DISARMAMENT: U.N. Explores Special Session on Disarmament

By Thalif Deen Reprint | | Print |

Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS, Apr 14 1998 (IPS) - The United Nations is exploring the possibility of convening a Special Session of the 185-member General Assembly on a politically and militarily sensitive issue: global disarmament.

“We would like to see the early convening of such a session,” says Ambassador Anwarul Karim Chowdhury of Bangladesh, who points out that there is an “excessive accumulation” of both conventional arms and weapons of mass destruction in the world today.

Chowdhury said it was time for the international community to review the implementation of decisions taken at the first Special Session in 1978 and also take stock of the post-Cold War security situation.

“Budgetary constraints notwithstanding, a Special Session would further the cause of general and complete disarmament,” he noted.

The United States has already pointed out that a cash-strapped world body cannot afford the luxury of a Special Session at a time when it is faced with more pressing needs.

The U.N.’s last Special Session on disarmament in 1988 cost about 7.5 million dollars. A new session could possibly cost an estimated 20 million dollars, according to U.S. officials. The General Assembly has had three Special Sessions on disarmament so far: in 1978, 1982 and 1988. Although a declaration was adopted unanimously at the first session, the second and third sessions failed to reach agreement on a programme of action on global disarmament.

Among the most important multilateral arms agreements are the 1963 Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space and under Water, and the 1968 Treaty on the Non- Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

The United Nations also played an important role in the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention which was painstakingly negotiated over a period of 20 years. In the area of conventional weapons, the only global agreement is the 1981 convention prohibiting “inhumane weapons” such as booby traps and incendiary weapons.

Chowdhury said that developing nations were emerging both as major users and victims of conventional weapons. While these countries should limit their acquisitions to a level commensurate with legitimate security needs, the arms exporting nations should also exercise restraint in selling them, he added.

At a meeting of the U.N. Disarmament Commission last week, there was unanimous agreement among developing nations for a fourth Special Session on disarmament.

Ambassador Makirim Wibisono of Indonesia, chairman of the 132- member Group of 77 developing nations, said the main focus in the disarmament field should be the pursuit of further deep reductions in current weapons stockpiles, with a view to their ultimate elimination. At the same time, he said, there was a need to curb the vertical and horizontal proliferation of nuclear weapons and banning the use of fissile materials for weapons purposes.

“All aspects of nuclear disarmament should be considered at the fourth Special Session on disarmament,” he added.

Wibisono said the international community should also focus on such issues as the reduction of armed forces and conventional armaments. “There was a need to enhance and strengthen the U.N. role in the disarmament field, and practical measures were needed to increase the effectiveness of the existing disarmament machinery,” he added.

The Indonesian envoy also called for guidelines and recommendations for the establishment of new nuclear-free zones “as a viable means of enhancing peace, and security, both globally and regionally.”

Western nations, and the U.S. in particular, have expressed reservations over the proposal for a Special Session both for financial and political reasons. Most of the major nuclear powers fear that a Special Session would raise the issue of a time-frame for the elimination of nuclear weapons.

The nuclear weapon states – the U.S. , France, Britain, China and Russia – are also concerned that a Special Session would spark a multilateral debate on nuclear disarmament at a time when there are ongoing bilateral negotiations to achieve the same objectives.

Ambassador Sergey Martynov of Belarus, chairman of the Disarmament Commission, told delegates last week that although there are “certain differences” in approach to the objectives, agenda and timing of the proposed session, it offered an opportunity to assess achievements and failures, and devise future recommendations.

Hisao Yamaguchi of Japan said the proposal for a Special Session appealed to many delegations. “Remarkable progress was underway in the reduction of nuclear weapons, and a Special Session would catalyse further disarmament developments, if the international community could reach a common understanding as to its timing, purpose and agenda,” he added.

In trying to reach a common understanding, it was imperative to forge an agreement between the nuclear-weapon states and the non- nuclear-weapon states, Yamaguchi noted. The world body, he said, should also take into consideration the fact that holding a Special Session “had huge financial implicaitons.”

Speaking on behalf of the European Union, Ian Souter of Britain said if the Special Session is to fulfil its true potential, there should be consensus on its objectives. The international community should agree on what it wanted to get out of the session.

“It should not be convened without such consensus. Its agenda should strike a balance between issues relating to weapons of mass destruction and conventional weapons,” he added.