UN Chronicle | First Committee: Disarmament and International Security - 'Multilateral Agenda Needs to Be Energized'

First Committee: Disarmament and International Security
'Multilateral Agenda Needs to Be Energized'
By Vikram Sura with Jonas Hagen, for the Chronicle

Article

In his latest reports on the work of the Organization and on the implementation of the UN Millennium Declaration, the Secretary-General states that global military spending exceeds $800 billion a year, and the pace towards the elimination of weapons of mass destruction, in particular nuclear weapons, remains slow, leaving more than 30,000 such weapons in existence. He also reports that there is compelling evidence of the possibility of nuclear, chemical or biological terrorism and that efforts to prevent an arms race in outer space remained deadlocked.

The First (Disarmament and International Security) Committee discussed these concerns in its different debates. Of the 52 resolutions drafted, 23 were voted—the highest among the six Main Committees—and nearly half involved nuclear weapons. On resolutions that affirmed, reiterated, commended and strove to shape norms on nuclear disarmament or brace existing ones, more Member States cast "ayes" than "nays".

Whereas declared as well as undeclared nuclear-weapon States seemed more often to say nay on prohibition, reduction or ban of nuclear weapons, or on assurances to non-nuclear States or observance of environmental norms, the Committee nevertheless deserves credit for its unanimous approval of a text on the Chemical Weapons Convention which prohibited the development, production and stockpiling of such weapons. It also approved two texts on "Assistance to States for curbing the illicit traffic in small arms and collecting them" and on their illicit trade.

A senior diplomat from Bangladesh told the UN Chronicle that delegations behaved in the "customary" way. "Disarmament has gone out of fashion. There was complacency over past gains, and frustration over the unwillingness of the major military Powers to move seriously towards general and complete disarmament", he said. "There was also a new sense of unease in the world—the situation in the Middle East and the Gulf was sinking deeper into the morass of wider conflict," he added.

Ambassador Matia Mulumba Semakula Kiwanuka, Permanent Representative of Uganda. Chairman, First Committee.
UN Chronicle Photo

Speaking to the Chronicle, Committee Chairman Matia Mulumba Semakula Kiwanuka of Uganda said: "When practically everybody subscribes to the concept of multilateralism, it was strange that no one wanted the Chair to mention in his text anything on it." He offered an explanation. Committee members felt that no group, no organization has a "monopoly" on the "universally held" concept of multilateralism. "Multilateralism was not a source of disagreement", Ambassador Kiwanuka pointed out. "What becomes a source of disagreement is what is added to multilateralism." He said that the Non-Aligned Movement felt that his resolution would take the "wind out of the sails" of their text, so he withdrew it in the Movement's favour.

Stating interest in multilateralism as a "core principle" in disarmament negotiations, on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement, Cuba and Iran sponsored a resolution on the "Promotion of multilateralism in the area of disarmament and non-proliferation". It was adopted by the General Assembly by 105 to 44, with 12 abstentions. Rodolfo Benitez of Cuba told the Chronicle that the divide in the Committee was over "important differences" of positions about multilateralism between different groups of countries. "Some Western nations seemed to be particularly uncomfortable with the clear and direct language of the resolution", Mr. Benitez said, "including the reaffirmation of multilateralism as the "core" principle in disarmament and non-proliferation negotiations." He added that the resolution also asked "States parties to treaties on weapons of mass destruction to refrain from resorting or threatening to resort to unilateral actions or directing unverified non-compliance accusations against one another"; and that "a resort to unilateral actions by Member States in resolving their security concerns would jeopardize international peace and security". The intentions to change the resolution did not succeed, since the Non-Aligned Movement decided to stick to their language, he said.

