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Cuba takes over final presidency of 2011

Beatrice Fihn | Reaching Critical Will of WILPF

The Conference on Disarmament (CD) met on Tuesday 23 August under the Presidency of Ambassador Rodolfo Reyes Rodríguez of Cuba. The CD heard statements from the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cuba, Mr. Abelardo Moreno and the delegations of Japan, China, Egypt, Ecuador, Philippines, Venezuela, Sri Lanka, DPRK, Pakistan, Indonesia, Iran, United States, Mexico, Algeria, Chile, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, United Kingdom, and Russia.

Highlights

  • The deputy foreign minister of Cuba highlighted that the paralysis of the disarmament machinery is a result of a “lack of political will of certain states to make real progress” and believed that replacing the CD with ad hoc arrangements could constitute a dangerous step backward.
  • The delegation of Philippines reported from a recent workshop in Manila in preparation for the seventh review conference of theBiological and Toxin Weapons Convention.
  • Ambassador Suda of Japan reported from the third round of side events on a future fissile material cut-off treaty (FMCT).
  • The delegations of United States, United Kingdom, and Russia assured CD delegations that consultations to implement the 2010 NPT decision on a 2012 conference on a nuclear weapon free zone (NWFZ) in the Middle East are taking place.
  • Incoming CD President, Ambassador Rodolfo Reyes Rodríguez of Cuba, announced that he would circulate a first draft of the annual report to delegations by tomorrow and that negotiations on the draft would start next week.

Lack of political will
The deputy foreign minister of Cuba, Mr. Abelardo Moreno, stated that the paralysis of the disarmament machinery is a result of a “lack of political will of certain states to make real progress” and believed that replacing the CD with “ad hoc arrangements, improvised, selective, outside the framework of the United Nations, and ruled by a reduced group of countries, would constitute a dangerous step backward.” The delegations of Ecuador, Venezuela, Pakistan, and Russia agreed with the comments made by Mr. Moreno. However, the Ecuadorian ambassador argued that while member states must respect procedures, they should not fall into the trap of becoming slaves under them.

Ambassador Akram of Pakistan noted that since the cold war has ended, he saw “no logic, no justification for these nuclear weapons to remain central in the strategic postures of different nuclear weapon states, of the major nuclear weapon states”. He therefore argued that the next logical step for the CD is to negotiate a treaty on negative security assurances, since he could not “think of any nuclear weapon state today that is in a position to use nuclear weapons against states that do not have or possess nuclear weapons.”

Annual report of the CD to the UN General Assembly
The incoming CD President, Ambassador Rodolfo Reyes Rodriguez, announced that he would circulate an unedited draft of the annual CD report to the General Assembly on Wednesday, and that negotiations on the documents would start in the regular plenary meeting next week. He expressed the wish to carry out these negotiations in open meetings as much as possible, in order for all interested parties to be able to comment. Ambassador Rodriguez also drew attention to the fact that informal consultation on the Colombian proposal for a working group on revitalization of the CD are taking place and that if any progress were made, he’d continue to work on this. The delegations of Ecuador and Chile voiced their support for the Colombian proposal.

Fissile materials
Ambassador Suda of Japan reported briefly from the third and final side event on FMCT arranged by the delegations of Japan and Australia on 30 May to 1 June. The third event had focused on four issues: recap of the previous discussions; verification of fissile materials and production facilities; other verification matters; and wrap up. As chair of that event, Ambassador Suda said he would submit a written report to the CD very shortly and emphasized that the side event did not represent a negotiation, nor a pre-negotiation, but an opportunity to exchange views. The Iranian delegate stated that any fissile material treaty must include past production and existing stockpiles and take place in the CD with all key players, otherwise it would be fruitless.

A conference on a NWFZ in the Middle East?
Mr. El-Atawy of Egypt expressed his concern that more than a year has passed since the adoption of the 2010 action plan of the Review Conference of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) with “little to show in terms of the implementation of the action plan.” He highlighted specifically the case of the Middle East, “where none of the preparation took place for the convening of a conference on the establishment of a Middle East Zone free of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction to be attended by all states of the region.”

The three depository states of the NPT, the United States, United Kingdom, and the Russian Federation, all ensured Mr. El-Atawy that work on this is ongoing. Ambassador Kennedy of the US said that discussions and consultations on the venue and facilitator are taking place but noted that the lack of headlines should not be mistaken for a lack of effort, as there are always consultations and briefings going on behind the scenes. Jo Adamson of the UK delegation also emphasized that they are handling this issue delicately and quietly.

The Seventh Review Conference of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) 
The delegation of the Philippines took the opportunity to draw attention to the forthcoming Review Conference of the BTWC and to a BTWC Conference Week in Makati City from 28 June to 1 July 2011, which consisted of numerous workshops on various BWC subjects.Ms. Dela Cruz stated that participants exchanged initial ideas in workshops on such topics as workshops on national implementation and confidence building measures; building capacity for prevention, preparedness and response; and issues for the 7th Review Conference.

Notes from the gallery
As the CD moves into its final phase of the 2011 session, delegations should strive to deliver something concrete to the UN General Assembly (UNGA). An annual report similar to previous years, simply describing the number of meetings and number of high-level speakers during the year, will not address the concerns of the international community. Every year, the UNGA calls upon the CD to commence work. As it has every year since 1998, the CD failed to respond to these calls. Therefore, the UNGA should resume responsibility for the topics on the CD agenda. As the CD seems incapable of either adopting a programme or launching a serious discussion on reform, resorting to the UNGA might be the only option to move forward on multilateral disarmament negotiations. As Reaching Critical Will and Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy recommended in a paper earlier this summer, the First Committee of the UNGA should establish open-ended working groups to launch substantive negotiations this October, rather than wasting yet another year discussing the CD’s stalemate.

Next plenary meeting
The next plenary meeting will be held on Thursday, 1 September at 10:00am