Reaching Critical Will

Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)

Conference on Disarmament

General Assembly First Committee

UN Disarmament Commission

Special Session on Disarmament

Conference on Disarmament Adopts Agenda for 2006 Session
24 January 2006

The Conference on Disarmament today held the first plenary of its 2006 session in which it adopted its agenda and approved the participation of 26 States as observers.

Ambassador Zdzislaw Rapacki of Poland, President of the Conference, said every effort had to be made to break the stalemate within the body. Creativity, flexibility and political will were needed to make the Conference live up to its challenges.

Also speaking on how to end the impasse in the Conference were the Representatives of the Netherlands, South Africa, Chili and the Russian Federation.

The Representative of Peru, the outgoing President of the Conference, said that the results of Peru’s long presidency during the intercessional period would be conveyed to the Conference in due course.

The 2006 agenda for the Conference includes the following items: cessation of the nuclear arms race and nuclear disarmament; prevention of nuclear war, including all related matters; prevention of an arms race in outer space; effective international arrangements to assure non-nuclear-weapon States against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons; new types of weapons of mass destruction and new systems of such weapons, including radiological weapons; comprehensive programme of disarmament; transparency in armaments; and consideration and adoption of the annual report and any other report, as appropriate, to the General Assembly of the United Nations.

After adopting the agenda, the President read out a statement in which he said that it was the understanding of the President that if there was a consensus in the Conference to deal with any issues, they could be dealt with within this agenda.

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in his message to the Conference, said the Conference was meeting at a time of heightened anxiety about a series of setbacks over the past year in arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation. It was imperative that lessons be drawn from these setbacks. States needed to prove that the Conference was capable of carrying out its mandated role as the world’s single negotiating forum for multilateral disarmament. Last year’s session had made it clear that the impasse could not be broken by procedural means, or fine-tuning existing proposals. Capitals needed to thoroughly reassess attitudes towards the Conference and develop a new political consensus on priorities in arms control and disarmament. Through its membership and accumulated experience, the Conference had an advantage over any other negotiating body in this field, and the Secretary-General hoped that the Conference would use this advantage and demonstrate the vision, the political will and the patience required to restore confidence in the ability of the Conference to meet new challenges.

The Conference also approved requests from the following 26 States to participate in its 2006 session as observers: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Holy See, Jordan, Latvia, Libya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malta, Mauritius, Philippines, Portugal, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovenia, Sudan, Thailand, Uruguay and Zambia.

Before approving the requests, Turkey said that it hoped 2006 would be a turning point in efforts to end the impasse facing the Conference. Turkey noted that it accepted the list of observers, bearing in mind the letters addressed by Turkey to the Secretary-General of the Conference in documents CD/1438 and CD/1738. Cyprus noted the comment by Turkey concerning the letters, which he said questioned the legal status of Cyprus, adding that his country had responded to them and drew the attention of the Conference to documents CD/1439 and CD1740.

At the beginning of the meeting, the President expressed the condolences of the Conference to the Governments and peoples of Pakistan and India after the terrible earthquake of 8 October, as well as to the Government of Slovakia and the families of the 42 Slovak citizens serving with the NATO-led Kosovo Force who had died in a plane accident. The Conference observed a minute of silence in memory of the victims.

The Representatives of Pakistan, India and Slovakia thanked the Conference for the condolences expressed.

The next plenary of the Conference will be held at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 26 January.

Statements

ZDZISLAW RAPACKI, (Poland), President of the Conference on Disarmament, said the Conference on Disarmament had an important role to play in assuring international security and peace. Its importance was particularly crucial today in the era of multi-polar international relations. There were diverse challenges facing international security, including the management and destruction of stockpiles of cold war era weapons, non-state actors and weapons of mass destruction. The role of the Conference today was substantial – it could make a difference and could lay the foundations for a better world tomorrow. Every effort had to be made to break the stalemate within the Conference. Creativity, flexibility and political will were needed to make the Conference live up to its challenges.

Ambassador Rapacki said it was the duty of every President of the Conference to seek consensus on the programme of work, and he and all the Presidents of the 2006 session would spare no efforts to find possible ways to achieve this. He had been conducting bilateral consultations with delegations on the possibilities of adopting the programme of work. He would complete these consultations by 2 February, but it seemed that there was no change in the positions of countries. However, he had noted more flexibility and readiness for more creativity. He planned to invite delegates to conduct a debate based on the agenda of the Conference to identify issues which might constitute possible elements of future programmes of work. The need to advance the work of the Conference had prompted the initiative to invite all the Presidents of the 2006 session of the Conference to cooperate on the possible shape of the session, and to assure continuity of actions by consecutive Presidents. He had invited all the Presidents of 2006, or the P6, for consultations with the groups’ coordinators. He hoped all State Members would play their role in reviving the substantive work of the Conference. He encouraged Member States to submit papers, proposals and ideas. Only then could the Conference start to work.

JOHANNES LANDMAN (Netherlands) said the Netherlands was pleased by the efforts shown by the six Presidents (P6) to work closely together in preparations for the upcoming session of the Conference. The efforts towards a timetable of activities for the whole year, and in particular the agreement on the appointment of six “Friends of the Chair”, were new and welcome developments that should help the Conference make better use of its time and resources. The Netherlands suggested that the P6 should propose right away a timetable for the issues of a fissile material cut-off treaty, prevention of an arms race in outer space, nuclear disarmament, and negative security assurances. This would create the conditions for much-needed momentum in the Conference that could indeed pave the way for a common understanding as to what issues were ripe for immediate negotiations and which ones deserved further study and reflection. The Netherlands was ready to start negotiating on a fissile material cut-off treaty, and it was ready to engage in the discussions without bias. At the same time, it expected from its partners a reciprocal open-mindedness.

GLAUDINE MTSHALI (South Africa) said the inability of the Conference to fulfill its role as the single multilateral negotiating forum in the field of disarmament had less to do with the perceived structural and organizational difficulties facing the forum than the inability of Member States to show the necessary political will and flexibility to allow for progress to take place. South Africa was also pleased that the President had consulted with the future Presidents of the Conference for the remainder of this year and the “Friends of the Chair” proposal. The proposal of the Five Ambassadors would still appear to have attracted the strongest majority of those sitting in the Conference and represented the most realistic proposal for the adoption of a programme of work. South Africa appealed to all Members of the Conference to have a spirit of flexibility as well as the necessary political good will to enable the Conference to live up to its reputation. South Africa believed that the time was right for the Conference to reassert itself and play its designated role. The Conference Members should respect each other’s views, should be receptive to alternative ideas, and should be committed to translate the international community’s aspirations into action.

JUAN MARTABIT (Chile) said all Member States of the Conference knew that this situation could not continue. It was high time that the Conference got down to work. Chili assured the President and his successors of the complete support of the Chilean delegation in their efforts.

VALERY LOSHCHININ (Russian Federation) said the Russian delegation would continue to do its utmost effort in order to allow the Conference as soon as possible to resolve the main issues, achieve consensus on the programme of work and renew substantive activities. He agreed with what the President said that political will was born in capitals, and he said that he would work on developing the political will from here in Geneva, also urging other delegations to do the same. The Russian Federation was ready to adopt the agenda of the Conference this year in its traditional form which would allow the Conference to consider and practice any specific issue if there was agreement to do so.