23 February 2006

Today's Conference on Disarmament (CD) plenary meeting marked the beginning of the Republic of Korea's Presidency. According to the timetable announced 9 February, this Presidential period will deal with agenda items 1 and 2 with a general focus on nuclear disarmament. Last week, Ambassador In-kook Park of the Republic of Korea outlined a more detailed indicative timetable for the sessions during his Presidency, which he further specified today. He suggested delegations make interventions under the sub-item 'Assessment on implementation of nuclear disarmament' at the 28 February session and on under the sub-item 'Future nuclear disarmament measures' at the 2 March session. The Ambassador again encouraged delegations to invite experts from capitals and reminded them of the importance if the high-level segment.

The Netherlands and Canada raised concerns about the indicated schedule. Daniel Prins of the Netherlands asked the chair whether two half-day sessions for the nuclear disarmament cluster would suffice. Rather, he found it the task of the President to allow for full-day sessions on every sub-item, "which to our opinion is still very minimal". Canadian Ambassador Paul Meyer was also concerned about "commenc[ing] our intensified programme of work by already eliminating the possibility of having a full-day session on [nuclear disarmament]". They both supported holding a full day plenary on 28 February even though delegations had been informed the Council Chamber would be unavailable for a morning session. Secretary-General of the CD Sergei Ordzhonikidze assured them another venue can be found, should the CD decide to have a full-day session. However, the public meeting was closed before announcing when and where the next public plenary will be held.

Prins also suggested the Friends of the President "focus on how to better make use of the sessions that you label as general debate sessions" and provide leadership "to somehow go further on certain Agenda Items" to make the debates more fruitful.

Ambassador John Freeman of the United Kingdom stated that his delegation continues to prioritize commencing negotiations on a Fissile Materials Cut-off Treaty (FMCT) without pre-conditions. He pointed out that no delegation disagrees about the need to start these negotiations, which could break the impasse of the CD. "Given contemporary challenges, can we any longer afford not to start FMCT negotiations; and will civil society in our countries any longer accept a disabling linkage preventing us responding by beginning such negotiations?" asked the Ambassador. In the 2005 session of the General Assembly First Committee, US Assistant Secretary Stephen Rademaker expressed support for commencing negotiations on a FMCT with a mandate that does not include verification, in "a clean negotiating mandate? unencumbered by linkages to unrelated proposals."

Most other delegations, while supporting immediately commencing FMCT negotiations, also support a programme of work based on some linkage among the issues. Because the entire conference must agree on a programme of work in order to establish the ad hoc committee necessary to begin negotiations, members have been struggling to balance differing arms control and disarmament priorities. The FMCT is a priority for many CD members, but not all, and a programme of work with a negotiating mandate for the FMCT and discussion mandates for the others issues has been a compromise designed to facilitate consensus.

Members of the Conference continue to examine the methods of work, including the consensus rule. The Republic of Korea encouraged the Conference to take this work seriously "especially in the consensus and grouping system" as "[t]he original intention to ensure inclusiveness in the decision-making process has arguably made the CD inert and has compounded the problem of the lack of political will." According to Ambassador François Rivasseau's statement, France continues to support international efforts promoting general and complete disarmament, particularly the negotiation of an FMCT - a priority for his delegation. Referring to the programme of work, Rivasseau pointed out that none of the proposals so far enjoys consensus, and that all new ideas must be studied with an open mind. The "rule of the game this year consists of building confidence amongst us", held the Ambassador, with "some important preparatory work which needs to be done".

The UK opened its February 23, 2006 statement noting that in addition to multilateralism, wider disarmament objectives can also be pursued in "different and complementary ways" whether unilaterally, bilaterally, through like-minded groups or regional groupings on the same day it conducted a joint subcritical test with the United States at the Nevada Test Site. The Krakatau Subcritical Experiment was conducted "to help maintain the safety and reliability of the nuclear weapons stockpile," according to the US National Nuclear Security Administration.

The Republic of Korea, who will be President during the session at which the International Women's Day statement is delivered, expressed support for "broader engagement of civil society and the global community in the CD". Ambassador Park did not specify whether that includes Ireland's proposal to finally allow the authors of the International Women's Day statement to read it themselves.

Alex Sundberg, Disarmament Intern 
Jennifer Nordstrom, Reaching Critical Will 
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom