STATES PARTIES TO CONVENTIONAL WEAPONS TREATY CONCLUDE THIRD PREPARATORY COMMITTEE MEETING

STATES PARTIES TO CONVENTIONAL WEAPONS TREATY CONCLUDE

THIRD PREPARATORY COMMITTEE MEETING

(Reissued as received.)

GENEVA, 2 October (UN Information Service) -- On 28 September 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 (CCW) concluded the third session of the Preparatory Committee for the Second Review Conference.  That Conference will review progress made in implementation of the Convention.

This session was the last of the preparatory meetings before the Review Conference, which will be held in Geneva from 11 to 21 December 2001.

The President-designate of the Review Conference, Ambassador Les Luck of Australia, concluded the meeting by issuing a package of five proposals which he recommended be considered by States Parties at the Review Conference.  These proposals have been put forward and developed by States Parties in the course of the preparatory process, which began in December 2000, and are aimed at enhancing the effectiveness of the CCW.  They include a proposal to expand the scope of the CCW to cover internal as well as international conflicts, and one to deal with the issue of explosive remnants of war (such as unexploded bombs and munitions), as well as proposals on anti-vehicle landmines, on small calibre weapons and ammunition, and on a compliance mechanism for the CCW.

At the Review Conference in December, States Parties will consider action on each of the proposals, including whether to make any amendments to the CCW and its existing Protocols, to add new Protocols, or to commission further studies by experts.

The CCW was concluded on 10 October 1980 and entered into force on

2 December 1983.  It initially comprised three different Protocols limiting the use of three classes of certain conventional weapons:  weapons leaving non-detectable fragments; mines, booby-traps and other devices; and incendiary weapons.  At the First Review Conference in 1996, the States Parties adopted a fourth Protocol, banning blinding laser weapons, and amended the Protocol on mines, booby-traps and other devices.  This amended Protocol required, among other things, increased detectability for anti-personnel landmines (APLs), and self-destruct and self-deactivation features for remotely delivered APLs.  With the accession of Bolivia in September 2001, the CCW currently has 86 States Parties.

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