Parliamentary Conference and United Nations Update
October 20, 2003
Dear PNND Members and Supporters,
Please forgive us for sending you a second update for October 2003, which we
have compiled due to recent developments at the United Nations General Assembly
and changes in the program for the parliamentary conference From Nuclear Dangers
to Cooperative Security, to be held in Vancouver November 7-9.
The draft UN resolutions submitted by the New Agenda Coalition (attached), in
particular, are receiving considerable attention. These are similar to
resolutions in 2002, but have been updated after consultations with NATO states
(most of which abstained in 2002) and to take into consideration the emerging
nuclear dangers. The Middle Powers Initiative has prepared a paper (attached) on
why NATO States should now be able to support the resolutions.
We hope you find this information useful in your activities for nuclear
non-proliferation and disarmament.
Yours truly,
Alyn Ware
Table of Contents
1) Parliamentary Conference, November 7-9. 2003
2)
United Nations General Assembly
a) Disarmament Committee 2003 Session
b)
New Agenda Coalition resolutions
c) Middle Powers Initiative paper on reasons for supporting New Agenda Coalition
resolutions
d)
Parliamentary actions to support United Nations resolutions
i) Norway
ii) Australia
3) Bi-partisan Security Group helps bring Michael Douglas and Jane Goodall to
the US Congress
4)
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty
a) Australian Senate resolution
--------------------------------------------------------------------
1) From Nuclear Dangers to
Cooperative Security:
Parliamentarians and the
Legal Imperative for Nuclear Disarmament
Liu Institute for Global Issues, University of British Colombia
Vancouver, Canada. November 7-9, 2003
US Congressman Christopher Shays (a speaker at the
Vancouver parliamentary conference on Nov 7-9, 2003)
with Edward Markey and Mikhael Gorbachev.
In the last PNND Update we announced an exciting conference to be held in
November on the topic From Nuclear Dangers to Cooperative Security, and listed
some of the speakers from the parliaments of Brazil, Canada, India, Israel,
Japan, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, as well as from the United Nations
and International Atomic Energy Agency.
We are pleased to announce additional speakers from the Australian Senate, South
Korean parliament, Tanzanian parliament and US Congress - including US
Congressman Christopher Shays (R), Co-chair of the US House Bipartisan
Task-force on Non-Proliferation.
The conference is open to all parliamentarians. For more information or to
register contact alyn@pnnd.org
2)
United Nations General Assembly
a) Disarmament Committee -
2003 Session
The Disarmament Committee of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) opened
on October 6 and continues until November 7. A number of draft resolutions will
be debated and voted on during the course of the session. Voting will commence
on October 27.
UNGA Disarmament Committee - basic information
UNGA Disarmament Committee - 2003 Session (including resolutions, statements,
schedule, documents…)
UNGA Disarmament Committee - UN site
b) New Agenda Coalition resolutions - Preserving the Non-Proliferation Treaty
On Wednesday, October 15, the New Agenda Coalition (NAC) tabled two resolutions
(attached) in the United Nations General Assembly in New York, in an attempt to
address the serious threats from nuclear proliferation and the increasing role
being given to nuclear weapons in the security doctrines of the nuclear-weapon
States (NWS).
The first resolution, entitled Towards a nuclear weapon free world: a new
agenda, is based on the Final Document of the 2000 Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty (NPT) Review Conference, where all parties to the NPT unanimously agreed
to advance the nuclear disarmament agenda by means of 13 practical steps. The
second resolution, entitled Reductions of non-strategic nuclear weapons,
specifically tackles the issue of tactical (that is, sub-strategic) nuclear
weapons.
The NAC was instrumental in the agreement of the 13 disarmament steps by all NPT
parties in 2000. The 2003 resolutions aim to preserve and strengthen the NPT
during its review process in 2004 and 2005, and thus have some impact on the
dangers of nuclear non-proliferation, existing nuclear weapons and emerging
nuclear doctrines.
Voting on the resolutions will take place in the final two weeks of the session
- October 27 - November 7.
c) Middle Powers Initiative paper on reasons for supporting New Agenda
Coalition resolutions (attached)
The Middle Powers Initiative has released a paper calling on NATO States to
support the NAC draft resolutions at the United Nations in order to strengthen
the middle ground in the nuclear disarmament debate and generate some influence
in order to prevent further nuclear proliferation and achieve meaningful steps
to disarmament.
d)
Parliamentary actions to support United Nations resolutions
i) Norway
Unofficial translation of the Norwegian parliamentary interpellation from Marit
Nybakk (Labour), Chair of the Defence Committee, to Foreign Minister Jan
Petersen (Conservative), October 14, 2003 regarding the New Agenda Coalition
resolutions.
