4 June 2004

Rhianna Tyson, Project Associate

This week at the CD, Poland, the United States, the Russian Federation and Sudan all delivered statements on the floor. Ambassador Khasbazaryn Bekhbat of Mongolia, speaking in his national capacity, presented highlights from the informal plenary on the Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space (PAROS) that took place on May 27.

The statements are available at: http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/political/cd/speeches04/index.html

Poland discussed the First Anniversary of the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), which just welcomed Panama as its newest "participant" on Friday, June 4. Russian Ambassador Anton Vasilev declared Russia's membership to the group as of May 31, noting that the PSI's success depends largely on its compatibility with international and national laws, and cautioned against allowing the initiative to "create obstacles to legitimate scientific work."

With Sudan's observer status accepted, Ambassador Mohamed Elhassan Ahmed Elhaj addressed the Conference on behalf of the Arab Group, stressing that disarmament and non-proliferation remains a top priority for Arab countries. He informed the Conference that the League of Arab States has set up a committee of experts to prepare a draft for a Middle East zone free from so-called weapons of mass destruction, in accordance with the Fifth NPT Review conference Final Document, which calls upon Israel to accede to the NPT and place all facilities under IAEA inspections. Ambassador Yaakov Levy of Israel responded, criticizing the new observer State for "politicizing" the Conference.

Ambassador Jackie Sanders of the United States reported on the "Global Threat Reduction Initiative" that Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham discussed at the IAEA conference in Vienna last week. Through this initiative, the United States has pledged $450 million to "secure and dispose of a broad range of nuclear and radiological materials around the world that are vulnerable to theft." Like other non-proliferation programs, such as the G8 Global Parternship, the Global Threat Reduction Initiative will focus first and foremost on Russia. Through the Initiative, the U.S. hopes to repatriate all Russian-originated highly enriched uranium (HEU) back to Russia by the end of 2005. The U.S. is already seeking to repatriate U.S.-originated HEU through an already existing program. Furthermore, Ambassador Sanders noted, the U.S. will be "working to convert" highly-enriched uranium research reactors to low-enriched uranium fuel, "both in the United States and worldwide."

The U.S. will speak more on the threat from so-called weapons of mass destruction in next week's informal plenary on "new types of weapons of mass destruction and new systems of such weapons."

To many States, preventing an arms race in outer space is a primary security concern. As Ambassador Bekhbat noted in his summary, the existing instruments and measures, including the Outer Space Treaty and the 1972 and 1976 Conventions on space, "have become insufficient to prevent the weaponization of outer space." This insufficiency is becoming increasingly urgent, as "the use of space in daily activities and applications is constantly gaining more importance," and as "so-called legitimate military use(s)" of space, while increasingly refenced in debates on space, do not have a clear, legal definition.

Some space-capable States, noted Ambassador Bekhbat, have "declared that they had no plans to deploy weapons in outer space" and that "some of them were ready to submit relevant draft treaties on outer space" once an Ad Hoc Committee is established.

Such a committee, as called for in the A5 agenda, is dependent on "further harmonization of views" regarding PAROS.

In the meanwhile, the ambassador suggested, Members should explore "other avenues" to keep space for peace, including a moratorium on the testing and deveopment of space-based weapons, or through a Code of Conduct. (The Henry L. Stimson Center has recently released a Model Code of Conduct for the Prevention of Incidents and Dangerous Military Practices in Outer Space.) He suggested also that the CD consider establishing an expert group on space and space weapons and peaceful uses, "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." He added, "Obtaining clarity regarding key terms would be represent a significant contribution to discussions that would be eventually undertaken in an Ad Hoc Committee on PAROS."

September 25- October 2, 2004, is the International Keep Space for Peace Week, co-sponsored by WILPF and Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space. For more updates on the PAROS campaign, [email protected]" style="color: rgb(142, 95, 189); text-decoration: none; ">subscribe to RCW's General E-News Advisories and bookmark the RCW Disarmament Calendar to learn about Space for Peace events in your area.

For more resources on PAROS, see: http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/legal/paros/parosindex.html.
This CD Advisory is archived at: http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/political/cd/speeches04/advisories.html.
The United Nations in Geneva also issues weekly press releases on the CD available at:http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/political/cd/press04/pressindex.html

************************************************