CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT HEARS STATEMENTS FROM FRANCE, MYANMAR, VENEZUELA, MALAYSIA

CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT HEARS STATEMENTS FROM

FRANCE, MYANMAR, VENEZUELA, MALAYSIA

Malaysia Denies US Claim that Malaysian Company is Involved with

International Network which Supports Illegal Production of Centrifuges

(Reissued as received.)

GENEVA, 19 February (UN Information Service) -- The Conference on Disarmament today heard statements from France concerning the decision to enhance the participation of civil society in the work of the Conference; Myanmar which proposed amendments to the Five Ambassadors proposal; Venezuela on recent national measures taken concerning anti-personnel landmines and small arms; and Malaysia which took exception to being deliberately singled out in a speech by President Bush concerning accusations on the illegal production of centrifuges.

Ambassador Rajmah Hussain of Malaysia, in her opening remarks as incoming President of the Conference, said that her challenge as the current President was how to find the “magic formula” to get the Conference to start its substantive work, and to find the political will among key delegations to close the gap that still separated the body from productive work.  She would exert maximum efforts to bring the delegations of the Conference towards consensual agreement on a programme of work that was balanced and acceptable to all. 

France said it was not fully satisfied with certain paragraphs in the decision on enhancing the participation of civil society in the work of the Conference which was taken last week.  The issue of the participation of civil society in the work of the Conference, which was very important, could not be seen independently of a positive conclusion to the debate on the general issues of improving the methods of work of the Conference.  France believed that a debate on the subject must continue. 

Myanmar proposed amendments to the Five Ambassadors proposal with a view to facilitating the ongoing intensive consultations in order to reach consensus on a programme of work as soon as possible.  Myanmar’s proposed amendments consisted of two parts:  establishment of four ad hoc committees on the four main subjects; and appointment of the Special Coordinators.  Draft one on the establishment of the four ad hoc committees on nuclear disarmament, fissban, prevention of an arms race in outer space and security assurances was the priority and should be focused on.  The appointment of the Special Coordinators was of lesser importance.  Myanmar’s approach was to de-link the question of the establishment of the four ad hoc committees from that of the appointment of the Special Coordinators.

Venezuela said that concerning anti-personnel landmines, on 24 September 2003, it had destroyed 47,189 anti-personnel landmines, thus fulfilling its duties under the Ottawa Convention.  Venezuela had retained 5,000 landmines for training purposes.  Concerning small arms, Venezuela had enacted the Disarmament Act in 2003 according to which the Government would eliminate small arms and light weapons being held unlawfully by the public.  Armaments not in possession of the State would be decommissioned.  Venezuela would also shortly ratify 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, thus completing its accession to all the treaties it was party to concerning disarmament.

And Ambassador Hussain, delivering a national statement for Malaysia, said that in the speech by US President George Bush at the NationalDefenseUniversity in Washington on 11 February, he had made several undue references to her country.  Malaysia was disappointed that the speech appeared to question the commitment of the Government on the issue of nuclear non-proliferation.  Malaysia refuted any suggestion that a Malaysian company SCOPE was involved with an international network which supported the illegal production of centrifuges.  Malaysia took exception that it had been deliberately singled out in the speech by President Bush.  It felt offended that it had been unfairly and deliberately targeted by President Bush, thus tarnishing Malaysia’s track record on the issue of non-proliferation.

On behalf of the Conference, Ambassador Hussain extended condolences and deepest sympathy to the Islamic Republic of Iran after the derailment of train wagons caused a huge explosion which killed and injured hundreds of Iranians.

The President of the Conference informed the plenary that she would be absent from Geneva from 23 February until 1 March, and that in her absence, Ambassador Pablo Macedo of Mexico would temporarily replace her at the plenary of 26 February, and the presidential consultations the day before.   Concerning the decision taken last week on the enhancement of the role of civil society in the Conference, the President said that she had asked the Secretariat to prepare a paper on the formal selection process of non-governmental organizations which would participate in the work of the Conference, as stipulated in the decision.

The next plenary of the Conference will be held at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 26 February.

Statements

RAJMAH HUSSAIN (Malaysia), incoming President of the Conference on Disarmament, said it was a great honour for Malaysia to assume the Presidency of the Conference.  She intended to continue the efforts of her predecessor, Ambassador Amina Mohamed of Kenya, as well as the proposals submitted by various delegations and groups.  The Conference was the world’s single multilateral disarmament negotiating forum whose task was to promote the attainment of general and complete disarmament under effective international control.  While the Conference was able to claim credit for important disarmament treaties negotiated in the period up to the mid-1990s, it had not been productive for the last seven years.  It had been the mantra of successive Presidents before her, and rightly so, that the Conference was languishing in an idle mode for the last seven years due to its inability to agree on a programme of work.  It had not been able to agree on how to move forward on substantive work on the various issues of importance and common concern on the agenda of the Conference.  Although there was a proposal on a programme of work on the table –- the Five Ambassadors proposal -– which enjoyed broad support, some key delegations had yet to pronounce their position on it.   If the Conference’s Member States did not, together, do something to move the Conference forward, it would become irrelevant and would wither away as delegations refocused their limited resources to more pressing demands elsewhere.  At a time when the global community was faced with grave challenges to its peace and security, the Conference had not choice but “to get its act together”.

Ms. Hussain said that her challenge as the current President of the Conference was how to find the “magic formula” to get the Conference to start its substantive work, and to find the political will among key delegations to close the gap that still separated the body from productive work.  She would exert maximum efforts to bring the delegations of the Conference towards consensual agreement on a programme of work that was balanced and acceptable to all.  The time for each President to perform this miraculous job was, however, short. 

