SENIOR OFFICIALS FROM CANADA, IRELAND, BANGLADESH AND SWEDEN ADDRESS CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT
Conference Observes Minute of Silence in Memory Of Victims of Madrid Bombings

The Conference on Disarmament this morning heard statements from senior Government officials from Canada, Ireland, Bangladesh and Sweden on a wide-range of disarmament issues, among them, the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, anti-personnel landmines, the prevention of an arms race in outer space and chemical weapons.

In his opening remarks, the President of the Conference on Disarmament, Ambassador Pablo Macedo of Mexico, expressed profound shock over the terrorist acts in Madrid and called for the perpetrators to be brought to justice. He conveyed condolences to the families of the victims and the Conference’s solidarity with the people of Spain. A minute of silence in memory of the victims was observed.

Bill Graham, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Canada, stated that proliferation of nuclear weapons was undermining collective security and shaking the foundations of the international legal treaty regime. State-to-State compliance and verification mechanisms must be strengthened across the board to ensure their effectiveness in preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction to non-State actors. He also reaffirmed Canada’s commitment to the Proliferation Security Initiatives (PSI) Principles and in that regard mentioned that Canada would host a meeting of PSI operational experts in Ottawa next month.

Brian Cowen, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ireland, drew attention to the Conference organized by his Government last April which was held in Dublin on the topic of Explosive Remnants of War and Development. This Conference, he said, represented a step forward in the Convention on Chemical Weapons (CCW) framework. Ireland was the first country to ratify the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and to strengthen the treaty and ensure respect for all its provisions was the highest priority for his country in the area of disarmament and non-proliferation.

Reaz Rahman, State Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh, mentioned that his country was the first in South Asia to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) which demonstrated its overall commitment to disarmament. The Government of Bangladesh strongly supported regional approaches to nuclear disarmament, including the establishment of a Nuclear Weapon Free Zone in South Asia, in the Middle East and in other parts of the world. The Minister indicated that his country was the only country in South Asia which was party to the Ottawa Convention on anti-personnel landmines and remained fully committed to the core humanitarian objectives of the Convention.

Laila Freivalds, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden, said that lately, a series of revelations about illicit programmes of weapons of mass destruction and attempts at proliferation had occurred. To this was added the networks of international terrorists and the fears that they might acquire weapons of mass destruction. The world faced real threats to global, regional, local and human security, global challenges that could only be met through joint efforts. The future depended on effective multilaterally, and it was urgent that the deadlock in the Conference on Disarmament was broken.

Ambassador Macedo, the incoming President of the Conference, urged Member States to redouble their efforts to overcome the stagnation in the work of the Conference. He promised to devote his efforts to pursuing the goals of reaching consensus on an interim programme of work. He would also continue the practice of holding consultations with members of the Conference with the intention to reach a consensus.

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea said in reaction to the statements delivered by the Foreign Ministers of Canada, Ireland and Sweden with regard to his country’s non-compliance with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) that his country withdrew from the NPT on 11 January 2003 as a measure to defend its sovereignty and as a result of the “impartiality of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)”. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea had made several efforts to resolve the issue in the Korean peninsula and it strived for peace and stability in the region.

The next plenary of the Conference will be held at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, 17 March, when the Conference will listen to an address by the Foreign Minister of the Netherlands.

Statements

BILL GRAHAM, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Canada, said the Conference needed to overcome its differences and work out a multilateral security framework, grounded in international law and monitored by effective compliance and verification mechanisms. “The international community must now come to terms with clear evidence that the cornerstone of the nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime is threatened both from within and without.” He urged the Conference to support the ‘Five Ambassadors Proposal’ (A5) as the basis for an agreed programme of work.

