COLOMBIA ADDRESSES CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT

Colombia addressed the Conference on Disarmament today, reiterating its support for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and explaining why it has not yet ratified the treaty.

Ambassador Clemencia Forero Ucros said Colombia believed that the cessation of testing nuclear weapons was an effective nuclear weapon non-proliferation measure. Colombia had signed the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) in 1996. When the Preparatory Commission of the CTBT was established, signatory States were requested to contribute payments to this body. However, Colombian law did not allow the State to make payments to international organizations without Congress approving such acts by law.

The Ambassador of Colombia said the only obstacle that now prevented the presentation of the instruments of ratification was reaching an agreement to pay Colombia’s quotas to the Preparatory Commission.

Ambassador Pablo Macedo of Mexico, the outgoing President of the Conference, said that he was very pleased that the Conference had managed to begin work in informal plenaries on the items of its agenda on the basis of an initiative which he had made at the end of March. As he saw it, the exchange of views in the informal plenary enabled the Conference to have a better understanding of the positions of delegations on substantive issues which he hoped would allow it to reach agreement more quickly.

Ambassador Macedo said that one of the main problems stopping progress in the Conference on Disarmament was not on the substance of the issues, but rather in the linkages which rightly or wrongly had been established by the members of the Conference. The time had come to deal with each issue alone, setting aside any link with other items. He invited the Conference members to begin thinking along those lines and to show their flexibility.

The next plenary of the Conference on Disarmament will be held at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 27 May under the Presidency of Ambassador Khasbazaryn Bekhbat of Mongolia.

Statements

CLEMENCIA FORERO UCROS (Colombia) said that as the agenda item which the Conference would discuss today in its informal plenary meeting concerned prevention of nuclear war, including all related matters, she would like to go on record in the formal meeting with the official position of Colombia on the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). Colombia believed that the cessation of testing nuclear weapons was an effective nuclear weapon non-proliferation measure. Colombia had signed the CTBT in 1996. When the Preparatory Commission of the CTBT was established, signatory States were requested to contribute payments to this body. However, Colombian law did not allow the State to make payments to international organizations without Congress approving such acts by law. Colombia had not failed or neglected the complex process in order to ratify the CTBT. It had explained its position to the Preparatory Commission and had reaffirmed its wish to respect the treaty and its obligations under it. Most recently, this had been done at the Conference on Facilitating Entry into Force of the CTBT in Vienna last September. Congress had adopted law 660 in July 2001 approving the CTBT, and the Constitutional Court had also endorsed this. The only obstacle that now prevented the presentation of the instruments of ratification was reaching an agreement to pay Colombia’s quotas to the Preparatory Commission. Colombia wished to thank States which had helped it to break this vicious circle and to overcome the obstacles.

PABLO MACEDO (Mexico), outgoing President of the Conference, said he wished to make a brief closing statement at the end of Mexico’s Presidency of the Conference. He was very pleased that the Conference had managed to begin work in informal plenaries on the items of its agenda, on the basis of an initiative which he had made at the end of March. He wanted to thank the two preceding Presidents who had also worked on the idea of informal plenaries, and he was happy that the two incoming Presidents, Mongolia and Morocco, had also agreed to continue with this practise. As he saw it, the exchange of views in the informal plenary enabled the Conference to have a better understanding of the positions of delegations on substantive issues which he hoped would allow it to reach agreement more quickly. At the same time, he could not hide his disappointment that once again, the Conference had not found it possible to advance with its programme of work.

Ambassador Macedo said that a number of delegations had problems with the Five Ambassadors’ proposal, but to date, many did not know what these difficulties were. He hoped that these delegations would take the opportunity of the informal plenaries to set out their positions clearly. One of the main problems stopping progress in the Conference on Disarmament was not the substance of the issues, but rather the linkages which rightly or wrongly had been established by the members of the Conference. The time had come to deal with each issue alone, setting aside any link with other items. He invited the Conference members to begin thinking along those lines and to show their flexibility.

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