FRANCOIS RIVASSEAU (France) said that his country was not fully satisfied with certain paragraphs in the decision on enhancing the participation of civil society in the work of the Conference which was taken last week.  In fact, they had led the President to call for further clarification herself.  For example, the cost of the decision had not been adequately addressed.  The issue of the participation of civil society in the work of the Conference, which was very important, could not be seen independently of a positive conclusion to the debate on the general issues of improving the methods of work of the Conference.  France believed that a debate on the subject must continue.  The important issue that had been agreed upon last week would make more sense in the framework of an improved workload.

U MYA THAN (Myanmar) said the world was still in the teething pains of an emerging new world order, and the international security environment was also changing.  Countries were now facing additional security threats, while still grappling with the old security problems.  Although multilateralism was passing through a difficult time, it was certainly irreplaceable by unilateralism in dealing with global security problems.  The twin problems of nuclear non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament must be dealt with in a coordinated and correlated manner.  The same applied to the problems of non-proliferation and disarmament of other weapons of mass destruction.

The Ambassador of Malaysia said this year’s session of the Conference was taking place at a difficult and delicate time for multilateral arms control and disarmament.  The world had been witnessing the weakening of international commitments.  This was a defining moment for the Conference.  After seven years of impasse, the Conference’s credibility and relevance would be questioned if 2004 became another lost year.  The Five Ambassadors initiative was on the table, and the Conference should build on it, do its utmost to narrow down the remaining differences, and welcome any other innovative proposals and initiatives that might help to find a common ground.  Myanmar would like to propose a few amendments to the Five Ambassadors proposal with a view to facilitating the ongoing intensive consultations in order to reach consensus on a programme of work as soon as possible.  Myanmar’s proposed amendments consisted of two parts:  establishment of four ad hoc committees on the four main subjects; and appointment of the Special Coordinators.  Draft one on the establishment of the four ad hoc committees on nuclear disarmament, fissban, prevention of an arms race in outer space and security assurances was the priority and should be focused on.  The appointment of the Special Coordinators was of lesser importance and it could be pursued only if the Member States were still interested in their appointment.  Myanmar’s approach was to de-link the question of the establishment of the four ad hoc committees from that of the appointment of the Special Coordinators.

Nuclear disarmament was the highest priority for Myanmar and most of the Member States of the Conference.  At the same time, the Conference should be open to appropriate additional issues so that its work could remain to be relevant to the needs of our time.  Such appropriate additional issues include, among other things, measures to prevent terrorists from acquiring weapons of mass destruction, radiological weapons, some aspects of the prohibition on illicit trade in small arms, prohibition on exports and illicit transfers of anti-personnel mines, compliance issues, missiles, and any other additional issues to be agreed upon by the Member States of the Conference.  The Conference should also keep the format and modalities of dealing with additional issues flexible.  He hoped that the Member States would be able to revitalize the Conference and let it perform its proper functions, that is, to negotiate multilateral arms control and disarmament agreements.

WILLIAM SANTANA, delivering a statement on behalf of BLANCANIEVE PORTOCARRERO (Venezuela), said that the statement concerned progress which Venezuela had achieved with respect to arms control.  On the issue of anti-personnel landmines, on 24 September 2003, Venezuela had destroyed 47,189 anti-personnel landmines, thus fulfilling its duties under the Ottawa Convention.  Venezuela had retained 5,000 landmines for training purposes, however, it was now free of stockpiles of landmines.  Concerning small arms, Venezuela had enacted the Disarmament Act in 2003 according to which  the Government would eliminate small arms and light weapons being held unlawfully by the public.  Armaments not in possession of the State would be decommissioned.  This would ensure peace and security, and it was in line with the United Nations Plan of Action on small arms and light weapons.  Venezuela would also shortly ratify 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, thus completing its accession to all the treaties it was party to concerning disarmament.

Reiterating Venezuela’s position on the activities of the Conference on Disarmament, it was, like other States, well advanced nationally on disarmament issues, without seeing corresponding progress within the Conference.  However, Venezuela welcomed the renewed interest in the agenda, the response to the proposal to hold informal plenary meetings, inclusion of civil society in the work of the Conference, and MemberStates who had recently joined in supporting the Five Ambassadors proposal.  Venezuela viewed with optimism the possibility of reaching a programme of work during this year, and called on all countries which had not yet expressed their opinion on the Five Ambassadors proposal to do so.

RAJMAH HUSSEIN (Malaysia), delivering a national statement, said that at the plenary meeting of 12 February, the Ambassador of the United States to the Conference had distributed a copy of US President George Bush’s speech at the National Defense University in Washington on 11 February which addressed the subject of weapons of mass destruction.  In the speech, the US President made several undue references to her country.  Malaysia was disappointed that the speech appeared to question the commitment of the Government on the issue of nuclear non-proliferation.

Malaysia refuted any suggestion that a Malaysian company SCOPE was involved with an international network which supported the illegal production of centrifuges.  Since reports of the alleged involvement of SCOPE in the production of certain centrifuge components, Malaysia had undertaken thorough investigations.  SCOPE had confirmed that while it did manufacture 14 semi-finished components for Gulf Technical Industries, based in Dubai, their end use was never disclosed.  These components, according to investigations, were generic and suitable for several uses.  Investigations had also confirmed that SCOPE did not have the capability to manufacture a complete centrifuge unit, or a majority of the parts needed to assembly a centrifuge.  Malaysia had always supported international efforts to prevent the illegal transfer of nuclear technology or the illegal production of materials which might be abused for the clandestine development of weapons of mass destruction.  Malaysia took exception that it had been deliberately singled out in the speech by President Bush.  It felt offended that it had been unfairly and deliberately targeted by President Bush, thus tarnishing Malaysia’s track record on the issue of non-proliferation.  Malaysia hoped that the United States would manage its affairs with small countries like Malaysia with fairness.

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