CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT: END OF COLOMBIA'S PRESIDENCY
The Conference on Disarmament held a plenary meeting this afternoon in which it heard concluding remarks from Ms. Alicia Victoria Arango Olmos, the outgoing President of the Conference on Disarmament.
In her statement, Ms. Arango Olmos said that she was thankful for the flexibility to focus on a reflection exercise on the current juncture of the Conference and the measures to strengthen this body. Nonetheless, she was leaving office with a feeling of frustration at the inability to come up with concrete results in terms of substantive work and was pessimistic regarding the progress the Conference would be able to make during its 2011 session. There was, however, agreement on some points: the commitment to disarmament and non-proliferation, recognising the importance of multilateralism in disarmament affairs, the desire to strengthen the Conference on Disarmament, and the shared frustration at this body’s current situation.
The world has changed. The patience of the international community was not infinite and the Conference could be taken by surprise by decisions about its destiny. One should not forget that this Conference had a political and moral responsibility regarding citizens and countries to make progress on the establishment of instruments allowing a safer world.
Speakers who took the floor noted Ms. Arango Olmos’ experience and diplomatic skills and her tireless long-term commitment to disarmament matters, which had added value to the work of the Conference. She had displayed an innovative approach during the Presidency, but it would have been appreciated to have more time to take account of internal and external factors related to overcoming the current impasse.
A speaker also noted that while divergences persisted, all Members States seemed to agree that the status quo was not an option, and that a joint effort and political will were needed to re-establish the Conference in its original function as a vital body for multilateral negotiation of legally binding disarmament treaties.
Speaking this afternoon were Morocco, Canada, Egypt, Mexico, Italy, Portugal on behalf of the Non-Member States, Chile, the United States, Germany and Iran.
The next public plenary of the Conference will be on Tuesday, 28 June 2011 at 10 a.m. when the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea will assume the Presidency of the Conference on Disarmament. The Presidency of the Conference rotates among its Member States for four-week periods according to the English language spelling of the countries’ names.
Statements
OMAR HILALE (Morocco) said Ms. Arango Olmos’ experience and diplomatic skills and her tireless long-term commitment to disarmament matters had added value to the work of the Conference. Morocco agreed about the need to explore ways to strengthen the Conference. It commended Ms. Arango Olmos’ initiative to engage the Conference in an open discussion on its future and was pleased by the professional discussions held during the last two informal meetings. While divergences persisted, regarding both the causes of the deadlock and the measures to be taken, all Members States seemed to agree that the status quo was not an option, and that a joint effort and political will were needed to re-establish the Conference in its original function as a vital body for multilateral negotiation of legally binding disarmament treaties. Morocco appreciated Ms. Arango Olmos’ courage which had allowed, for the first time, the development of an appropriate and relevant questionnaire on questions which needed to be answered. Ms. Arango Olmos had indeed managed to break a taboo and Morocco hoped that the next Presidency would follow up on her work. It was high time for a debate leading directly to the standing issues, such as questions relating to the responsibility of the Conference. Morocco was eagerly awaiting the interactive meeting with the members of the Advisory Board, which it hoped would provide fresh impetus.
Morocco seized this opportunity to report to Conference Members the results of the international exercise on the response to a malicious act involving radioactive material which had been held in Rabat from 22 to 25 March 2011. This event had made it possible to reaffirm Morocco’s role as a reliable partner using human and technological measures to fully implement the principles of the global initiative on the fight against nuclear terrorism, among other things. This initiative had been followed by bilateral meetings in Madrid from 10 to 13 May 2011 between Moroccan and Spanish officials. At that occasion it was proposed to host a meeting of the group for the planning of the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism in Marrakech in February 2012, in cooperation with the United States, Russia and Spain.
MARIUS GRINIUS (Canada) said that the useful reflection exercise on the causes of and possible solutions to the deadlock of the Conference on Disarmament left no doubt about the current situation. The two questionnaires had been most helpful and served as points of reflection. It was both amusing and appalling to see that some Members thought that everything was serene in the Conference on Disarmament – obviously, the status quo of this body served their national security interests. Mr. Grinius recalled that UNIDIR had held its tenth annual conference on space security in April 2011 and suggested that all Member and Observer States of the Conference took note of the summary of that conference which, following the request of Canada, had been disseminated in the form of an official document of the Conference on Disarmament in all six languages.
