President of Conference on Disarmament: Subsidiary Bodies Three and Five Have Reached Agreement on Their Draft Reports

The Conference on Disarmament today held its first plenary under the presidency of Ambassador Emilio Rafael Izquierdo Miño of Ecuador, who said subsidiary bodies three and five, on the prevention of an arms race in outer space and on new types of weapons of mass destruction respectively, had reached agreement on their draft reports.

Ambassador Izquierdo Miño thanked the coordinators of subsidiary bodies three and five for having reached agreement on their respective reports. He asked them to send a note verbale with the text of the agreed reports to the secretariat, which would process them as official documents to be considered by the Conference. He said the Conference had thus concluded the work of the plenary today and the secretariat would inform delegations of when the next plenary would be held.

In his opening remarks, Ambassador Izquierdo Miño said it was a high honour for Ecuador to assume the presidency of the Conference on Disarmament, a challenge that was particularly complex today if they considered that the world was immersed in an international scenario threatened by several factors affecting health and international peace and security. Ecuador would devote the short time available to the Conference to moderating the process of negotiating and adopting the report of the Conference on Disarmament to the United Nations General Assembly, which should be completed on 16 September. It would be desirable for the coordinators of the subsidiary bodies to be able to present their respective progress to the plenary of the Conference on Disarmament as soon as possible during this week.

Speaking in the meeting were Brazil, Argentina, Cuba, Colombia, Algeria, Spain, Chile, Indonesia and Belarus.

The secretariat will inform on the next public plenary of the Conference on Disarmament.

Statements

Ambassador EMILIO RAFAEL IZQUIERDO MIÑO of Ecuador, President of the Conference on Disarmament, said he would make opening remarks, then give the floor to the coordinators of the subsidiary bodies to report on progress made, and then to other delegations. The Conference would then move to an informal meeting, and then return to a formal meeting.

It was a high honour for Ecuador to assume the presidency of the Conference on Disarmament, a challenge that was particularly complex today if they considered that the world was immersed in an international scenario threatened by several factors affecting health and international peace and security. Ecuador had a historic and solid vocation for peace and promoted multilateralism with the aim of reaching disarmament agreements.

Ecuador shared the frustration produced by the paralysis affecting the Conference on Disarmament in past decades, which had weakened the body. Despite the difficulties, Ecuador would continue to promote and defend the need for disarmament and non-proliferation. Despite the significant efforts made at the beginning of the year, the Conference had failed to adopt a programme of work and therefore had not been able to initiate substantive negotiations. Ecuador would devote the short time available to the Conference to moderating the process of negotiating and adopting the report of the Conference on Disarmament to the United Nations General Assembly, which should be completed on 16 September.

It would be desirable for the coordinators of the subsidiary bodies to be able to present the respective progress to the plenary of the Conference on Disarmament as soon as possible during this week. Ecuador intended to begin working on the report starting Tuesday, 30 August, and would distribute a draft text no later than Monday, 29 August. Ecuador would work as a facilitator to guide the work of States with the aim of reaching agreement. Where necessary, it would consider possible mechanisms to overcome difficulties encountered along the way.

Ecuador believed that consensus should not be used as a veto and asked all delegations for their support and to show their willingness to find agreements, as well as flexibility to reach consensus.

Brazil said the President’s analysis of the situation in the Conference on Disarmament was impeccable and his plan on how to proceed was the perfect approach. All had to ensure that the Conference was not held hostage by the interests of individual countries. The most important challenge facing the Conference was to approve the reports of the subsidiary bodies. Brazil was ready to approve the reports of subsidiary bodies three and five. Brazil understood the desire of delegations to continue to consider the reports as Brazil felt the same for subsidiary bodies one, two and four. It was important that all work was carried out transparently and was fully inclusive.

Argentina trusted that all of the reports would be adopted and that they would be balanced and the process transparent and inclusive.

Cuba supported the focus of Ecuador’s presidency and hoped States would demonstrate commitment to nuclear disarmament. Cuba had already said it was ready to adopt the draft reports of subsidiary bodies three and five but the reports of subsidiary bodies one, two and four still needed work to be done.

Colombia supported what the Ecuadorian President said in his introductory statement.

Ambassador EMILIO RAFAEL IZQUIERDO MIÑO of Ecuador, President of the Conference on Disarmament, said he would now give the floor to the coordinators of the subsidiary bodies who would provide information on progress achieved. Then the Conference would move to informal mode, then back to formal in the hope to achieve consensus.

Algeria, coordinator of subsidiary body one on the cessation of the arms race and nuclear disarmament, said that at the meeting on 19 August there was a positive picture toward finalising the draft report as compromise had been shown by various delegations. Intensive consultations were continuing on a new version and Algeria hoped to find a version acceptable to all soon. Algeria hoped that the spirit of compromise would prevail. It awaited new positions from delegations indicating how to move forward.

Spain, coordinator of subsidiary body two on the prevention of nuclear war, including all related matters, had hoped to be in a position to tell the Conference about progress made but unfortunately since Friday this had not been possible. Spain had planned three sessions of consultation and was awaiting new contributions and then hoped to come out with a new version of the draft report. Spain could not say that they were closer to consensus now.

Chile, coordinator of subsidiary body three on the prevention of an arms race in outer space, said the situation was the same as it had been on Friday. Chile had not received any new contributions so the President’s assessment that there were no objections to the draft report was correct.

Indonesia, coordinator of subsidiary body four on effective international arrangements to assure non-nuclear-weapon States against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons, said that since the last plenary two remaining paragraphs remained to be resolved as well as one new contribution. For that, Indonesia had conducted a presentation and would continue to resolve pending matters in the hope to reach consensus.

Belarus, coordinator of subsidiary body five on new types of weapons of mass destruction and new systems of such weapons, radiological weapons, a comprehensive programme of disarmament and transparency in armaments, said that during the last plenary, Belarus had presented a text of the draft report and delegations had requested more time to consult with capitals. Some delegations had said they could support the report. Currently there were no objections from any delegation to the text so Belarus believed that a consensus was possible on the text.

Ambassador EMILIO RAFAEL IZQUIERDO MIÑO of Ecuador, President of the Conference on Disarmament, said they would now move to an informal format.

When the plenary resumed, Ambassador Izquierdo Miño thanked the coordinators of subsidiary bodies three and five for having reached agreement on their respective reports. He asked them to please send a note verbale with the text of their agreed reports to the secretariat, which would process them as official documents to be considered by the Conference. They had thus concluded the work of the plenary today. The secretariat would inform delegations of when the next plenary would be held.

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