The Minister stated that proliferation of nuclear weapons was undermining collective security and shaking the foundations of the international legal treaty regime. For the first time in its 35-year history, a State had renounced the Non-Proliferation Treaty. “North Korea’s actions are a threat to both its immediate neighbours and the international community at large,” he said. The Minister noted that Libya had amassed the technology and material for a nuclear weapons development programme yet commended the country for having realized that these activities were not contributing to its real security and for having taken the decision to dismantle its nuclear and chemical weapons and missile programmes. Furthermore, he referred to Iran’s admission that it had an extensive programme of undeclared nuclear activities dating back to nearly 20 years. State-to-state compliance and verification mechanisms must be strengthened across the board, and their effectiveness in preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction to non-state actors must be ensured. In this regard, Mr. Graham reaffirmed his country’s commitment to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The Minister recalled the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), aimed at blocking traffic in missiles and weapons of mass destruction, which had already been successful in raising international awareness and in fostering international cooperation. He reaffirmed Canada’s commitment to the PSI Principles and in that connection stated that Canada would host a meeting of PSI operational experts in Ottawa next month.

Among the other measures Canada was taking was the G8 Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction, which was launched in Kananaskis in 2002. Under its leadership, G8 governments and others had committed to raise up to $ 20 billion to promote disarmament and non-proliferation, initially in Russia, to prevent the terrorist acquisition of weapons of mass destruction. Moreover, Canada was providing up to 1 billion dollars Canadian over the next ten years, which would help destroy Russia’s stockpile of chemical weapons, dispose of its weapons grade nuclear material, dismantle its decommissioned nuclear submarines, and employ former weapons scientists.

Among other things, the Minister expressed his Government’s commitment to press for the implementation of the NPT’s 13 practical steps on disarmament agreed by consensus at the 2000 Review Conference, including the call for the Conference on Disarmament to negotiate a Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty. Canada also supported an early entry into force of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and a treaty to ban space-based weapons and had developed a new comprehensive approach seeking to integrate space security issues with the international community’s need for secure and equitable access to space for peaceful purposes. On March 25 and 26, this approach would be introduced at a seminar entitled “Safeguarding Space for All” sponsored by the UN Institute for Disarmament Research as well as key non-governmental organizations and the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs.

In conclusion, the Minister drew attention to the upcoming Nairobi Summit on a Mine-Free World as a step to sustain the progress made in the global fight against landmines since the Ottawa Convention was opened in 1997. Canada welcomed new commitments to humanitarian mine action programmes, such as the increased financial commitment recently announced by the United States, and it would consider working with its American colleagues to encourage them to adopt policies consistent with the international standard set by the Ottawa Convention.

BRIAN COWEN, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ireland, highlighted his country’s strong support to the UN in conflict prevention and in peacekeeping and said Ireland’s approach to disarmament was rooted in a firm conviction that multilateral cooperation was in the best interest of all and most particularly served the interests of smaller States who, lacking military power must rely on building and supporting a strong rules–based system. Disarmament and arms control were essential elements in conflict prevention, in mitigating the impact of war and in addressing the problems of post-conflict situations, he added. The Minister highlighted the Conference on Explosive Remnants of War and Development in Dublin in April last year which was organized by Ireland. It represented a significant step forward and would hopefully provide a momentum for other issues which needed to be tackled in the Conventional Weapons Convention framework. Furthermore, the Minister called on the international community to strengthen its efforts to prevent further proliferation and the danger that these weapons could fall into the hands of terrorists.

Ireland was privileged to be the first country to ratify the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and since then efforts to strengthen the treaty and to ensure respect for all its provisions had been its highest priority in the area of disarmament and non-proliferation. He stated that his country deplored the announcement made by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to withdraw from the NPT last year and continued to “urge the DPRK to dismantle immediately any nuclear weapons programme in a visible and verifiable manner, to allow for the return of inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and to come into full unconditional compliance with all relevant international obligations, in particular the NPT and their IAEA Safeguards Agreement.” Furthermore, he urged all States which had not yet signed and ratified the Additional Protocol to the NPT approved by the IAEA to do so.

