Unripe fruit at the Conference on Disarmament

During the Friday plenary meeting of the Conference on Disarmament (CD), the current CD president was unable to put CD/1866 (the draft schedule of activities) or CD/1867 (the draft list of chairs and coordinators) forward for decision. Several delegations expressed frustration with the ongoing stalemate and the Chinese delegation explained its concerns with the texts.

Brief highlights
• The Western Group and the Eastern European Group announced their support for documents CD/1866 and CD/1867.
• The delegations of Mexico, France, Japan, and United Kingdom expressed their frustration and puzzlement regarding the stalemate over the adoption of the two procedural documents. 
• China’s delegation explained its concerns with the two documents.
• Pakistan’s delegation said the CD is not yet ready to adopt the documents.
• In this closing remarks, the current CD president encouraged any delegations with remaining concerns to resolve their issues over the weekend.
• The incoming CD president, Ambassador Millar of Australia, announced that Gareth Evans will address the next plenary meeting.

Support
Sweden’s representative Mr. Magnus Hellgren, speaking on behalf of the Western Group, reiterated that the Group is “very much ready to accept” CD/1866 and CD/1867, which constitute an “excellent basis to now implement our work programme.” Likewise, Ambassador Maria Ciobanu of Romania announced that the Eastern European Group is ready to support both documents.

Frustration and silence
Expressing her frustration that consensus on these procedural documents has not yet been met, Mexico’s Deputy Permanent Representative Mabel Gómez Oliver said this is a rather difficult situation to explain to capitals and the public. She said her delegation regrets “the fact that we continue to postpone the commencement of our work and we continue to bear a debt to the international community in general.” Ambassador John Duncan of the United Kingdom also expressed “puzzlement” with the current situation, arguing that the documents have been in circulation for weeks, more than enough time to get instructions from capitals. He asked who in the room is not in the position to answer this procedural question.

Ambassador Roberto Garcia Moritan of Argentina, the current CD president, also asked if there were any “fresh elements” since yesterday’s consultations that “might enable us to make progress.” The silence in the chamber that met this questions indicated that the CD is “in the same situation we found ourselves in yesterday morning,” and the president found that there is not “sufficient space and opportunity” for the Council to adopt either of the documents.

Ambassador Eric Danon of France noted, sometimes “silence is a positive thing, some[times] silence is rather ambiguous and there are days where silence leads you to think you are getting towards a solution and days when silence leaves us totally doubting everything.” In order to “get out of this rather difficult moment,” he suggested that the CD should seek to discover who might have problems with the texts, as a “symbolic” step forward. Japan’s representative agreed with the delegations of Mexico, the United Kingdom, and France, arguing that the CD cannot continue to schedule plenary meetings just to sit there without saying anything.

The situation
Ambassador Moritan noted that before this plenary, a number of regional groups had stressed the importance of addressing the two documents today, though from his consultations he understands that the same stalemate facing the Conference yesterday persists today. He explained, “I can understand the concern from Delegations to see us take a decision straight away and nothing would be more pleasing to me than to do so. However, it is my understanding that the Conference on Disarmament is not yet in a position to adopt a decision on those two documents.” Therefore, Ambassador Moritan expressed hope that the delegations that have asked for more time will be able to resolve their issues quickly and encouraged delegations to take the weekend to reflect on the situation, insisting that preserving the positive atmosphere in the CD is an important matter.

Concerns
Arguing that perhaps the “melon is not yet ripe,” Ambassador Wang Qun of China explained his delegation’s concerns with CD/1866 and CD/1867. He said that CD/1867 does not contain clear mandates for the chairs and coordinators, such as how they would take turns or the length of their terms. He also explained that his delegation believes a comprehensive package is needed that clearly states how each document is related to each other, what the process for implementing them is, and explains that the relevance of these decisions is limited to 2009. He argued that if these elements are not made clear now, it is like a “time bomb integrated in the foundation of the building.” He argued that delegations have had less than 24 hours to consider these documents, reminding the Conference that just because a delegation requires more time does not necessarily mean it will reject the documents in the end. 

Ambassador Moritan agreed that the Conference has to wait for the melon to become sweeter, and while delegations are waiting for this to happen, it is important to keep a constructive atmosphere. Speaking very briefly, Ambassador Zamir Akram of Pakistan also said he agreed with the president’s assessment that the CD is not yet ready to adopt these decisions, but assured the Conference that once the melon was ripe, it will have in it the taste of Ambassador Moritan’s leadership.

Next meeting
The next plenary meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, 30 June at 10:00 AM under the presidency of Australia. Australia’s former Foreign Minster, Gareth Evans, will address the Conference in his capacity as co-Chair of the International Commission on Non-proliferation and Disarmament.

- Ray Acheson, Reaching Critical Will of WILPF