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No new developments in the Conference on Disarmament

Beatrice Fihn | Reaching Critical Will of WILPF

The Conference on Disarmament (CD) met on Thursday, 11 August for a brief plenary meeting. Representatives of Japan, the Group of 21 (G21), the Eastern European Group, Slovakia, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) delivered statements, as well as the Secretary-General of the CD, Mr. Tokayev.

Highlights

  • CD President, Ambassador So Se Pyong of the DPRK, drew attention to the proposal for a working group on revitalization of the CD proposed by Colombia last week and asked regional groups to give feedback on this proposal by the end of the day.
  • The Eastern European Group supported the Colombian proposal but wanted to look at its specific elements.
  • The G21 called for examination of membership expansion, strengthening of interaction between civil society and the CD, and an early convening of a Fourth Special Session on Disarmament (SSOD-IV), but did not comment on the Colombian proposal.
  • Ambassador Suda of Japan drew attention to the 66th anniversary of the US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and called upon the CD to resume responsibility for multilateral nuclear disarmament by adopting a programme of work based onCD/1864.

Working group on revitalization of the CD
Last week, the Colombian ambassador proposed the creation of a working group on the revitalization of the CD. Ambassador Arrangosuggested that such a working group could work informally and present a proposal for adoption by the CD at the end of the session, which would include measures aimed at improving the procedures of the CD in order to allow the start of substantive work of the Conference as soon as it opens its 2012 session. Mr. Vasiliev of Russia, speaking on behalf of the Eastern European Group, supported Colombia’s proposal but noted that it wanted to look at the specific elements. The G21 voiced support for revitalization measures such as membership expansion and strengthening of interaction between civil society and the CD, but did not comment on the Colombian proposal. Instead, the G21 called for an early convening of an SSOD-IV.

As no one else took the floor to comment on the Colombian proposal, CD President Ambassador So Se Pyong asked the other regional groups to give their feedback on such a working group to him by the end of the day.

66th Anniversary of the US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Ambassador Suda of Japan drew attention to the two anniversaries of the US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August. He reiterated that the survivors, the Hibakusha, have been appointed “Special Communicators for a World without Nuclear Weapons” by the Japanese government in an attempt to preserve and share the stories of the survivors. On the occasion of this anniversary, WILPF issued a statement on 6 August deploring these bombings and paying tribute to the victims. The statement also calls on all nuclear weapon possessors to cease their plans for the modernization of their nuclear weapons, delivery systems, and related infrastructure as a step toward the good faith pursuit of nuclear disarmament and a nuclear weapon free world. WILPF calls upon these governments to redirect funds spent on nuclear weapons to meet human and environmental needs and to pursue policies that are consistent with achieving nuclear disarmament.

Ambassador Suda of Japan also argued that this anniversary should also be an opportunity to take stock of progress towards the total elimination of nuclear weapons. While he noted several positive developments, he argued that the international community had seen very little concrete progress in nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation in the past two years and that this was partly the responsibility of the CD. Ambassador Suda stated, “The dysfunction of this body is now seriously affecting not just the CD’s credibility but further the entire process of multilateral nuclear disarmament” and pointed out that if the CD cannot agree on a programme of work soon, then other ways should be sought to start substantive work on nuclear disarmament, including the negotiations of a fissile material cut-off treaty (FMCT).

Next plenary meeting
The next plenary meeting will be held on Thursday, 18 August at 10:00 am.