MOHAMED HATEM EL-ATAWY (Egypt) said Egypt was truly disappointed at the continued impasse in the Conference, but its disappointment in the field of disarmament went beyond this Conference. In fact, the whole multilateral disarmament machinery could not be described as functioning optimally. While the different components were supposed to work symbiotically to achieve the ultimate disarmament objectives, all components of the machinery were facing various challenges. This was why Egypt had been calling for the convening of a Fourth Special Session of the General Assembly on Disarmament. Mr. Hatem El-Atawy said that, bearing in mind the negotiations on a nuclear weapons convention, some presented a Fissile Material Treaty as the next logical step towards nuclear disarmament. While not necessarily opposing this point of view, it remained a subject for the scope of the proposed treaty. Therefore, it was imperative that a treaty dealing with fissile material included dealing with already existing stocks of previously produced fissile materials. It was in this context that Egypt found it unfortunate that there was still disagreement on the scope of the treaty.
MARIA ANTONIETA JAQUEZ HUACUJA (Mexico) said Mexico was pleased that by the end of 2011 four countries from the Americas region would have presided over the Conference. With today’s presidency coming to an end, Mexico thanked Ms. Arango Olmos for her guidance, which had been most valuable for Mexico. The informal exchanges of views had not yet provided all the answers, but it was most important to hold debates and dialogues. Mexico expressed thanks to the Colombian delegation for having enabled the Conference to think about these matters and hoped that these would be pursued under the new Presidency.
GIOVANNI MANFREDI (Italy) said that word had reached him that, at the Conference’s session last Thursday, he had been criticised for having taken the floor at the June 1 plenary session to give his oral report on the two informal sessions on the Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty that he had chaired on May 17 and 18. In the first place, it appeared to have been implied that he had not been entitled to take the floor under the provisions of WP/565. He would like to make it perfectly clear that Italy, as a sovereign country and member in good standing of the Conference, had every right to intervene during sessions on matters pertaining to the Conference’s business when it saw fit. In the second place, the Document Conference on Disarmament/1907 provided that he should report orally to the President on the outcome of informal sessions chaired by him. And that was exactly what he did. He had reported orally to the President, who was sitting at her place at the rostrum and heard him there. If other members of the Conference on Disarmament had chosen to listen, he was delighted. CD/1907 did not specify where, when and under what circumstances he was to report to her.
GRACA ANDRESEN GUIMARAES (Portugal), speaking on behalf of the Non-Member States, said that the creative approach of the outgoing President had set the scene for rich exchanges. Ms. Guimaraes also took note of the support expressed by a number of Member States regarding the enlargement of the membership and said it would be beneficial to have a summary of this subject.
LUCIANO PARODI (Chile) thanked Ms. Arango Olmos for the innovative approach she had displayed during the Presidency. Chile would nonetheless have appreciated more time to take account of internal and external factors related to overcoming the current impasse. Chile regretted that the opinions of the Member States remained too diverse to agree on a programme of work and hoped that the Conference could be revitalized and become truly able to address vital challenges.
HELLMUT HOFFMANN (Germany) thanked the outgoing President for her efforts to get the Conference on Disarmament on its toes on a programme of work. Germany also very much welcomed the Secretary-General’s strong interest in revitalizing the Conference and thanked UNIDIR for providing pertinent questions.
LAURA KENNEDY (United States) commended the efforts of the President during Colombia’s Presidency of the Conference on Disarmament.
MOHAMMED HASSAN DARYAEI (Iran) said Iran very much appreciated how Ms. Arango Olmos had presided over the Conference, while welcoming the assumption of the presidency by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and assuring it of Iran’s full support and cooperation. While Iran would have wished that the Conference started discussing issues of substance, it had rather discussed procedural issues and there might be some misunderstanding about the rules of procedure.
ALICIA VICTORIA ARANGO OLMOS, President of the Conference on Disarmament (Colombia), thanked all delegations for the support they had given to the Colombian Presidency of the Conference. She was also thankful for their flexibility regarding the Presidency’s suggestion to focus June’s work on a reflection exercise on the current juncture of the Conference and the measures to strengthen this body. The introspection had been very useful and had provided a starting point which should now lead to the strengthening of the Conference.
Ms. Arango Olmos said she was leaving office with a feeling of frustration at the inability to come up with concrete results in terms of substantive work and was pessimistic regarding the progress the Conference would be able to make during its 2011 session. Nonetheless, and despite differences, there was agreement on some points: the commitment to disarmament and non-proliferation, recognising the importance of multilateralism in disarmament affairs, the desire to strengthen the Conference on Disarmament, and the shared frustration at this body’s current situation.
There was a wide variety of readings, not only regarding the current situation of the Conference but also the causes and, therefore, the steps to be taken to remedy this situation. A first and essential step was to recognise the current situation of the Conference.
The world has changed. The patience of the international community was not infinite and the Conference could be taken by surprise by decisions about its destiny. One should not forget that this Conference had a political and moral responsibility regarding citizens and countries to make progress on the establishment of instruments allowing a safer world. As hundreds of persons were dying throughout the world, the Conference could not stay isolated from the world’s dynamics.
For use of information media; not an official record
DC11/036E