|
Conference on Disarmament
Hears Statements by Norway, China, Italy, Pakistan and the Democratic
People's Republic of Korea
Democratic People's Republic of Korea Rejects
Italy's Statement on Pyongyang's Possession of Nuclear Weapons
15 February 2005
The Conference on Disarmament today heard statements by Norway on
its priorities within the Conference, China on a joint seminar on
prevention of an arms race in outer space, and Pakistan on the stalemate
within the Conference. Italy provided a general statement which
touched on the announcement by the Democratic People's Republic
of Korea that it possessed nuclear weapons. It was rejected by the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
The President of the Conference, Ambassador Chris Sanders of the
Netherlands, said that last week, he had circulated a text on a
possible announcement by the President on the identification of
Special Coordinators for four subsidiary bodies and their mandates
within the Conference. After informal consultations and careful
consideration of the various views of the Members of the Conference,
he had decided not to make this announcement. However, he wished
to go on record that this decision had no legal interpretation for
the question on whether the President had the authority to identify
a Special Coordinator. It remained his view that the President of
the Conference indeed had this authority.
Norway suggested that the Conference seriously consider organizing
plenary meetings only when there was a real need, and said that
it believed that it should be possible for the Conference to establish
three or four subsidiary bodies and mandates. Norway’s first
priority remained the start of negotiations with a view to achieving
a verifiable treaty to stop the production of fissile material for
nuclear weapons purposes.
Pakistan said that there had been calls to suspend the Conference.
He respected this idea but begged to differ with it. In order to
revive a body, it should not be put to sleep. The objective should
be to remain engaged; the process of exploration, effort and endeavour
must continue. If the Conference continued this way, there would
be a total vacuum, and multilateralism like nature abhorred vacuum.
So the duties of the Conference would be taken over by other forums
and this would be a collective misfortune for everyone.
China said that in order to consolidate the international community's
common understanding on the issue of prevention of an arms race
in outer space, Chine, Russia, the United Nations Institute for
Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) and Canada's Simons Foundation would
jointly hold an international conference on "Safeguarding Space
Security: Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space" on 21
and 22 March at the Palais des Nations.
Italy was pleased that an agreement had been reached on the agenda,
and that on that basis, the Conference would now seek to proceed
in its institutional tasks. The Conference should be in tune with
issues which were relevant with the current international security
environment. In this connection, Italy wished to refer to the recent
announcement by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea on the
possession of nuclear weapons. Italy recalled the statement made
in this respect by the Presidency of the European Union which, inter
alia, expressed its strong preoccupation with the declaration and
its regret for the announcement of the suspension of the participation
of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in the multilateral
negotiations on its nuclear programme.
In response, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea said that
while the Conference had not held any substantive discussions for
eight years, suddenly, an irrelevant issue was brought up by Italy
on the nuclear issue which was between the Democratic People's Republic
of Korea and the United States. The concern of Italy should be based
on a correct and proper stance to help resolve this issue. However,
the concern of Italy had been off track. The Democratic People's
Republic of Korea had a very big obstacle in the holding of the
six-way talks, and it had found that the obstacles facing the Conference
came from the same source.
The next plenary of the Conference will be held at 10 a.m. on Thursday,
17 February. The Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan, Kassymzhomart Tokaev,
will address that meeting.
Statements
WEGGER STROMMEN (Norway) said Norway was interested by South Africa’s
statement on 1 February where it was pointed out that it might become
necessary to consider an alternative course of action if the Conference
failed to start negotiations this year. This question was discussed
at a workshop organized in Oslo in December of 2003 on revitalizing
the disarmament machinery and the conclusions referred to the possibility
of organizing plenary meetings only when there was a real need.
The conclusions also included a reference to lack of political will
to use the conference as intended as the cause of the present situation.
If there was indeed no activity in sight for the Conference, consequences
should be drawn. The possibility that he had set out merited serious
consideration. No decisions were required, and there would be no
practical obstacle to convening meetings as soon as there was reason
to do so.
Ambassador Strommen said that for the sake of transparency, he
wanted to brief the Conference on Norway’s positions. Norway
believed that it should be possible for the Conference to establish
three or four subsidiary bodies and mandates. Norway’s first
priority remained the start of negotiations with a view to achieving
a verifiable treaty to stop the production of fissile material for
nuclear weapons purposes. On issues relating to landmines, Norway
did not consider the Conference to be the right forum, as many of
the mine-affected countries were not represented. Discussion mandates
on, respectively, prevention of an arms race in outer space and
nuclear disarmament would be a logical step.
In conclusion, Ambassador Strommen said that there was a limit
to what could be achieved by efforts in the Council Chamber, the
solution to the current situation would only come from capitals.
The demand for action by the Conference on Disarmament was increasing.
HU XIAODI (China) said the traditional Chinese New Year, the Year
of the Rooster, had arrived and he wished everyone good health and
all the best in all their endeavours He did not wish to make a general
statement but instead would speak about a seminar. Progress in science
and technology had put the peaceful uses and development of outer
space within the reach of more and more countries in their efforts
to benefit the people. At the same time however, the research on
and development of outer space weapons had also intensified, theories
of outer space war were being contemplated and the threat of the
weaponization of outer space had increased. Given the obvious inadequacies
in the international legal system for outer space, it was of utmost
necessity and urgency for the international community to prevent
the weaponization of and an arms race in outer space.