Recalling the adoption of a Strategy on the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction by the European Union, the Minister said it was agreed that non-proliferation should be mainstreamed into overall policies drawing upon all the resources and instruments available to the Union. While expressing his country’s support for multilateral institutions charged with verification and upholding compliance with treaties, the Minister said Ireland supported an effective compliance and verification instrument to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention. As part of the European Union Strategy on Weapons of Mass destruction, Ireland was working with its partners to secure the universalization of the treaty.

Among other things, Ireland supported the establishment within the Conference on Disarmament of a subsidiary body to deal specifically with the issue of nuclear disarmament. Furthermore, the Conference should commence negotiations on a treaty dealing with fissile material.

REAZ RAHMAN, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh, reaffirmed his country’s support for general and complete disarmament which was also a constitutional commitment in his country. Bangladesh was the first country in South Asia to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty which was a demonstration of its commitment to that end. Bangladesh welcomed the resumption of dialogue between its two nuclear neighbours and sincerely hoped that they would move towards strengthening measures for durable peace in the region. Bangladesh had also welcomed into force in June last year the Strategic Offensive Reduction Treaty between the Russian Federation and the United States as an important development in nuclear disarmament.

Bangladesh believed it was vitally important to address the undertakings agreed at the 2000 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference for effective implementation of the NPT and was disappointed that very little progress had been achieved towards the elimination of nuclear armament despite the undertakings given by nuclear weapon States at the 2000 Conference. The Government of Bangladesh strongly supported regional approaches to nuclear disarmament including the establishment of a Nuclear Weapon Free Zone in South Asia, in the Middle East and in other parts of the world. Non-nuclear state parties to the NPT had a legitimate right to receive an unconditional assurance from the Nuclear weapons States that they would not use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against them. It was therefore, “critically important that renewed efforts are taken on a priority basis to conclude a universal, unconditional and legally binding instrument to provide security assurances to Non-nuclear weapons states”.

Bangladesh was convinced that the prevention of an arms race in outer space was possible only through legally binding international instruments and it was the hope of Bangladesh that there would be an early commencement of negotiations for an international legally binding treaty to prevent deployment of arms in outer space.

The Minister noted that Bangladesh was the only country in South Asia which was party to the Ottawa Convention on anti-personnel landmines and remained fully committed to the core humanitarian objectives of the Convention. In that regard, Bangladesh would be starting the destruction of existing stockpiles of landmines in the country very soon with the hope of completing the process of destruction of stockpile before their deadline of March 2005. Bangladesh believed “the suffering caused by the anti-personnel landmines should be the single most compelling reason to encourage the remaining few to join the Convention.”

Turning to the issue of small arms and light weapons, the Minister said the focus should be on eliminating illicit trafficking in these weapons through effective implementation of the programme of action drawn up in 2001. The first biennial meeting to consider the implementation of the programme of action to prevent, combat and eradicate illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in July 2003 had provided an opportunity to build an effective international and regional partnership to deal with this problem.

It was Bangladesh’s strong conviction that the UN Millennium Development Goals could best be achieved through the reduction of military expenditure and diversion of resources to poverty eradication and sustained confidence building measures through international political cooperation. Renewed efforts were needed to reverse the trend of increasing military expenditure by major military powers. He added, “the linkage between the peace dividend and a global fund for poverty eradication should be seriously pursued.”

LAILA FREIVALDS, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden, said it was not acceptable that while concern mounted about serious developments in the world, and while joint multilateral and global efforts were more needed than ever, the Conference on Disarmament was left by the wayside, contributing nothing. Special efforts were called for. Nuclear weapons States had a special responsibility not to prevent the Conference from seriously addressing nuclear concerns. All States must make efforts to allow work to begin where work was possible.

