Outer space and ICNND, but no word on a programme of work

Beatrice Fihn | Reaching Critical Will of WILPF

On Tuesday morning, the Conference on Disarmament (CD) heard statements by delegates from Colombia, Brazil, Turkey, Australia, the Group of 21 (G21), China, and Japan.

Highlights
The G21 called for negotiations in the CD on matters related to the prevention of an arms race in outer space.

The CD welcomed the new ambassador of Colombia, Ms. Alicia Victoria Arango Olmos, and bid farewell to Ambassador Ahmet Üzümcü of Turkey, who will assume the position as Director-General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

Both Colombia and Turkey’s delegations highlighted the importance of the participation of civil society in the proceedings of the CD.

Australia and Japan announced that the International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (ICNND) held its final meeting in Vienna yesterday and highlighted the final communiqué released from the Commission.

Outer space
In a joint statement delivered by the Indian delegation, the G21 argued that the need for prevention of an arms race in outer space (PAROS) has assumed greater urgency, due to legitimate concerns that existing legal instruments are inadequate to deter further militarization of outer space or prevent its weaponization. Ambassador Rao of India said that all states with major space capabilities have a special responsibility to contribute actively to PAROS and to refrain from actions contrary to that objective and to the relevant existing treaties. He further argued that the G21 is “deeply concerned over the negative implications of the development and deployment of anti-ballistic-missile defence systems and the pursuit of advanced military technologies capable of being deployed in outer space” and called for the CD to start negotiations on this subject. The G21 also welcomed the draft treaty on Prevention of the Placement of Weapons in Outer Space (PPWT), submitted by Russia and China in 2008.

China’s delegation added its support for the G21 statement on outer space. While insisting that priority in the CD should be given to nuclear disarmament, Ambassador Arango Olmos of Colombia also emphasized the need for negotiations on PAROS and the other core issues of the CD.

The ICNND concludes its work
The delegations of Australia and Japan both drew attention to the fact that the ICNND concluded its final meeting on 5 July and highlighted a communiqué from the Commission. Mr. Wilson from Australia noted that a majority of the relevant recommendations of the Commission’s report had been reflected wholly, substantially, or in part in the Review Conference’s agreed action plans and pointed out that one of the Co-Chairs of the Commission was currently in Geneva discussing plans for a Global Centre for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament. Ambassador Suda from Japan specifically pointed out two paragraphs in this communiqué that concerned the work of the CD, where the Commission expressed its deep concern at the failure of the CD to commence work on a fissile material cut-off treaty (FMCT). In the communiqué, the Commission also called upon all states to resume cooperation on a substantive CD programme of work, and, pending conclusion of an FMCT, called on all states to maintain a moratorium on the production of fissile material for weapons use.

Next meeting
The next plenary meeting will be held on Thursday, 8 July at 10:00 am.