PREPARATORY COMMITTEE FOR FIRST CONFERENCE OF CCW PROTOCOL V AGREES TO RECOMMENDED ANNUAL CONFERENCES
The Preparatory Committee for the first Conference of the High Contracting Parties to Protocol V on Explosive Remnants of War, annexed to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) concluded its work on 18 June 2007 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. The one-day meeting organized at the initiative of a majority of the States parties to the protocol, succeeded to adopt a procedural report which contained a number of substantive recommendations to the First Conference for its adoption.
The Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) was chaired by Ambassador Johannes C. Landman of Netherlands, who was also nominated by acclamation as President-designate of the first Conference. He guided the States Parties to agree on a set of procedural and substantive recommendations on how they envisage the faithful and practical implementation of the Protocol in the most effective manner. In particular, on the three main issues which constituted the bulk of the work of the PrepCom, the States Parties agreed on how best to put into operation a national reporting mechanism and establish a data base on explosive remnants of war, to exchange information, and to cooperate and assist each other, including through the holding of annual conferences. The PrepCom also agreed on the nominations of the Vice-Presidents of the Conference: Ambassador Jayant Prasad of India and Ambassador Edvardas Borisovas of Lithuania, as well as the Provisional Agenda and the financial arrangements for the one-day Conference.
The Protocol was negotiated by the CCW Group of Governmental Experts and was subsequently adopted in 2003 by the CCW States Parties in response to an initiative launched by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in 2000. The Protocol covers post-conflict remedial measures of a generic nature in order to minimize the risks and effects of explosive remnants of war. Under the Protocol, each State party and party to armed conflict shall bear the responsibility to clear explosive remnants of war or to assist in such clearance. Moreover, parties to an armed conflict shall survey, mark and clear ERW in areas under their control or jurisdiction after a conflict; where appropriate, provide technical, material and financial assistance for the removal of ERW left by their armed forces in areas not under their control; record information on explosive or abandoned ordnance and share that information with organizations involved in clearance activities; and take all feasible precautions to protect civilians from the effects of ERW, including marking and fencing off dangerous areas and warning them of the risks.
Today there are 32 States that have notified their consent to be bound by Protocol V: Albania, Australia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Holy See, Hungary, India, Ireland, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Ukraine.
The first Conference of the High Contracting Parties to Protocol V on Explosive Remnants of War will be held on 5 November 2007 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
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