The Committee Chairman's text on "Disarmament, non-proliferation and international peace and security" was reprised, but later withdrawn by the Chair after consensus could not be reached. Last year, the Committee adopted unanimously a similar resolution; this year, Cuba and Iran proposed an amendment that was not accepted. "Last year's resolution referred to multilateralism as the core principle", Reza Najafi of Iran told the Chronicle. "This year, the Chairman omitted that reference to a core principle. So Iran and Cuba presented an amendment to go back to the previous draft. Also, some other Member States had a problem with setting a precedent of presenting a draft proposal by the chair each year."

Caribbean countries frequently brought up in the Committee the issue of nuclear waste transported through their region. In the fifty-sixth session in 2001, the Assembly adopted a resolution on prohibition on dumping radioactive waste. It recalled in part that "States shipping radioactive materials are invited to provide ... assurances to concerned States". This year, however, the issue was less significant.

Ambassador Pedro Padilla Tonos of the Dominican Republic told the Chronicle that Caribbean countries have always spoken about the problem of transport of nuclear waste through their waters. "There are no guarantees that one day a disaster with nuclear waste will not happen", he said. "For example, think of the tanker that recently sank [in November 2002] off the coast of Spain. Who's to say that the same thing couldn't happen with nuclear waste?"

Ambassador Stafford Neil of Jamaica, who also spoke for the Caribbean Community, told the Chronicle that "regrettably, not much attention was given to the issue of the trans-shipment of nuclear waste" during the fifty-seventh session of the General Assembly. "The nuclear waste exposes us to an environmental risk that we don't gain anything from", he said, adding that "Jamaica is exposed to a risk we have nothing to do with, the waste is not being sent to the Caribbean, it's just passing through." Chairman Kiwanuka said that even when the issue "was raised, for some reason it did not get centre stage. It's still very, very important."

On another subject related to nuclear weapons, seven countries—Brazil, Egypt, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa and Sweden—introduced two texts: a so-called "omnibus" resolution, and a new resolution on reduction of non-strategic nuclear weapons. Describing the intention behind the two negotiations, a senior Irish diplomat told the Chronicle that the coalition wanted to "engage" the Committee and give "impetus" to nuclear disarmament.

The omnibus resolution sought to prevent an arms race in outer space, while the other, in particular, called for cutbacks in non-strategic nuclear weapons under nuclear disarmament. The Assembly adopted both resolutions, voting 125 to 36, with 6 abstentions, and 120 to 42, with 3 abstentions, respectively. Three non-State parties to the 1968 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT)—India, Israel and Pakistan—which were called upon to accede to the Treaty and enter safeguard provisions with the International Atomic Energy Agency, cast negative votes. The coalition was satisfied with the outcome of the two resolutions, and the Irish diplomat said it should be seen in the context of the next NPT Review Conference in 2005.

In the nuclear disarmament process, support for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) and for the 1972 Treaty on the Limitation of Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems (ABM) are two of the thirteen key steps agreed upon in 2001 by States that are parties to the NPT—a landmark treaty with 187 signatories.

The United States withdrew from the ABM Treaty in June 2002, while the CTBT opened for signature in 1996 and awaits ratification by 13 of 44 States before it can enter into force. Those pending are Algeria, China, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Pakistan, the United States and Viet Nam. India, Pakistan and DPRK still have not signed the CTBT.

Increasingly, ceasefire agreements take into consideration the relationship between disarmament and development, and seek in particular to reduce the number of small arms held by former combatants. UN Photo/J. Bleibtreu

A text on the "Relationship between disarmament and development", introduced by South Africa, was adopted by a vote of 160 to 4, with 1 abstention; in the previous session, it was adopted unanimously. Explaining its negative vote, the United States argued that far from having a "symbiotic relationship" as described in the resolution, disarmament and development were distinct issues "that do not lend themselves to being linked". Chairman Kiwanuka told the Chronicle it was an "assumption" which he shared, that if there is "reasonable, genuine disarmament, a lot of resources would be released for development", adding that "the relationship between disarmament and development is that there is a peace dividend if the billions which are spent on arms would be relocated to development".

