Mongolian CD Presidency Highlights on PAROS informals

Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)

Conference on Disarmament

General Assembly First Committee

UN Disarmament Commission

Special Session on Disarmament

Highlights of the Informal Plenary on
“Prevention of an arms race in outer space”
3 June 2004

As it was the case at the two first Informal Plenary Meetings devoted to discussing items on the agenda, the meeting of 27 May on “Prevention of an arms race in outer space” drew again a lot of interest. 18 Member States made statements, one of which was on behalf of the group of States.

Without attempting to provide an exhaustive summary of the statements, I would like to share with you some of my personal observations. My objective is to identify a number of key elements that were raised by delegates during the discussion.

We may recall that the Treaty on principles governing the activities of States in the exploration and use of outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, better known as the Outer Space Treaty, has stipulated that “exploration and use of outer space shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interest of all countries, and it shall be the province of mankind”.

As our discussion has manifested again, the use of space in daily activities and applications is constantly gaining in importance and it is to be feared that any disruption would have a dramatic impact on life on earth. The civil – commercial as well as so-called legitimate military use of space need to be secured. This legitimate military use of space is often referred to as passive military use such as surveillance, information gathering, command and control activities etc., although it has to be admitted that more clarity is needed on this definition. It is perceived, however, by many States that the placement of weapons in space could be a stimulus for the development of new weapon systems, trigger an arms race and eventually could lead to the collapse of the international security system.

A legal ad hoc framework has been in place for several decades now, not only based on the Outer Space Treaty, but also including other instruments such as the 1972 Convention on international responsibility for damage caused by objects from space and the 1976 Convention on the registration of objects in space.

However, it was underscored by delegates on several occasions, also at the informal meeting last Thursday, that these instruments and measures have become insufficient to prevent the weaponisation of outer space. This statement is in line with the results of the 1993 UN study by a group of governmental experts concluding that since the adoption of the Outer Space Treaty in 1967, “legal norms may have to be developed further, whenever appropriate, to address new developments in space technology and increasing universal interest in its application”.
Moreover, many States are regarding the issue of prevention of an arms race in outer space as their priority, and believe that, at a time where there are no weapons in space yet, it has become imperative to address the issue sooner rather than later in order to avoid attempting to negotiate a disarmament or non-proliferation agreement a-posteriori. It is encouraging that some States with the already developed space capabilities declared that they had no plans to deploy weapons in outer space. Furthermore, some of them were ready to submit relevant draft treaties on outer space when the relevant ad hoc committee is established.

Many delegations pointed out that various relevant UNGA Resolutions stipulate that the Conference on Disarmament, as the single multilateral disarmament negotiating forum, has the primary role in the negotiation of a multilateral agreement or agreements, as appropriate, on the prevention of an arms race in outer space.

Therefore, the re-establishment of an Ad Hoc Committee on PAROS in the CD, with an appropriate mandate, would be highly welcomed. It seems to me, however, that despite the positive reaction by some key delegations on the revised mandate of the Ad Hoc Committee on PAROS in the “A-5 proposal”, further harmonization of views is still required to ensure consensus on this particular part of the Programme of Work.

Awaiting the re-establishment of a subsidiary body, and without prejudice to the outcome of formal work in the Conference on the issue, some Members have proposed other avenues of approach, including but not limited to, steps to build confidence and maintain the normative threshold preventing the deployment of weapons in space, possibly through a Code of Conduct, as well as a moratorium on the testing and development of weapons to be put in space.
It is also worth emphasizing that during the discussion, proposals were made to establish an expert group within the CD, or at least to convene meetings of the Conference with the presence of experts, with a view of arriving at common understanding of various terms and definitions relevant to the issue of the prevention of an arms race in outer space. Obtaining clarity regarding key terms would represent a significant contribution to discussions that would be eventually undertaken in an Ad Hoc Committee on PAROS.

Finally, I would like to express my appreciation to the former Presidents of the CD for providing this body with the opportunity to have an exchange of views on the agenda items. This exercise can be conducive to ensuring the convergence of views on various security-related issues and eventually to bringing us closer to a Programme of Work acceptable to the whole membership of the Conference. I also wish to thank the Members of the Conference for their active contributions to the discussions.

I thank you.