discussed in its conventional form, was “an inadequate concept” which could not fully meet the security needs of individuals. He noted that Chile was conducting a policy to support the creation of rules to address the problems of insecurity. He also noted Chile’s accession to the “Mendoza Commitment”, the elimination of Chile’s landmine stocks and production, their support of The Hague Code of Conduct and the A5 proposal. He also maintained that the real threat to international peace was the lack of resources in many developing countries to deal with their own problems, such as poverty and disease.

Algeria’s departing Ambassador Mohamed Salah Dembri urged his colleagues to show their commitment to the subjects being discussed and to agree to what was at stake for disarmament in general. He referred to several obstacles which stood in the way of international peace and security, among them the increase in weapons of mass destruction; the weakening of the NPT; the whittling away of multilateralism; the emergence of new nuclear weapons States; the upsurge in military expenditure; the increase in the arms race in outer space and the new forms of international terrorism.

Mr. Dembri affirmed that the elimination of nuclear weapons was in the best interest of both nuclear weapons States and non-nuclear weapon States, adding that increased participation of civil society would benefit all of humanity.

Germany’s Sabine Taufmann reiterated her country’s support for the A5 proposal, and thanked the United States for finishing its review of an FMCT, what her country considered a logical next step for multilateral nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. Reaching an agreement on this issue, she ascertained, would be useful in order to bring it to the attention of the participants at the Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty next year.

Ms. Taufmann also voiced support for “a universal approach” to combating terrorism, and offered security assurances as an important first step. In addition, Germany considered the establishment of an Ad Hoc Committee to deal with the arms race in outer space as an important step and welcomed any measures to create relevant commitments to build an enforcing instrument.

The United States’ Ambassador Sanders reiterated the US’s current position on an FMCT and on landmines, noting that, although the US doubts the verifiability of an FMCT, it nonetheless “represents the best hope for concrete action.”

Ambassador Carlo Trezza of Italy discussed the upcoming seminar on Cooperative Threat Reduction and encouraged all members of the Conference to attend the seminar which would take place in Geneva on 28 September 2004.

Ambassador François Rivasseau of France also announced an upcoming seminar in October on a new seminar on the issue of domestic security and protection of critical civilian infrastructures. The French and Swiss delegations to the Conference would organize a working meeting to express the results of the seminar.

The 2005 session of the Conference on Disarmament will start on 24 January 2005.

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