The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
The NPT Review Conference 2005: Acronym Special Coverage
"The NPT is not implemented on auto-pilot":
Still no agenda on Day 9 May 10, 2005
Rebecca Johnson
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Gloom is settling in at the NPT Review Conference in New York as half way through
the second week there is still no agreement on the agenda. Eleven more
states gave speeches on Tuesday morning. These can be found at: http://www.un.org/events/npt2005/statements10may.html.
In one of the most pertinent statements, which included a
graphic description of the effects of a nuclear bomb, Sri Lanka's
Ambassador Prasad Kariyawasam quoted former UN
Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs, Jayantha
Dhanapala, President of the historic 1995 Review Conference: "Of
all the challenges ahead for the treaty, complacency is arguably
the greatest to overcome, because the NPT is not implemented on
auto-pilot. It requires constant vigilance, care and attention, not
just by responsible government officials, but also by the
non-governmental community, the news media, and the general
public... the mighty NPT is not immune to the risks of decline or
collapse. The proven cases of noncompliance by NNWS and the snail's
pace of nuclear disarmament have not contributed to the health of
the regime."
With the General Debate due to finish on Wednesday morning,
these prophetic words echoed in the half empty General Assembly
hall. There were not enough speakers on the list for it to be worth
holding a session in the afternoon. Without an agenda the main
committees on nuclear disarmament, safeguards and energy have have
not been convened.
Tuesday came and went with rumours and counter-rumours, news of
a cobbled-together solution and then news of further problems and
linkages. As negotiations are delicately poised (and subject to
change) it will not be useful to publicise the details at this
point. It is still hoped (at least by the optimists) that the
Conference President, Ambassador Sergio Duarte, will be able to
bring the gavel down on an agreed agenda on Wednesday. Since I will
be going to Washington DC tomorrow to speak at George Washington
University's Space Policy Institute's workshop on space security, I
will not be able to report from the NPT Conference until Friday, so
please check http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org
whose updates will no doubt also cover Wednesday afternoon's
session in Committee Room 4, at which delegations will hear
statements from a few of the wide variety of NGOs that converged on
New York last week.
Despite the lack of formal progress, delegates' time has been
far from wasted. Dr Hans Blix, Chair of the Stockholm-based Weapons
of Mass Destruction Commission, convened a fascinating discussion
on "Why Do States Abandon Nuclear Weapons Ambitions", spearheaded
by the research of Dr Jim Walsh of Harvard's Managing the Atom
project. The large meeting was hosted by Finland, with
presentations from Ambassador Abdul Minty on why and how South
Africa gave up its nuclear weapon programme, and Commission-member
Dr Patricia Lewis of UNIDIR, who analysed the larger implications
for reinforcing the credibility of the nonproliferation regime that
has played such an important part in creating the conditions for
states to abandon nuclear weapon aspirations. This was followed in
the evening by an illuminating panel co-hosted by the WMD
Commission and the Global Security Initiative, at which two US
Congressional Representatives, Edward J. Markey (D-MA) and Curt
Weldon (R-PA) joined Dr Blix to discuss "US Non-Proliferation and
Disarmament Goals: Honouring the Balance".
On Tuesday, Ireland and Canada co-hosted an informal meeting to
discuss their ideas for providing NPT states parties with better
institutional powers to oversee and strengthen the nonproliferation
regime. A growing number of states are now expressing support and
interest in proposals for annual meetings vested with greater
authority and decision-making powers than possible under the
current PrepCom-based review process. Over the lunch period, there
was an unfortunate time-clash between two important meetings on
verification. In one, Britain's Atomic Weapons Establishment
presented its final report on the five-year study into nuclear
disarmament verification initiated after the 2000 Review
Conference. In the other, Dr Trevor Findlay, formerly of VERTIC and
now with the new Canadian Centre for Treaty Compliance in Ottawa,
presented his study on "A Standing United Nations WMD Verification
Body: Necessary and Feasible", commissioned by the WMD Commission
with sponsorship from New Zealand. Throughout the first 10 days, as
documented by reachingcriticalwill.org, there have also been
numerous NGO events and meetings on different aspects of nuclear
disarmament, the fuel cycle, especially the need to halt all
reprocessing and uranium enrichment, and wider aspects of peace and
security. These will continue.
10.5.05
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