Conference on Disarmament Holds Last Plenary under the Presidency of Cuba

The Conference on Disarmament today held its last plenary under the Presidency of Ambassador Juan Antonio Quintanilla Román of Cuba who said there was no consensus on draft decision CD/WP.640 on reference to women in the rules of procedure of the Conference.

The draft decision, proposed by Mr. Quintanilla Román, would have declared that "any reference in the rules of procedure of the Conference on Disarmament to a male person shall also be deemed to constitute a reference to a female person." During the plenary, he asked delegations whether they agreed to include in document CD/WP.640 amendments proposed by Australia at the plenary on 24 May.

The United Kingdom stated that it was not prepared to endorse CD/WP.640 without these amendments, and considered that further work should be done on this issue. The United States, Australia, Canada, the Republic of Korea, Chile, Spain, Italy, Japan, Mexico, France (speaking on behalf of the European Union), Switzerland, Colombia, Argentina, Norway, Israel, and Austria supported the position of the United Kingdom.

Iran, Russian Federation, Syria, Venezuela and China supported Cuba’s proposal, while Indonesia, India, Algeria, Nigeria and Brazil stated that their delegations were ready to join consensus on the issue.

The following countries took part in the discussion on the rules of procedure and the functioning of the Conference: Democratic Republic of the Congo, Australia, Russian Federation, Argentina, Iran, United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Republic of Korea, Chile, Spain, Italy, Japan, Mexico, France, Switzerland, Ecuador, Iran, Colombia, Argentina, Syria, Venezuela, Norway, Israel, Austria, Indonesia, Nigeria, China, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, India, Bulgaria, Algeria, Brazil, Mexico and Pakistan.

The President welcomed the new Permanent Representative of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the United Nations Office at Geneva, Paul Empole Efambe, who addressed the Conference.

The United Kingdom presented to the Conference its national space security policy. China talked about the "Global Peace Initiative" presented by President Xi Jinping on 21 April. A number of statements were made on procedural issues, including access to records of the Conference on Disarmament and the holding of plenary meetings.

Mr. Quintanilla Román, whose term as President of the Conference ends at the end of this week, thanked all who had worked on the substantive work of the Conference.

From 30 May to 24 June, the Conference will be chaired by Ambassador Tae Song Han of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, who said that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea would do its utmost to continue to promote the substantive work of the Conference. At the plenary next week, it would outline the goals for its Presidency.

The secretariat will announce when the Conference’s next public plenary will be held.

Discussion on CD/WP.640

Ambassador JUAN ANTONIO QUINTANILLA ROMÁN of Chile, President of the Conference on Disarmament, said that in the past two years, proposals from Australia and Canada on gendered language in the rules of procedure had not been accepted. Cuba had studied past proposals and engaged in bilateral discussions with delegates on the matter. During the process, Cuba sought constructive understanding on the matter. The delegation of Australia had proposed a new technical update to the rules of procedure in English. There was no consensus to making changes to the rules of procedure in the six official languages, however. This was not a simple linguistic matter. The rules of procedure were not the cause of the Conference’s stagnation. There was a lack of political will to end the arms race, which was a lucrative business that cost the lives of many men, women and children.

During the plenary, Mr. Quintanilla Román asked delegations whether they agreed to include in document CD/WP.640 amendments proposed by Australia at the plenary on 24 May. The United Kingdom stated that it was not prepared to endorse CD/WP.640 without these amendments, and considered that further work should be done on this issue. The United States, Australia, Canada, the Republic of Korea, Chile, Spain, Italy, Japan, Mexico, France (speaking on behalf of the European Union), Switzerland, Colombia, Argentina, Norway, Israel, and Austria supported the position of the United Kingdom.

Iran, Russian Federation, Syria, Venezuela and China supported Cuba’s proposal, while Indonesia, India, Algeria, Nigeria and Brazil stated that their delegations were ready to join consensus on the issue.

Mr. Quintanilla Román said the draft decision would have been a step in the right direction. The decision defended equal gender representation within the Conference. The President said he had made every possible effort to reach consensus on the issue, but had not been able to achieve this. It was now up to other presidencies to decide on whether to spend more time on the issue.

Statements

PAUL EMPOLE EFAMBE, Permanent Representative of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said the Democratic Republic of the Congo had a very committed policy for disarmament and non-proliferation. He looked forward to working collectively with other States towards peace, control of weapons of mass destruction and work toward non-proliferation. The Democratic Republic of the Congo was working on harmonising its internal legal framework with the international instruments it had ratified, particularly regarding the control and traceability of weapons and securing of national stocks of conventional weapons.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo welcomed work to reflect multilingualism and gender parity within the rules of procedure. The State supported international treaties promoting peace. The war in Ukraine was a threat to world peace. States needed to find ways to achieve disarmament and collective security. The Democratic Republic of the Congo would assume the presidency of the Conference in its third part of 2022. It intended to organise discussions on cyber warfare and cyber weapons, including drones, in order to better regulate them and protect humanity against these threats.

United Kingdom updated the Conference on its national space security policy. Following the publication of the State’s first integrated National Space Strategy in September 2021, the Government had published its Defence Space Strategy on 1 February 2022. Both documents built on the Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy of March 2021.

Global communications, secure banking transactions, transport, meteorology and navigation relied heavily on space infrastructure, and this was why space was a priority for the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom’s policy was to be “a meaningful actor in the space domain, securing interests of the United Kingdom alongside allies and partners to ensure operational freedom in space”. The United Kingdom intended to develop technologies to support defence tasks and other Government activities in space to deter conflict and enhance capabilities in space.

It would work to protect sovereign space infrastructure, and to uphold international norms. The United Kingdom would continue to play a constructive role in ensuring that space remained a secure and prosperous domain for all.

China said that the COVID-19 pandemic had caused increasing division across the world. Power politics would only exacerbate the security situation. The Chinese President had put forward a proposal - the “Global Peace Initiative” - for securing international peace and improving global security governance on 21 April. The proposal had won general support from the global community. Under the Initiative, China supported protecting the sovereignty of all States and their right to choose social systems. It opposed hegemonic violation of sovereignty. It further opposed group politics and bloc confrontation. Multilateralism should be promoted, and unilateralism rejected.

China called for a balanced security architecture. The security of one country could not be achieved at the expense of another. Security concerns should not be violated. China supported peaceful dialogue rather than conflict to solve disputes. All parties should promote dialogue rather than inflame conflict.

Concluding Remarks

Ambassador JUAN ANTONIO QUINTANILLA ROMÁN of Cuba, President of the Conference on Disarmament, thanked all delegates who had worked on the substantive work of the Conference, the coordinating members of the subsidiary bodies, the secretariat for supporting the work of the Conference, and interpreters and other persons who had supported the work of the Conference. He said Cuba welcomed and pledged its support to the presidency of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

TAE SONG HAN, Permanent Representative of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said the Cuban delegation had worked tirelessly and effectively during the Cuban presidency. It had done everything in its power to advance the work of the Conference. It was regrettable that the Conference had failed to reach consensus on the Cuban proposal on updating the language of the rules of procedure. The Conference had made substantial work this year through the leadership of the Chinese, Columbian and Cuban presidencies. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea would do its utmost to continue to promote the substantive work of the Conference. At the plenary next week, it would outline the goals for its presidency.

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DC22.024E