30 August 2007

The Conference on Disarmament (CD) is preparing for the end of the 2007 session. In todays plenary, CD President Ambassador Hamoui of Syria introduced his Presidential Report which summarizes the work of the third session. He announced that a draft of the annual report from the Conference on Disarmament to the UN General Assembly has been prepared and will be circulated shortly. The Draft Report GA will be discussed informally by all CD Members next Tuesday morning before it is introduced in the next formal plenary meeting at 10 am, Tuesday, 4 September. During the plenary, Ambassador Elisabet Borsiin Bonnier of Sweden presented her farewell remarks and Ambassador Marius Grinius of Canada was welcomed to the Conference.

CD President Ambassador Hamoui reviewed his observations in his Presidential Report on the work of the CD's third session. He summarized his evaluation in three points:

1. A wide range of delegations expressed their support for the Presidential Proposal based on the three annexed documents, L.1**, CRP.5*, and CRP.6*. Some delegations, though they had some concerns and reservations about certain elements, said that they would not oppose consensus on the Proposal. Others expressed their position that more work and consultations were needed to reach consensus.

2. The CD has achieved substantive progress by conducting important thematic debates on all agenda items. But it has not yet reached consensus on a Program of Work.

3. Momentum has been created to move the Conference on Disarmament out of its longstanding stalemate, and the efforts to reach an agreement must be continued.

Concerning the annual Draft Report, CD President Ambassador Hamoui stated that the six CD Presidents had reached consensus on its content. He called on the Conference to show the necessary flexibility to facilitate the adoption of the report.

Ambassador Borsiin Bonnier, in her farewell remarks, noted the alarming new threats to global security. In the nuclear field, brinkmanship is replacing statesmanship. Military expenditures are rising and States continue to seek the illusion of an impenetrable defense. Space assets are not secure and "cyber war" is no longer a science fiction. "The overall balance between global security problems solved and those unsolved is, I believe, negative," she said.

Ambassador Bonnier said, at times, the CD has been "the anchor of sincere multilateral work" on disarmament and the "center of gravity" of the international community. It has been vibrant, energetic, and determined to make a difference. It has negotiated and defended important instruments of international law.

At other times, it has been the opposite: "an anemic stalemate with delegations resorting to recitals of ceremonious mantras, covering up the traces of their own passivity by useless finger-pointing and blame-games, hiding behind the commas of the rules of procedure and shamelessly abusing the consensus-rule to abort any attempt to seriously tackle difficult or sensitive issues—in effect taking the whole multilateral approach to disarmament and arms control hostage to their own particular perceptions, preferences or dictates," she said.

Ambassador Bonnier called on Member States to utilize the opportunity before them and the multilateral forum of the CD. "Rejecting the use of the CD is irresponsible," she said. "Those blocking the potentials of this body should understand that they are inflicting real damage not only to the security of others, to our common security, but in the long run also their own."

Reflecting on her work as one of this year's CD Presidents and her efforts to achieve consensus on the L.1 Proposal through crafting a Complementary Presidential Statement and clarifying Draft Decision to link the documents into a concise package, Ambassador Bonnier said the CD was close to a beginning. "As I am now leaving, I am sorry not to be with you when you cross the last bridge. Because crossing it you will. There is no other way," she said.

The next formal plenary meeting will take place on Tuesday, 4 September at 10 am.

- Katherine Harrison, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom