Reaching Critical Will

Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)

Conference on Disarmament

General Assembly First Committee

UN Disarmament Commission

Special Session on Disarmament

Statement by Ambassador Jean- François Dobelle of France
to the Conference on Disarmament 10th June 2008

Unofficial Transcript

Thank you very much Mr. President.

Mr. President, since I am speaking for the first time since you assumed the Presidency on the Conference on Disarmament, I should like to start by congratulating you on your assumption to this office and for the excellent way in which you have so far led us in our work. I also wish to take this opportunity to assure you of my delegations full support as you conduct your task.

I wanted to take the floor today to refer to a subject which my delegation believes should be more amply discussed here in this forum and here I am referring to the question of Small Arms and Light Weapons. Before I start my statement on this subject, however, I should like to take this opportunity to make it clear that within the conduct of work within the Conference, my delegations associates itself fully with the declaration delivered on the 15th of May by Slovenia speaking as President of the Council of European Union.

Mr. President, despite what their name might suggest, small arms and light weapons and their munitions cause tremendous damage as has already been noted by numerous non-governmental organizations interested in this question. If we refer to the damage caused by their uncontrolled spread, these are true weapons of mass destruction. The United Nations Secretary General at the request of the Security Council recently produced a report evaluating the 12 recommendations contained in his 2002 report on light weapons. This new Secretary General report describes the lasting destabilization of societies, the plundering of their resources and the thousands of victims who result from the uncontrolled spread of small arms and light weapons through out the world and particularly in Sub-Sahara in Africa.

The presentation of this report then led during the course of the meeting held on the 30th of April within the Security Council to a particularly rich and interesting debate, to which I wish to follow up now.

Mr. President, France is deeply committed on a national level to combating the illicit and trafficking of small arms light weapons and this has been the case for a long time. Already back in 2001, France contributed actively to drafting and adopting a UN Action Plan which will be holding its 3rd Biennial Meeting of States next July at a time when France will taking over the Presidency of the Council of European Union.

My country pursued these initiatives within different fora. Within the framework of the European Union, France played an important role in collaborating and adopting a code of conduct governing exports of arms and a strategy to combat the illicit traffic of small arms and light weapons and their ammunitions. We also presented an international initiative again in a number of fora – the G8, the European Union, the OSCE, and the Wassenaar arrangement – to which we are particularly attached to combat unlawful air trafficking.

We know because of the reports from United Nations panels of experts that trafficking of light weapons frequently is done by air. It is also well known that the traffickers foil the attempts of authorities to control these movements by falsifying transport documents, flight plans, aircraft registration and by engaging in risky flights to escape control. The French initiative initially aims to strengthening the exchange of information amongst states as to their control mechanisms and to allow for better cooperation. And the second stage, it aims at promoting partnership with air transport firms so as to identity the best measures to be adopted bearing in mind the economy of this sector. And then at the third stage, finally, we intend to set up guides for the best practice.

We would like to encourage states given the inherent gaps in globalization to ensure both upstream and downstream control of transfers of small arms and light weapons including in transit, which is frequently where these weapons are diverted. In order to narrow the grey zone where these arms traffickers, non state actors, terrorists movements and organized crimes get weapons capable of destabilizing states or entire regions, or to carry out terrorists acts or acts of piracy. Our approach is also aimed at strengthening the cooperation among states, these are the unlawful agents making use of existing regulations specific to each state, and facilitating exchanges of information between the relevant states services. Our action is part of a strategy of prevention and awareness raising. Thanks to this guide for best practices, we hope that these states will be able to improve the implementation of the controls required by their national regulations or by international regulations in a more systematic and responsible fashion. It is particularly important for the states concerned by transit, take into account the risks of their cargoes being diverted or the violation of the United Nations embargo bearing in mind, the criteria in this guide.

In our view, the guide would be a tool to help decisions by state national services responsible for the control of air traffic; these services do not always have the necessary expertise or the necessary reflexes to control this type of traffic. The guide could lead to actions involving cooperation and assistance to states who requested the same. If we manage to promote within those states structures concerned by air transport and in ways that are within the specificities of each state and in respect to their sovereignty, I say we managed to raise awareness as to their responsibility in combating arms trafficking, we would have met the main goal of our initiative and the rest will be up to the determination of each state to exchange the relevant information allowing for an effective control and combating networks of arms traffickers. Transport is an essential hub in this traffic and we hope to cut through it.

And finally within the United Nations, my country is committed to a number of initiatives to which we attach great hope because they will make it possible to tackle a number of essential aspects of trafficking and here I will refer to four areas.

First of all, the origin of small arms and light weapons - traceability and markings of small arms and light weapons is an essential aspect in being able to combat the trafficking and it is for this reason that France and Switzerland took the initiative of an international instrument adopted in 2005. We could have hoped that this instrument would have had legally binding value. International cooperation is still far too weak in this area, however, we are pleased that this initiative did allow us to take a step forward to the future.

Second, the intermediaries. My country is actively involved in the ongoing collaboration of an instrument to combat illegal brokering of small arms and light weapons, we know that brokers have become a central and inevitable harmful aspect in trafficking.

The third aspect, munitions. Munitions are this indispensable adjunct to SALW, it’s not just the arms and weapons but also their munitions and their clandestine stockpile which feeds conflict. France is thus deeply committed to the work of the group of experts on surplus stocks of munitions which meeting this year in New York pursuant to our initiative launched jointly with Germany in 2006.

The fourth aspect has to do with those who receive these weapons. Now we support all initiatives designed to ensure better control of SALW. We are pleased to note in this connection, the work of experts on the Arms Trade Treaty. This is a major initiative which is designed to be applied not only to SALW but also contribute to a more responsible management transfers and to better international cooperation in this area.

It is too soon to prejudge how the ongoing work will result because we are only half way through the four weeks of meetings planned. What we see at this stage is an increasingly clear idea as to what over and beyond the very general terms of the mandate provided by Resolution 61/89 on the 6th of December 2006. As to what I say, experts might be led to do in a useful fashion.

Here and this is not in order of priority, we are referring to the technical feasibility of such an instrument, the precise definition of categories of materials to which the provisions of a future treaty would apply and the nature and modes of implementation of such provisions. This latter point of course will remain the most difficult until the process is completed. We nonetheless are convinced that it will be possible to reach an understanding on a minimum of common criteria.

Mr. President, these intensive efforts should not lead us to forget how long the path yet to be traveled, we have a number of essential deadlines before us. I cannot but encourage the members to involve themselves fully in the next Biennial Meeting of state parties to the United Nations Action Program and to work within various groups of experts whose work is ongoing. We owe this to the victims both today and the victims tomorrow, in particular women and children. This is a very heavy responsibility that we bear as guarantees of international peace and security.

Speaking on this subject within the Conference, I obviously am not trying to ask the Conference to deal with a subject already dealt with else where from different perspective but rather to contribute to this work in awakening our consciousness and this is something that we should be fully focused on in connection with this crucial question.

Thank you very much Sir.