"The fight against Weapons of Mass Destruction, nuclear weapons inclusive, is an
important task for the international community and forms an integral part of
Norwegian security and foreign policy. In 1995, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty (NPT) was indefinitely extended with a set of Principles And Objectives
For Nuclear Non-Proliferation And Disarmament. The unanimously adopted final
document from the NPT Review Conference in 2000 includes 13 steps for complete
nuclear disarmament. The lack of progress in this regard is worrisome. This
autumn, Norway has both in the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva and in the UN
underlined the importance of the 13 steps and stressed how essential it is that
the 2005 Review Conference furthers nuclear disarmament.
How will Norway act this year on the proposals presented in UN on revitalizing
the work on nuclear disarmament, inter alia the resolution of the New Agenda
Coalition 'Towards a Nuclear Weapon Free World: A New Agenda'?"
ii) Australia
Notice of motion to the Australian Senate by Senator Andrew Bartlett 14 October
2003. (Consideration was postponed until Oct 27)
That the Senate:
1) Expresses concern about the growing risks posed by the proliferation of
nuclear weapons, the potential for further proliferation, plans for the
research, development, testing and deployment of new types of nuclear weapons by
the Nuclear Weapon States, and the broadening role being given to nuclear
weapons in security strategies.
2) Notes the New Agenda Coalition resolution introduced in the 58th United
Nations General Assembly 1st Committee entitled Towards a nuclear-weapon-free
world: the need for a new agenda and:
i) Notes that this resolution is similar to resolution A/RES/57/59 which was
adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2002 by a vote of Yes - 125:
no - 6: abstain - 36;
ii) Commends the New Agenda Coalition for:
a. setting out a series of practical and necessary steps to curb nuclear
proliferation and achieve nuclear disarmament, based on the thirteen disarmament
steps agreed by all States parties to the Non-Proliferation Treaty in 2000; and
b. making changes to the draft resolution at the current session of the UN
General Assembly in order to meet the concerns of States such as Australia which
abstained on the vote in 2002, in particular to highlight the dangers of nuclear
proliferation and call on all States, including North Korea, Israel, Pakistan,
Iran and India, to subscribe to the NPT and accept full-scope safeguards on
their nuclear facilities.
3) Notes also the New Agenda Coalition resolution introduced in the 58th United
Nations General Assembly 1st Committee entitled Reduction of non-strategic
nuclear weapons and:
i) Notes that this resolution is similar to resolution A/RES/57/58 which was
adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2002 by a vote of yes - 120:
no - 3: abstain - 42;
ii) Commends the New Agenda Coalition for
a. drawing attention to the need to deal with this class of nuclear weapons of
which there are over 4000 in the stockpiles of the Nuclear Weapon States; and
b. making changes to the draft resolution at the current session of the UN
General Assembly in order to meet the concerns of States such as Australia which
abstained on the vote in 2002, in particular changes to address the particular
concerns surrounding the tactical nuclear weapons possessed by Russia.
iii) Expresses concern about the threat posed by non-strategic weapons due to
their portability, proximity to areas of conflict and probability of
pre-delegation in case of military conflict, and thus about the risk of
proliferation and of early, pre-emptive, unauthorised or accidental use; and
4) Calls on the Government to support the NAC resolutions in the 58th UN 1st
Committee Towards a nuclear-weapon-free world: the need for a new agenda (item
A/C.1/58/L.73d); and Reduction of non-strategic nuclear weapons (A/C.1/58/L.73c)
and consequential votes in the UN General Assembly.
3) Bi-partisan
Security Group event in US Congress
 |
 |
Jane Goodall |
Michael Douglas |
On
Thursday, October 2, actor, producer, and director Michael Douglas and noted
primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall spoke to a capacity crowd of congress members and
staff on Capitol Hill. They urged U.S. policy makers to pursue greater
cooperation with other countries and the United Nations to effectively address
global security threats such as the non-proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction, the health of the earth's biosphere, and the peaceful resolution of
political conflicts within the UN framework.
The non-partisan event was sponsored by the House of Representatives Bipartisan
Task Force on Non-Proliferation, and organized with the assistance of the
Bipartisan Security Group PNND's partner in the US.
4)
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty
In preparation for the visits to Australia of the US and Chinese leaders,
Democrat Leader Senator Andrew Bartlett moved the following motion on the
nuclear weapons capabilities of the US and China that passed the Senate on
October 15:
That the Senate
(a) notes:
(i) that the United States Government has 10,600 nuclear warheads, of which
nearly 8,000 are considered operational.
(ii) that the Chinese Government has approximately 400 nuclear warheads.
(iii) that the US and Chinese Governments both signed the Comprehensive Nuclear
Test Ban Treaty on the 24 September 1996 but neither nation has ratified the
Treaty .
(b) Calls on the Government to urge the leaders of the US and China to ratify
the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty as soon as possible.
Senator Andrew Bartlett
15 October 2003