In order to consolidate the international community's common understanding
on the issue of prevention of an arms race in outer space, China,
Russia, the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR)
and Canada's Simons Foundation would jointly hold an international
conference on "Safeguarding Space Security: Prevention of an
Arms Race in Outer Space" on 21 and 22 March at the Palais
des Nations. He invited all the delegates of the Conference to attend
and actively participate in the discussions.
CARLO TREZZA (Italy) thanked the President of the Conference for
his efforts in trying to untangle the knot of the Conference. In
the President's efforts to give new impetus to the work of the Conference,
he and the Secretary-General of the Conference had sent a letter
to the foreign ministers of all member countries, inviting them
to make a statement to the Conference. He welcomed this initiative
as it would be useful to upgrade the level of the deliberations
of the Conference.
Italy was pleased that an agreement had been reached on the agenda,
and that on that basis, the Conference would now seek to proceed
in its institutional tasks. It was also satisfied that an understanding
had been reached on the fact that any issue could be dealt with
within the Conference. Italy believed that extending its discussions
on items which were "out of the box" was a health and
innovative exercise. The Conference should also be in tune with
issues which were relevant with the current international security
environment. In this connection, he wished to refer to the recent
announcement by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea on the
possession of nuclear weapons. He recalled the statement made in
this respect by the Presidency of the European Union which, inter
alia, expressed its strong preoccupation with the declaration of
the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and its regret for the
announcement of the suspension of its participation in the multilateral
negotiations on its nuclear programme.
Ambassador Trezza said that in the meantime, the Conference had
several issues "inside the box" which it should concentrate
its efforts on. Over the years, the Conference had heard what the
main priorities and the main security concerns were of the Member
States, and the time had come to seek a compromise on them. This
did not necessarily mean that the Conference must work on all of
them at the same time. The priority of Italy remained the negotiation
of a treaty banning the production of fissile material for nuclear
weapons or other nuclear explosive devices. Italy respected the
other priorities which had been put forward and its position on
the prevention of an arms race in outer space, nuclear disarmament
and negative security assurances were on the record. Italy also
would have no objection in principle in discussing conventional
disarmament at the Conference, including wider limitations on landmines,
provided that these were consistent with the Ottawa Convention.
SHAUKAT UMER (Pakistan), speaking in a farewell statement as he
would be retiring soon, said that Geneva had been a short but enriching
experience for him. However, he must state honestly that the Conference
on Disarmament had been a disappointment. Other bodies of the United
Nations passed resolutions, but the Conference created laws and
disciplines which administered State relations. This had not happened
for many years and it was a source of frustration for all the Members
of the Conference. However it was important that in reacting to
this situation, the Members should not exhibit this frustration.
There had been calls to suspend the Conference. He respected this
idea but begged to differ with it. In order to revive a body, it
should not be put to sleep. The objective should be to remain engaged;
the process of exploration, effort and endeavour must continue.
Ambassador Umer said that he wished to provide some perspective
on the present situation with the Conference. If the Conference
continued this way, there would be a total vacuum, and multilateralism
like nature abhorred vacuum. So the duties of the Conference would
be taken over by other forums and this would be a collective misfortune
for everyone. There were challenges to multilateralism. But he thought
that there were also challenges for multilateralism. He wondered
if multilaterlism had evolved sufficiently to deal with the dynamics
of this era. No one could disagree with the essence of multilateralism.
But maybe the time had come to look at how it had evolved with the
reality of our times. The Member States of the Conference should
see how these two streams, the challenge to multilateralism and
the challenge for multilateralism, could be harmonized.
AN MYONG HUN (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) said that
it had not been the intention of his delegation to make a statement
today. But after hearing the statement by Italy, he believed that
his delegation needed to make a brief statement on the issues raised
by Italy. First, everyone needed to remind themselves where they
were and where they stood in the work of the Conference. The Conference
had not held any substantive discussions for eight years. Indeed,
some were questioning the fate of the Conference. And suddenly,
within this context, an irrelevant issue was brought up by Italy
on the nuclear issue which was between the Democratic People's Republic
of Korea and the United States. The concern of Italy should be based
on a correct and proper stance to help resolve this issue. However,
the concern of Italy had been off track. He hoped that Italy fully
understood the essence of this issue, and that it understood why
the Democratic People's Republic of Korea had been compelled to
defer from participation in the six-way talks. The Democratic People's
Republic of Korea had a very big obstacle in the holding of the
six-way talks, and it had found that the obstacles facing the Conference
came from the same source. He hoped that Italy had a proper understanding
of the sources of the decisions which had compelled his country
to take this kind of measure.
CHRIS SANDERS (the Netherlands), President of the Conference, said
that he would be making his concluding statement as President on
Thursday, but he wanted to make another statement today. Last week,
he had circulated a text on a possible announcement by the President
on the identification of Special Coordinators for four subsidiary
bodies and their mandates. After informal consultations and careful
consideration of the various views of the Members of the Conference,
he had decided not to make this announcement. However, he wished
to go on record that this decision had no legal interpretation for
the question of whether the President had the authority to identify
a Special Coordinator. It remained his view that the President of
the Conference indeed had this authority. However, for the benefit
of future presidents, he had requested the advice of the United
Nations Legal Council on this issue. He wished to thank those who
had been available to become Special Coordinators.
* *** *
DC0505E
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
| 
