The Conference on Disarmament (CD) held a plenary meeting on August 17, concluding the Senegalese presidency. Japan, Belgium, the Netherlands and Senegal took the floor. In his outgoing statement as President, the Senegalese Ambassador was very satisfied with the initiative to negotiate an Arms Trade Treaty.

Negative Security Assurances

Japan said that although states parties to the nuclear Non-Prolifertion Treaty (NPT) have committed themselves to Negative Security Assurances, negotiators carefully phrased those commitments so the international community could clarify what it really wanted later. Japan then raised fundamental questions about Negative Security Assurances, which the Netherlands said reflected its own concerns. Japan asked if Negative Security Assurances are better than Positive Security Assurances; if a globally legally binding instrument would be more effective than regional ones, like Nuclear Weapon Free Zones; and how to choose and define non-nuclear weapon states beneficiaries of assurances. Japan's questions are more pointed when contextualized by the North Korea nuclear situation, in which North Korea wants security assurances in order to disarm, and others say they do not deserve such assurances for breaking their NPT obligations.

Japan, which just commemorated the 61st anniversary of the US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, wants to raise awareness about the true nature of nuclear weapons. Ambassador Yoshiki Mine reiterated the importance of disarmament education, "not only education in schools but also public lectures and forums, training courses for diplomats, seminars and other endeavors help to raise the awareness of the terrible nature of nuclear weapons."
Japan advised the international community to learn from the hibakusha (survivors of nuclear weapons) before they disappear.

Programme of Work and CD progress
In his farewell statement, Ambassador Francois Roux of Belgium, one of the states to initiate the Five Ambassadors' proposal, would continue to work for reaching an agreement on a program of work in the CD. The conference has an opportunity to make real progress in negotiations for a Fissile Materials Cut-off Treaty (FMCT), and while this was a priority issue for Belgium, it did not diminish the significance of other subjects on the agenda. However, he also quoted the Secretary General's June 21 statement: "it is long overdue for this negotiating body to abandon the all-consuming linkages that have dominated our approach in recent years and get down to substantive work."

In its outgoing statement as President, Senegal said Tuesday's informal discussions about the CD report to the General Assembly had shown the importance and substance of this year's work. Ambassador Camara also hoped the close and active cooperation of the Six CD Presidents would be continued next year.

Next week, Slovakian Ambassador Anton Pinter will take over the Presidency, and discuss transparency in armaments and the annual report to the General Assembly. The CD has also invited the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to address the Conference on the subject of fissile materials. The presentation will be held in a formal plenary meeting on Thursday 24 August, followed by an informal meeting with an opportunity for questions and discussion.

The next plenary meeting will be held on Tuesday 22 August.

-Beatrice Fihn, Disarmament Intern 
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom

Editorial: Defining the scope, achieving the goals
Ray Acheson | Reaching Critical Will of WILPF

The 16 February Conference on Disarmament (CD) session of marked the end of the Polish Presidency. In addition to the changing of the guard, the CD session focused on increasing civil society’s engagement with the CD and updates to the China Russia working paper on the Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space (PAROS) (CD/1679). Morocco, Russian Federation, China, Ireland, Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Netherlands, South Africa, Egypt, Brazil, Pakistan, Norway, Canada, New Zealand, Mexico and Algeria delivered statements.

Although he was delivering his outgoing statement, President Ambassador Zdzislaw Rapacki of Poland anticipated the process initiated by the Polish delegation to continue throughout the 2006 session: “It is, therefore, no time to sum up the co-operation of the 6 CD Presidents (the P6), consultations conducted by the Friends of Presidents, nor the activities envisaged in the time-table announced last week.”

Incoming President Ambassador In-kook Park of the Republic of Korea laid out some basic principles to guide the deliberations during his Presidency. Ambassador Park expects all delegations to have the chance to share their updated national position during the general debate session, suggesting interventions concentrate on Agenda Item I and II in accordance with the timetable. For the focused discussion on nuclear disarmament, he recommended delegations “make their interventions under relevant sub-items if applicable”. Finally, he suggested delegations invite experts from capitals and submit positions, ideas and proposals in writing to facilitate interactive discussions. Ambassador Park hoped that announcing an indicative timetable in advance would avoid “wasting precious time for discussion on what to discuss and [help delegations] be prepared for the constructive participation.”

Civil society’s involvement in the CD and the presentation of the International Women’s Day NGO statement drew attention in today’s plenary meeting. Ambassador Mary Whelan of Ireland recalled that for many years, International Women’s Day statements drafted by NGOs have been read to the CD by a member of the Secretariat. “To many of us it is inexplicable, and indeed highly offensive, that those women’s NGOs who draft the statement have not been permitted to deliver it themselves”, she stated. Ambassador Whelan has never heard any CD statement supporting the current practice, and has not been able to find any rule in the Rules of Procedure prohibiting the International Women’s Day statement from being delivered by its authors. Sarala Fernando, Ambassador of Sri Lanka, supported Ireland’s position, urging Ambassador Park and the P6 to attend to the issue. Delegations of Sweden, Netherlands, South Africa, Egypt, Brazil, Pakistan, Norway, Canada, New Zealand, Mexico and Algeria all echoed this support.

China and the Russian Federation circulated a second, updated and revised version of the “Compilation of Comments and Suggestions to the CD PAROS Working Paper CD/1679”. Ambassador Valery Loshchinin of Russia stated that the compilation would facilitate in-depth discussions; identify clusters of issues upon which Member States agree and disagree; help formulate and fine-tune positions of Capitals; and streamline the PAROS deliberations in the CD for 2006. Chinese Ambassador Cheng Jingye underscored that “extensive and in-depth discussions and our compilation will surely help to lay a good basis for negotiating and the concluding of a new legal instrument on outer space”, hoping the CD would re-establish the Ad Hoc Committee on outer space.

The Chinese and Russian compilation was commended by Sweden and Brazil for its timeliness, allowing for delegations to prepare and consult with capitals and experts before PAROS is scheduled to be discussed during the Russian Presidency in June. Ambassadors Paul Meyer of Canada and Tim Caughley of New Zealand both welcomed the initiative as a means of moving beyond general debates. Ambassador Meyer also underlined that CD membership entails obligations as well as rights, and called for those delegations which have not shared their national positions for years to do so. Enrique Ochoa of Mexico encouraged delegations to repeat this type of update in other subjects, and Canada recommended replicating the strategy of specificity and synthesizing various views.

Newly assigned Ambassador of Morocco, Mohammed Lorichki, urged the CD to demonstrate it can accomplish what it is mandated to do, with multilateralism as “the fundamental principle which must govern negotiations conducted…particularly in the field of disarmament and non-proliferation”. He expressed Morocco’s support for the outcomes of the 1995 and 2000 NPT Review Conferences, as well as for negotiations on a treaty on fissile materials, Negative Security Assurances and a convention on nuclear disarmament.

Ambassador Rapacki, in his statement as outgoing President of the CD, drew attention to today’s opening of the Winter Olympic Games in Turin and the ideals of unity, co-operation and peace symbolized in the five rings joined together in the Olympic flag. While some may say those ideals are fading, the Ambassador held, “both in Geneva and in Turin, they are very much alive”. We thank Ambassador Rapacki and the Polish delegation for their effort to not let these ideals fade during their CD Presidency.

-Alex Sundberg, Disarmament Intern
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom

The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence campaign is an annual international campaign that begins on November 25 (the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women) and ends on December 10 (Human Rights Day). The goal of the campaign is to continue to build awareness and advocate for an end to all forms of gender-based violence, and everyone is called on to urge join it.