Even as the disarmament negotiations remained deadlocked, a new nuclear-weapon-free zone is to be established in Central Asia between Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, while Cuba announced it would sign the NPT and join the nuclear-weapon-free zone in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The Assembly adopted without vote a resolution by India on "Measures
to prevent terrorists from acquiring weapons of mass destruction", but a text by Hungary on the "Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction" was downgraded to a procedural decision.

"It was the appeal of everybody that the multilateral agenda needs to be energized", Ambassador Kiwanuka said. "But there is so much gap between the nuclear-power States and the non-nuclear-power States. Then you have the non-NPT States and then you have the Non-Aligned Movement. These divisions have blurred the importance of a common agenda and that is multilateralism", he concluded.

Points of Fact

The United Nations entire budget ($2.6 billion) is just a fraction of a fraction (0.3 per cent) of all that is spent on the militaries of the world.

At approximately $800 billion annually, global military expenditure and arms trade account for the largest spending in the world. In 2001, world military expenditure is estimated at $839 billion, accounting for 2.6 per cent of world gross domestic product (GDP) and an average of $137 per capita. However, this amount is expected to rise to well over $850 billion when increased expenditures resulting from responses to the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 are taken into account.

For the larger arms-purchasing nations, arms procurement usually accounts for 20 to 30 per cent of their military budgets, while the largest portion is normally spent on operations, maintenance and personnel.

The year 2001 saw a decline (mostly due to poor economic conditions worldwide) from an otherwise generally rising trend in the period 1994-2001.

Summarizing from a 2001 United States Congressional report titled Conventional Arms Transfers to Developing Nations, 1994-2001:

"The value of all arms transfer agreements worldwide (to both developed and developing nations) was nearly $26.4 billion in 2001. This is a substantial decrease over 2000 and the first time since 1997 that total arms agreements decreased from the previous year. (The previous year was over $35 billion.)

"During 1998-2001, developing nations accounted for 65.8 per cent of all arms transfer agreements made globally, and in 2001 they accounted for 60.5 per cent of all arms transfer agreements made worldwide. (In the previous year, developing countries accounted some 68 per cent.)

Although there was a decline between 2000 and 2001—the first since 1997—"for the period 1998-2001, the total value (about $133.1 billion) of all international arms transfer agreements was slightly higher than the worldwide value during 1994-1997 ($128.2 billion), an increase of 3.7 per cent".

In modern conflicts, over 80 per cent of all casualties have been civilians and 90 per cent of these were caused by small arms—handguns, pistols, shotguns, rifles, carbines, semi-automatic weapons, sub-machine guns, grenades and bayonets, landmines, medium-level machine guns, grenade launchers, light mortars, and shoulder-launched rocket launchers.

Source: http://www.globalissues.org

Did You Know?

Of the 52 resolutions the First Committee recommended for adoption by the General Assembly, only one had a reference to "women", according to UN officials; resolution 57/88 has the title, "Regional confidence-building measures: activities of the United Nations Standing Advisory Committee on Security Questions in Central Africa".

Under the auspices of the Standing Advisory Committee, a sub-regional Conference on the "Protection of Women and Children in Armed Conflict in Central Africa" was held at Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, from 14 to 16 November 2001; and another sub-regional consultation on the theme, "Parity and development: participation of the Central African woman" at Douala, Cameroon, from 28 to 30 May 2002. The resolution "noted with satisfaction" the progress made by members of the Advisory Committee in implementing the programme of activities for the period 2001-2002. The text is not about the conference, said officials, but about the Standing Advisory Committee which arranged the sub-conference, as a follow-up to a "Sub-regional Conference on the Question of Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons in Central Africa", held in August 2000 in Bujumbura, Burundi.

A number of civil society actors have urged a greater reflection of the particular vulnerability of women in conflict situations and the contribution they can make to the processes for peace. The Security Council had stressed on these elements in its landmark resolution "1325 (2000)", adopted on 31 October 2000.

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