Ms. Freivalds said that lately, a series of revelations about illicit programmes of weapons of mass destruction and attempts at proliferation had occurred. To this was added the networks of international terrorists and the fears that they might acquire weapons of mass destruction. These situations posed a grave threat to the world, and there was a need to promptly join forces to redress the present state of affairs. Weapons of mass destruction had lately come into the focus of the attention of international leaders and policy makers. After underscoring the situation in Iraq, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Iran, and Libya, the Foreign Minister of Sweden said that while developments in these countries raised serious concerns about weapons of mass destruction as a real threat to everyone, they also demonstrated that diplomacy and a united international community working together could bring about positive results. As awareness had increased, so had the efforts to prevent and stop the spread of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.

Ms. Freivalds said that a world free of weapons of mass destruction was a long-standing priority for Sweden. For non-proliferation policies to be effective, credible and sustainable, disarmament was also necessary. Disarmament and non-proliferation were mutually reinforcing. While there had been real progress towards the complete elimination of biological and chemical weapons, the same did not hold true for nuclear weapons. The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty was the cornerstone of the nuclear non-proliferation regime. The 2005 NPT Review Conference would be crucial and the outcome must be a strengthened regime. Sweden called for the implementation of the Final Document of the 2000 NPT Review Conference and especially the commitment regarding the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty whose entry in force should not be delayed further.

It was also high time that negotiations were allowed to begin on a treaty that would end the production of fissile material, the Swedish Foreign Minister said. As for the Convention on Chemical Weapons, work needed to be continued to ensure its effective implementation. While it was alarming that terrorists were taking an interest in biological weapons, this called for a strengthened international approach to non-proliferation of biological weapons and related materials and technology. The Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention must be given more teeth and a mechanism of verification. Also, conventional weapons constantly posed a threat to the lives of many people around the world. Combating the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons was a crucial part of the efforts to improve security.

In conclusion, Ms. Freivalds said that the world faced real threats to global, regional, local and human security, global challenges that could only be met through joint efforts. The future depended on effective multilateralism. It was urgent that the deadlock in the Conference on Disarmament was broken.

PABLO MACEDO (Mexico), incoming President of the Conference on Disarmament, once again expressed the Conference’s solidarity with the people of Spain for the terrorist bombings last week. Among other things, the President said firm support and political will on behalf of all delegations in the Conference was needed in order for it to achieve its goals. He expressed thanks to his two predecessors and committed himself to continue to work with the same dedicated manner. Moreover, he said he would devote his efforts to pursuing the goals of reaching a consensus on an interim programme of work and would continue the practice of holding consultations with members of the Conference with the intention of reaching a consensus. Lastly, he urged members to redouble their efforts to overcome the stagnation which had been in place.

SHAUKAT UMER (Pakistan) invited members of the Conference to explore new ways in which it could reinvigorate its work. Recalling the remarks of the President, Mr. Umer requested for clarification on what he meant by an ‘interim’ programme of work.

PABLO MACEDO (Mexico), President of the Conference on Disarmament, in response to the request from Pakistan, indicated that he would be distributing his basic points on the programme of work in due course which would provide more details.

JANG CHUN SIK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) said that with regards to the statements delivered by the Foreign Ministers of Canada, Ireland and Sweden concerning his country’s non-compliance with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), his country had withdrawn from the NPT on 11 January 2003 as a measure to defend its sovereignty and as a result of the “impartiality of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)”. Referring to article 3 of the Treaty, the Ambassador noted that the statements delivered by the Foreign Ministers demonstrated unfair conduct in legal terms and was applying undue pressure on his country. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea had made several efforts to resolve the issue in the Korean peninsula and it strived for peace and stability in the region. His country had participated in talks with concerned parties with the goal of reaching a peaceful solution but those talks did not yield any results, he added. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea believed that nuclear non-proliferation could only be sustained if nuclear States expressed their own commitment against proliferation. Therefore, he stated that the aforementioned States parties should do away with double standards before making accusations against his country.

* *** *

777 UN Plaza - 6th Floor - New York, NY - 10017 - Ph: 212.682.1265 - Fax: 212.286.8211 - info@reachingcriticalwill.org
This site was created by Kache Productions ©2008