2 February 2004

 

Rhianna Tyson, Project Associate

The Conference on Disarmament’s 2004 session opened in Geneva on January 20th. Kenya holds the presidency with Ambassador Amina Mohamed presiding. She is the second consecutive female CD president, taking up the arduous task after Japan’s Ambassador Kuniko Inoguchi. 

In addition to adopting by consensus its agenda for the 2004 session (document CD/WP.533) and approving the requests from Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece and Jordan to join the work of the Conference as non-members, the Conference also heard a statement from Syria’s Ambassador Mikhail Wehbe on its opening day. 

Invoking the recent GA resolution 58 of December 2003, Ambassador Wehbe reiterated the call for a Nuclear Weapon Free Zone (NWFZ) in the Middle East. He also reiterated the widely held desire for a binding instrument for Negative Security Assurances (NSAs) for Non-Nuclear Weapon States (NNWS). 

It is hoped that if the long-idle CD begins substantive work this year, it will begin negotiations on a Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty. One of the longstanding points of contention on an FMCT is the issue of “existing stocks.” Some States, mainly Nuclear Weapon States (NWS), believe that any treaty that works to ban fissile materials should first concentrate on halting their future production. In the words of U.K. Ambassador David Broucher, we must “first shut off the water tap" of production, before we can start negotiating ceilings on stockpiles. In its statement to the CD on January 20, Syria stated the opposing view, held by many NNWS, that a future treaty on fissile materials should also include capping the existing stockpiles of such materials. 

On Thursday, January 29, Iran, France, Morocco, Colombia, Slovakia and Algeria took the floor. 

Faced with the ongoing inactivity of the CD, many Member States are sending high-level delegates to Geneva, with the intent of raising the political visibility and pressure on that august body. The Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Kamal Kharazzi, delivered Iran’s first statement to the 2004 session. 

Mr. Kharazzi outlined the current political climate, defining it as one marked by a “change in the nature of threat perceptions” and a “further militarization of the international arena.” It is an appropriate reminder to the world’s sole body for disarmament negotiations that, as Mr. Kharazzi flatly stated, “Increased militarism does not necessary translate into increased security.” At a time when measures to combat weapons proliferation are increasingly failing to incorporate disarmament measures as an integral part of nonproliferation efforts, Mr. Kharazzi argued that, “Militarization has a decisive role in the existence and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. It threatens international peace and security.” 

“Nuclear disarmament,” said the Minister, “should necessarily be the focus of any attempt here. It is an embarrassment that nuclear weapons still exist in defiance to human civilization’s quest.” He claimed that the 13 Steps of the NPT 2000 Review Conference have been "put on ice," and that the “unverifiable, limited” bilateral agreements between NWS are “devoid of effective international guarantees for irreversibility.” While recognizing that his call for “political will” in the CD was just one of many, he urged the “introduction of new ideas” so that we can “comprehend the prerequisites of such a political will.” 

Mr. Kharazzi concluded his statement by asserting Iran’s “inalienable right to nuclear technology” as a Party to the NPT. He maintained that Iran is working with the fullest measures of transparency possible, despite the “illegal active campaign to deprive Iran of its right” to nuclear technology. The December signing of the IAEA Additional Protocol is just one more demonstration of Iran’s commitment to “the NPT to protect our supreme interests in a secure environment while ensuring our sustainable development.” 

Where Mr. Kharazzi saw a “change in the nature of threat perceptions”, France’s Ambassador François Rivasseau asserted that the present international situation has indeed changed and necessitated new issues and methods of work. Terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction are “two asymmetrical menaces which have changed the strategic equation.” Nonetheless, he insisted that new measures taken in the field of disarmament should not be underestimated. 

Morocco’s Ambassador Omar Hilale deplored the CD’s infamous stalemate, and asserted that his country would not “resign itself to this fate.” In addition to terrorism and WMD proliferation, Morocco added “the double standard of the perception” of WMD to the list of “new and complex threats.” 

Ambassador Clemencia Forero Ucrós of Colombia, made her statement from “the modest perspective of a NNWS,” one that is a member of a continent-wide Nuclear Weapon Free Zone. She noted Colombia’s participation in the Ottawa Process, the Small Arms Plan of Action, as well as the past contributions to the CD made by her predecessor, Ambassador Reyes.

Ambassador Kalman Petocz stressed Slovakia’s prioritization of the Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty as a starting point for the CD’s work in the new year. He also noted that Colombia’s national instrument of ratification of the Convention on the Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) is in transit to the Secretary-General. 

Finally, Ambassador Nassima Baghli of Algeria, as one of the Five Ambassadors whose proposal for an agenda is ever closer to adoption, voiced her pleasure at the “great support” that the A5 proposal has received. 

This is the first advisory on the Conference on Disarmament for the 2004 session. All available statements are posted at:http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/political/cd/speeches04/index04.html. 

At the moment, not all statements delivered are available in English. We are trying to obtain English-versions of all of the statements delivered since the CD’s opening on January 20th. In the meanwhile, we apologize for any inconvenience. 

All CD Advisories are archived at: http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/political/cd/speeches04/advisories.html. All advisories from last year’s sessions, including a summary of statements by topic, are available at:http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/political/cd/alerts.html. 

All press releases from UNOG are available at: http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/political/cd/press04/pressindex.html. 

To read a summary of the A5 proposal see: http://www.unog.ch/news2/documents/newsen/dc0304e.htm. 

For more on a Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty see: 
http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/political/1com/1com03/FCM/finalreport.html#fissmat

For more on Nuclear Weapon Free Zones see: http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/political/politicalindex.html andhttp://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/political/1com/1com03/FCM/finalreport.html#NWFZ

For more on Negative Security Assurances in the First Committee see:http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/political/1com/1com03/FCM/wk4.htm#NSA

See also the Reaching Critical Will Guide to the Conference on Disarmament, updated in September 2003:http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/political/cd/cdbook.pdf. 

As always, we welcome all comments, questions, concerns, or suggestions.