RESUMED SESSION OF REVIEW CONFERENCE ON CONVENTIONAL WEAPONS TO FOCUS ON TECHNICAL CONSIDERATIONS OF LAND-MINES
Press Release
DC/2540
RESUMED SESSION OF REVIEW CONFERENCE ON CONVENTIONAL WEAPONS TO FOCUS ON TECHNICAL CONSIDERATIONS OF LAND-MINES
19960116 GENEVA, 15 January (UN Information Service) -- Speakers expressed hope today that the "deadlock" of the Vienna 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 would be broken, and that effective steps would be taken to close divergent technical and military viewpoints about land-mines.Those views were expressed this morning at the resumed session of the Review Conference, which is meeting at Geneva from 15 to 19 January. The previous three-week session, which met in Vienna from 25 September to 13 October 1995, began the process of reviewing the 1980 Convention against certain conventional weapons, with specific focus on that instrument's second Protocol covering mines, booby-traps and other related devices. In Vienna, States parties had approved a new Protocol to ban the use of blinding laser weapons, but were unable to reach agreement on revisions to the existing second Protocol.
In Vienna, there was general agreement that a strengthened Protocol was needed and that it should bring about an eventual ban on land-mines. However, negotiations had stalled on issues of detectability and self-destruction of mines, as well as on the amount of lead time allowed for State parties to bring existing stocks into line with new specifications.
In light of that, it was agreed to resume negotiations in two stages. The current session will focus only on definitions, technical specifications and specific prohibitions on types and uses of mines, as specified in a technical annex to the Protocol. The spring session is expected to deal with all remaining issues, including scope, implementation mechanisms and technical cooperation.
Johan Molander (Sweden), President of the Review Conference, opened the session by saying that significant progress would have been made if delegates emerged with a "fair idea" of how to resolve major technical issues concerning detectability and deactivation of land-mines.
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Vladimir Petrovsky, Director-General of the United Nations at Geneva and Special Representative of the Secretary-General, delivered the statement of Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali. The Secretary-General urged all States to become party to the new Protocol IV against blinding laser weapons and to make the necessary sacrifices which would be required for a comprehensive ban on the use, transfer, production and stockpiling of mines. (For full text of message, please see SG/SM/5873).
Statements were also made by representatives of Austria, Switzerland, and Colombia (speaking on behalf of the non-aligned countries), as well as representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the International Campaign Against Land Mines.
Also this morning, delegates agreed both to financial estimates for the session and to the programme of work, which called for technical discussions in private and only three open meetings.
Some 44 delegates from among the 50 States parties to the 1980 Convention, as well as representatives of United Nations bodies and non- governmental organizations are expected to participate in this week's session. The next open meeting is scheduled to take place on Friday, 19 January.
Statements
JOHAN MOLANDER (Sweden), speaking as President of the Conference, reminded delegates of the decision at the Vienna Review Conference to review Articles two to six of Protocol II of the Convention with an eye to strengthening it. He said he hoped that such improvements would be carried out during this session and the scheduled session in May.
Referring to what he called the note of "gloom" and "bad press" on which the Vienna conference had ended, he said he felt they were not justified. The subject matter was extremely complex and realistically required more time than had been initially scheduled. Progress had been made on several major issues, including the scope of the Convention, strengthening its general restrictions and establishing responsibilities of mine-laying parties. Rules on transfer and technical assistance had been agreed to, at least in general terms. Greater protection to missions had been agreed upon, as had consultations among States parties at shorter intervals. While specifics had not yet been clarified, such general agreement did represent progress, he said.
He also stressed the importance that he attached to the new Protocol IV on blinding laser weapons, which had been adopted in Vienna. He informed delegates that the Secretary-General had initiated measures to circulate the new Protocol to all States.
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Following the Vienna meeting, he had travelled to Beijing, New Delhi, Moscow and Washington, D.C., to consult with military leaders and had consulted with various groups in Geneva, he said. In light of those meetings, he concluded that military issues, especially those surrounding non-detectable land-mines, anti-personnel land-mines outside fenced areas and deactivation mechanisms still presented major stumbling blocks. For progress to take place, it would be essential to resolve a number of those questions. Therefore it would be those complex and technical issues which would form the current focus of work. Should delegates emerge with a "fair idea" of how to solve them, a great deal would have been accomplished and further negotiations at the diplomatic level should prove fruitful.
VLADIMIR PETROVSKY, Director-General of the United Nations at Geneva and Personal Representative of the Secretary-General, delivered a message from the Secretary-General. The message reiterated the Secretary- General's deep concern on the issue of land-mines and repeated his call for a total and comprehensive ban. He applauded the adoption of the new Fourth Protocol on blinding laser weapons, calling it a "landmark event in international humanitarian law" by which a weapon was outlawed before it came into use and urged all States to become party to it. While he cautioned that the obstacles to ridding the world of the scourge of land-mines were not to be underestimated, he expressed the hope that nations would be willing to face those complexities and make the "short-term economic sacrifices" which would be required.
LUCIUS CAFLISCH (Switzerland) expressed his Government`s disappointment that no agreement had been reached in Vienna. As a depository State for the Geneva Convention, his country was especially sensitive to the major humanitarian issues involved in land-mines. He reaffirmed Switzerland's support for restrictions on the use, production and transfer of mines, and stressed that following the Vienna conference, his country had concluded that the unrestricted eradication of use and possession of anti-personnel mines was required.
PETER HERBY, of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), expressed his hope that the "deadlock" of the Vienna session would be broken at the current session. He stressed that while the current session had been considered technical, in fact the issues and protocols under consideration were at the heart of the land-mines issue and would determine the course of the future.
He appealed for clear and unambiguous definitions as a means of streamlining the process of limiting anti-personnel land-mines. As they were the same as other mines, the definition should be the same with the addition that they targeted people. Similarly, technical issues surrounding detectability should be based on rendering a mine detectible using "easily available means". He underscored that the additional 2.5 million mines which
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were being laid each year cost up to $1,000 to remove. The human and financial costs would only be increased without easy detectability.
On self-destruct mechanisms, he stressed that each year of delay would bring 24,000 new victims and that the grace period for the introduction of such mechanisms should be as short as possible. Following the Vienna conference, the ICRC had formally supported the proposal for a total ban on the transfer of anti-personnel land-mines. Since 23 States had already introduced comprehensive moratoria on the export, anything less than a total ban would only serve to weaken that trend.
The ICRC welcomed recent calls for a total ban on anti-personnel land-mines from the Meeting of Foreign Ministers of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, the Council of Ministers of the Organisation of African Unity, the European Parliament and 20 individual States. He said they were part of a "growing awareness" that the only solution to the land-mine crisis would be a total ban.
LUC DE WERER, of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said that while "technical compromises" on detectability and other restrictions would alleviate some of the problems associated with land-mines, they would not eliminate the civilian suffering they caused. He reiterated his commitment to a total ban as the only effective means of coping with the problem.
STEPHEN GOOSE, of the International Campaign Against Land-Mines, drew attention to increased international demands for a total and comprehensive ban on the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of land-mines. He emphasized the gains in public awareness made since Vienna and noted that since that meeting, six nations had asked for an immediate ban on mines, bringing the current number to 20.
FRANCISCA ARIAS (Colombia), speaking on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement, read a statement from last month`s meeting in Cartagena and said that that organization hoped for additional steps to place restrictions on anti-personnel land-mines.
WERNER ERLICH (Austria), said that as of last summer, when his country had destroyed all existing stocks, it no longer used, produced, stockpiled or transferred land-mines. He encouraged other countries to do the same.
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