CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT HEARS ADDRESS FROM PERU AS INCOMING PRESIDENT OF THE CONFERENCE

The Conference on Disarmament this morning met under the Presidency of Ambassador Luis Enrique Chavez Basagoitia of Peru, the incoming President of the Conference, who said he would hold informal consultations to try to break the gridlock in the Conference. The Conference also heard statements by Argentina, Venezuela and Nigeria.

Mr. Chavez Basagoitia said that it was an honour for Peru and a great sense of responsibility to take the Presidency of the Conference at a time when regrettably the lack of progress toward a world free of nuclear weapons was of concern. There was a great sense of frustration at not achieving any agreement on a programme of work, but they should not think that breathing new life in the Conference was exhausted. He urged all Member States to redouble their efforts to begin substantive work in the Conference. The current gridlock should not be terminal. No one could deny the contributions that the Conference had made to international peace and security. However, it was unacceptable that 16,000 nuclear devices still existed and they could not just sit until a disaster happened. Peru had always proactively worked for peace, disarmament and strengthening international security. The comprehensive elimination of all nuclear weapons was the goal that they should all aspire to.

Ten years ago, in 2005 when Peru had last been President of the Conference, it had spoken about how the evolution of the work of the Conference must be evaluated within a general process and must be seen in relation to national perceptions of security which were manifold and divergent. Peru had said that the perceptions which many States had were shaped by their own circumstances, and this had led to tremendous difficulty in building shared visions. Peru had said that if they did not manage to unblock these divergent perceptions preventing a programme of work, they would end up with a lost decade for multilateral negotiations. Unfortunately, the Conference had been unable to overcome these risks and they had just completed another 10 years of stagnation and positions had remained firm and mutually exclusive, which meant there was no political will. They must call a halt to this tendency and the flexibility of each State was necessary so that they could approve a programme of work and begin negotiations.

As part of Peru’s Presidency, Mr. Chavez Basagoitia said he intended to carry out intense informal consultations aiming to break the deadlock and agree on a programme of work. He did not think it was necessary to devote time in the plenary simply to restate positions that everyone was already familiar with. While these informal consultations were underway, he would keep members permanently informed on their progress. In the meantime, at next week’s plenary, delegations would be able to address any issue other than the programme of work, as this would be dealt with in the informal consultations.

Argentina, whose Permanent Representative was taking the floor for the first time, wished to restate some of Argentina’s commitments. Argentina participated in the Conference because it believed it was the sole multilateral forum for disarmament negotiations. Argentina was willing to debate and work on proposals that were flexible. They must avoid the marginalization of the Conference on Disarmament. The comprehensive elimination of nuclear weapons remained the sole guarantee against the threat of these weapons.

Venezuela pledged its full support to the President and his efforts. The Conference on Disarmament had made achievements throughout its history and Venezuela would participate in any initiative that would breathe new life in the Conference and restore credibility to the forum. After many years of gridlock, they now had four proposals for a programme of work. The Russian proposal brought to the fore a very valuable issue on preventing chemical and biological terrorist attacks. Venezuela was firmly committed to the fight against terrorism, and the threat of chemical and biological weapons knew no borders.

Nigeria also pledged it support to the Peruvian Presidency and thanked him for his efforts to move the Conference forward. Nigeria believed that there was light at the end of the tunnel.


The next plenary of the Conference will be held at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 7 June.


For use of the information media; not an official record

DC16/022E