29 January 2008

Conference President Samir Labidi of Tunisia opened the third meeting of the Conference on Disarmament (CD) with an overview of his proposed "plan of activities" for the Conference's first session. He then closed the plenary for an informal five minute discussion on his proposal. Delegates from Sri Lanka (on behalf of the Group of 21), Japan, the Republic of Korea, Pakistan, Australia, Israel, Germany, Brazil, Egypt, Chile, and Iran also took the floor.

The President's plan of activities includes a series of informal discussions based on the seven agenda items of the CD, rather than the identified four "core issues"—fissile materials cut-off treaty (FMCT), prevention of an arms race in outer space, nuclear disarmament, and negative security assurances. By not specifically focusing on the four core issues, the plan of activities begs the question, where does discussion of a fissile materials treaty fit in—under the agenda item nuclear disarmament, or under prevention of a nuclear war and related matters? The agenda item under which this issue is discussed affects how it is approached and developed—for example, will it be treated as a disarmament measure or a non-proliferation measure?

The President also appointed coordinators for each of the agenda items. Agenda item 1, cessation of the nuclear arms race and nuclear disarmament, will be coordinated by Ambassador Juan Martabit of Chile; agenda item 2, prevention of nuclear war, including all related matters, by Ambassador Sumio Tarui of Japan; agenda item 3, prevention of an arms race in outer space, by Ambassador Marius Grinius of Canada; agenda item 4, negative security assurances, by Ambassador Moussa Bocar Ly of Senegal; agenda item 5, new types and systems of weapons of mass destruction and radiological weapons, by Ambassador Petko Draganov of Bulgaria; and agenda item 6, comprehensive programme of disarmament, by Ambassador Dayan Jayatilleka of Sri Lanka. The President is still in consultation over a coordinator for agenda item 7, transparency in armaments, and hopes to appoint someone by the next plenary on Thursday. The plan of activities designates Tuesday and Thursday mornings for plenary meetings. As always, this proposal does not preclude any delegation from raising any issue at any time.

Coordinators will serve in their personal capacities, as they did last year. Pakistan's Ambassador Masood Khan emphasized this point, reminding the Conference that these appointed coordinators do not fall under Rule 23 in the rules of procedure—that is, they are not special coordinators mandated to lead negotiations. He stressed, "the coordinators will work informally and unofficially under the authority of the Presidents.... The reports of the coordinators [based on] discussions held by them will have no status; they will be transmitted under the authority of the President."

All delegations that took the floor supported the plan of activities, though Germany's Ambassador Bernhard Brasack reiterated his "full and unequivocal support" for last year's Presidential Draft Decision, L.1, which he said is still on the table today. Delegates from Australia, Brazil, Chile, and the Republic of Korea also expressed their support for document L.1. Pakistan's delegation indicated its position on the programme of work contained in L.1 has not changed from last year, citing continued national security concerns—which in the past have included the US-India deal. Ambassador Brasack argued that, as Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in his opening speech last week, the adoption of L.1 "would not deprive any CD Member State of the ability to assert its national position in the subsequent phases of the Conference's work." Ambassador Brasack also argued that this year's plan of activities "must avoid a simple repetition of these discussions, rather it needs to be purposeful and build on their results."

Ambassador Caroline Miller of Australia echoed this sentiment, saying "we have 'talked the talk' ... it's time 'we walk the walk.'" She also endorsed the idea of beginning substantive work on the basis of L.1, and called for negotiations on an FMCT, arguing, "such a treaty is essential and practical contribution to global nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation." She explained that an FMCT should prohibit the production of enriched uranium and separated plutonium for nuclear weapons, have a periodic review of national implementation, and appropriate measures to ensure effective verification of State's implementation. Ambassador Miller argued that the mandate for negotiations set out in L.1 ensures the "opportunity for all positions—be they on verification, stocks or other issues—to be scrutinized and tested as can only be done in a genuine negotiation." Ambassador Brasack likewise called for negotiations on an FMCT, arguing that it is the only issue "ripe for negotiation."

Ambassador Miller also expressed interest in discussing a treaty on the prevention of the placement of weapons in outer space on the basis of L.1, and discussions on negative security assurances and nuclear disarmament. She emphasized nuclear weapon free zones as "an effective means by which negative security assurances can be provided," and called upon nuclear weapon states "to make deeper, faster and irreversible cuts to all types of nuclear weapons—and to do so with even greater transparency."

In addition to the four core issues, which were discussed by most of delegations that took the floor, Ambassador Itzhak Levanon of Israel said "the threat of terrorism in all its dimensions; and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery" should be the highest priorities of the CD. He argued that these "two fundamental threats to global peace and security" need to be addressed in order to create "the conditions that would allow eventually achieving general and complete disarmament." He stated that the transfer of arms to terrorists "is a scourge to modern civilization" and that "such arms transfers do not occur in vacuum." He also discussed the importance of national laws to implement international agreements, emphasizing the role of export control regimes and arguing that "national legislation is the basic feature for addressing proliferation threats.

A number of administrative matters were raised by delegates during the course of the meeting. The delegation from the Dominican Republic was approved to be an observer member, and the Netherlands' Ambassador Landman raised the issue of excessive paper consumption. This matter makes one wonder, will the CD continue to merely push around paper, or will we see some progress this year? Civil society requests, "a little less conversation, a little more action please."

The next plenary session will be on Thursday, 31 January at 10am.

- Sandra Fong, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
- Ray Acheson, Reaching Critical Will