GROUP OF EXPERTS ON CONVENTIONAL WEAPONS CONVENTION CONCLUDES THIRTEENTH SESSION

The Thirteenth Session of the Group of Governmental Experts of the States Parties to the 1980 Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects (CCW) concluded on Friday, 10 March at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

The Group was chaired by Ambassador François Rivasseau of France in his capacity as President-designate of the Third Review Conference to be held from 7 to 17 November 2006. Two Coordinators also chaired meetings of the respective working groups: Ambassador Edvardas Borisovas of Lithuania on Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) and Ambassador Carlos Antonio da Rocha Paranhos of Brazil on Mines Other Than Anti- Personnel Mines (MOTAPM).

In November 2005 the States Parties to the Convention reached agreement on mandates for the continuation of the work of the Group in 2006, and among the mandates the States Parties concurred that all necessary preparations for the Third Review Conference would be undertaken within the framework of the existing Group of Governmental Experts.

The States Parties also agreed on mandates for the two respective working groups on ERW and MOTAPM. The working group on ERW held two meetings and discussed the implementation of existing principles of International Humanitarian Law and possible preventive measures aimed at improving the design of certain specific types of munitions, including sub-munitions, with a view to minimizing the humanitarian risk of these munitions becoming explosive remnants of war. It also held one meeting of military and technical experts, chaired by Ms. Vera Bohle of the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD). Meanwhile, the working group on MOTAPM held two meetings and discussed proposals on MOTAPM put forward since the establishment of the GGE. It also held one meeting of military experts, chaired by Brigadier-General Gerson Menandro Garcia de Freitas of Brazil.

The Group considered the status of CCW Protocol V on ERW, the most recent of the Protocols annexed to the Convention adopted on 28 November 2003. The Protocol aims to eradicate the daily threat that such legacies of wars pose to populations in need for development and to humanitarian aid workers operating in the field to help them. The Group welcomed the 16 States Parties to the Convention which had notified the Secretary-General of the United Nations, as depositary of the Convention, of their consent to be bound by the Protocol: Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Holy See, India, Liberia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Sierra Leone, Sweden and Ukraine.

As the President-designate is tasked with overseeing the follow-up work arising from the 2005 Meeting of the States Parties, his mandate encompasses efforts to undertake consultations on the preparation of the Third Review Conference; the promotion of the universalization of the Convention and its Protocols; possible options to promote compliance with the Convention and its annexed Protocols; and on the possibility to establish a sponsorship programme under the Convention and on the modalities of such a programme.

The Group discussed the question of the universalization of the Convention and its annexed Protocols, and considered a paper presented by the President-designate entitled “Universalization of the CCW and its annexed Protocols” (CCW/GGE/XIII/5). Furthermore, the Group discussed options to promote compliance with the Convention, at which the President-designate was assisted by Ambassador Gordan Markotić of Croatia as Friend of the President on Compliance, and continued the consideration of document CCW/GGE/XII/3. In addition, the Group considered the possibility to establish a sponsorship programme under the Convention and on its modalities, and considered a paper entitled “Sponsorship Programme under the Convention” (CCW/GGE/XIII/6). The discussions on these three topics were respectively chaired by the President-designate.

Finally, the Group of Governmental Experts considered the preparation for the 2006 Third Review Conference of the States Parties to the Convention, chaired by the President-designate, and decided to recommend for adoption by the Third Review Conference the Provisional Agenda of the Third Review Conference (CCW/GGE/XIII/3) and the Draft Rules of Procedure of the Third Review Conference of the States Parties to the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May be Deemed to be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects (CCW/GGE/XIII/4).

The Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons is also known as the Inhumane Weapons Convention. The structure of the CCW – a chapeau Convention and annexed Protocols – was adopted in this manner to ensure future flexibility. The purpose of the Convention is to ban or restrict the use of specific types of weapons that are considered to cause unnecessary or unjustifiable suffering to combatants or to affect civilians indiscriminately. The CCW with its three annexed protocols were adopted on 10 October 1980 and opened for signature for one year from 10 April 1981. A total of 51 States signed the Convention, which entered into force on 2 December 1983. Currently 100 States are party to the Convention with a further 6 having signed but not yet ratified. The initial three protocols are Protocol I on Non-Detectable Fragments (which has 98 States parties), Protocol II on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Mines, Booby Traps and Other Devices (87 States parties) and Protocol III on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Incendiary Weapons (93 States parties). Subsequently, Protocol IV on Blinding Laser Weapons entered into force on 30 July 1998 (which now has 81 States parties), and Protocol II, as amended on 3 May 1996, entered into force on 3 December 1998 (85 States parties).

At the Second Review Conference in 2001, the States Parties agreed to enlarge the scope of application of the Convention to also cover internal armed conflicts as well as armed conflicts of an international nature. This amendment to the Convention has already entered into force on 18 May 2004 and 44 States Parties have now ratified the amendment and have submitted their instruments of ratification to the Depositary.

The Group will hold its Fourteenth Session from 19 to 23 June 2006 and its Fifteenth Session from 28 August to 6 September 2006.

For use of the information media; not an official record

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