3 August 2004
Rhianna Tyson, Reaching Critical Will
The final session of the Conference on Disarmament is usually the most exciting of the three, 7-10 week long meetings. Last year, for example, China and the Russian Federation announced their flexibility to begin negotiations on a Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty (FMCT) even in the absence of parallel negotiations on the Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space (PAROS). This year, the United States upheld this "third session tradition" by announcing in the first official plenary that it has at long last completed its policy review on an FMCT.
After calling on Iran and North Korea to dismantle their alleged nuclear weapons programs- (accusations to which both Iran and theDPRK responded with their Right of Reply)- US Ambassador Jackie Sanders reaffirmed her country's commitment to negotiating a legally binding treaty banning the future production of fissile material, yet announced that the US retains "serious concerns" about the possible verification of an FMCT. In the near future, the US will be bringing in a team of technical experts to brief all CD members on the US position regarding verification and an FMCT.
Ambassador Sanders also proposed that the Conference work on negotiations on an international ban on the sale or export of "persistent land mines". Noting that such "persistent" land mines cause between 12,000-16,000 deaths per year, Ambassador Sanders stated that the US is replacing all of its landmines with "non-persistent, self-destructing, self-deactiving mines," and is working within the context of the Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) convention to bring anti-vehicular land mines "under control."
Many States, including Algeria, the Netherlands, the UK, France and Pakistan, expressed their satisfaction that the US has finalized its long-awaited review of an FMCT and looked forward to substantive discussion in these final weeks of the CD year. Mr. Markku Reimaa of Finland, in agreement with the American concerns over persistent landmines, used the opportunity to discuss his country's recent efforts "made in the CCW context."
Recognizing that the US has made an "important contribution...in address(ing) the humanitarian devastation wrought by landmines,"Canada believes that the US proposal creates "particular and fundamental difficulties" for the 41 CD Members which are also States Parties to the Ottawa Convention, by encouraging them to "enter negotiations on a lesser ban" which seeks to halt only one category of Anti-Personnel Mines. The Ottawa Convention provides for a much more comprehensive ban which Canada fears may be undermined by the US proposal; Canada is therefore encouraging its southern neighbor to pursue its proposal among non-States Parties to the Ottawa Convention only.
France's Ambassador Rivasseau echoed these concerns, questioning "the impact of this new American proposition" on existing efforts such as the Ottawa Convention and the upcoming review in Nairobi.
Counselor Damien Angelet of Belgium expressed disappointment that the A5 has still not yet been adopted, and supported the proposal to hold informal meetings on the matter in the coming weeks. Canadian Ambassador Paul Meyer reiterated his country's support for theA5 proposal "or any variant thereof that could command consensus support." Canada supports "a starting package" based on the A5, consisting of FMCT negotiations under the Shannon mandate, Ad Hoc Committees on nuclear disarmament and Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space. Such a package would kickstart "the CD back into an operational mode."
On other matters, Ambassador Fernando from Sri Lanka noted her country's accession to the Conventional Weapons Convention, andRussia's Ambassador Skotnikov announced his country's recent ratification of the Conventional Armed Forces Treaty in Europe.
When you're checking out Reaching Critical Will's Conference on Disarmament resources, be sure to also check out our newest edition, "Why the CD Still Matters: What NGOs need to do," by David Atwood, Quaker International.http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/political/cd/atwood.html
All statements are available at: http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/political/cd/speeches04/index.html.
All CD Advisories, including this one, are available at: http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/political/cd/speeches04/advisories.html
Press releases from UNOG can also be found at: http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/political/cd/press04/pressindex.html
A summary of statements by topic can be found at: http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/political/cd/speeches04/topic.html
Reaching Critical Will's Guide to the CD can be found at: http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/political/cd/cdbook.pdf
Other background information on the Conference can be found at:http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/political/cd/basicinfo/basicinfoindex.html
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