DISARMAMENT COMMISSION HOLDS ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING, WILL HOLD SUBSTANTIVE SESSION 26 JUNE-7 JULY

Press Release
DC/2678

DISARMAMENT COMMISSION HOLDS ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING, WILL HOLD SUBSTANTIVE SESSION 26 JUNE-7 JULY

At a resumed organizational session this afternoon, the Disarmament Commission decided to postpone its 2000 substantive session and convene it for two weeks instead of three, on an exceptional basis, from 26 June to 7 July.

The acting Chairman of the meeting, Angelica Arce de Jeannet (Mexico), explained that a general consensus had emerged to shorten the annual session by one week and postpone it from the dates originally suggested in the relevant General Assembly resolution, owing to the busy disarmament schedule of 2000. The agreed formula, however, would not establish a precedent for next year, she said.

The Disarmament Commission, which is a specialized deliberative body, decided last year to consider two disarmament items instead of three, on nuclear disarmament and conventional weapons. A decision had not yet been reached on the possible subject items for the forthcoming session, and a further organizational meeting would be needed.

Also today, the Commission adopted its programme of work for the first week of the substantive session and held elections for the Bureau. The Deputy Foreign Minister of Iran, Javad Zarif, was elected Chairman, by acclamation, in accordance with the established principle of rotation that the candidacy for the post should come from the Group of Asian States. Samuel Amehou (Benin) of the Group of African States was elected Rapporteur.

The following representatives were elected as Vice-Chairmen: Hazairin Pohan (Indonesia), from the Group of Asian States; Jacques Louis Boisson (Monaco), from the Group of Western European and other States; and Luis Raul Estevez-Lopez (Guatemala), from the Latin American and Caribbean Group. From the Group of African States, a representative of Sierra Leone will be named at a later date.

To complete the Bureau, four more vice-chairmen will be elected on the following basis: one from Western European and other States; one from the Latin American and Caribbean Group; and two from the Eastern European Group of States.

Disarmament Commission - 2 - Press Release DC/2678 233rd Meeting (PM) 15 February 2000

The election of the chairmen of the two working groups, on nuclear disarmament and conventional arms, was deferred to a later meeting, as consultations were still ongoing. It was meanwhile decided that a vice-chairman would lead the consultations on the two items.

The proposal to shorten the duration of the 2000 session was first made by a representative of the European Union at an organizational meeting on 2 December 1999. A Union representative said today that the two-week session could be productive, but regrettably, it coincided with a meeting of the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva.

The Commission will meet again in a resumed organizational session at a date and time to be announced, in order to complete its Bureau and decide on the two items for its substantive session.

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