By Holy See Mission
Statement by H.E. Archbishop Celestino
Migliore
Apostolic Nuncio, Permanent Observer of the Holy See
63rd session of the United Nations General Assembly
First Committee: "General and complete disarmament"
New York, 7 October 2008Mr Chairman,
Two months
from now we will be celebrating the 60th anniversary of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This event invites us to a renewed
commitment to disarmament, development and peace. All States are called upon to
promote disarmament and non-proliferation as key elements for an international
order in which the fundamental rights and freedoms of every person can be fully
realized.
Peace and
security are threatened by terrorism, and even more by widespread violence,
neglect of human rights and underdevelopment. As the human person is the
ultimate aim of all public policies, arms regulation, disarmament and
non-proliferation must have an interdisciplinary or, more importantly, a human
approach. Without considering the social, economical, psychological and ethical
impact of armaments, policies on disarmament and non-proliferation become a game
of armed truce between States.
Indeed, we
realize a conflict emerging between security and military policies. The
international community strives to fight nuclear terrorism with the adoption of
stringent norms banning the production, possession and transfer of such arms;
but, on the other hand, not a few States pursue the renewal or the acquisition
of nuclear arsenals at the national level. Consequently a kind of conflict
between security policies and development appears to emerge as well. States, and
especially the major powers, aspire in the nuclear sector to a maximum national
freedom, and at the same time to incisive forms of international and regional
monitoring.
This explains
also in large part the scarce interest in fully complying with the Treaty on
the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and reaching the necessary
quorum for the entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty
(CTBT).
This
contradicts the spirit of the United Nations and is not the way to build a
durable and lasting peace. Arms regulation, nuclear disarmament and
non-proliferation are key elements for a global strategy in favour of human
rights, development and international order.
Despite the
negative trend of multilateralism, this past spring in Dublin, a group of 107
States, with the support of 20 Observer States, international organisations and
a coalition of non-governmental organisations, adopted the Convention on
Cluster Munitions, which will be opened for signing on 3 December 2008 in
Oslo. As a member of the Core Group of the Oslo Process, the Holy See is
particularly pleased with this achievement. This new Convention, besides filling
a serious gap in humanitarian law, provides a strong and realistic solution to
an ongoing problem, characterized not only by the indiscriminate use of cluster
munitions, but also by the fact that they can rest undetonated on the ground for
many years, and, once disturbed, can devastatingly affect the daily life of
thousands of civilians around the globe.
The Oslo
Process not only represents an important political and legal step forward but is
also a warning signal. As a matter of fact, like the Convention on
Antipersonnel Mines, the Convention on Cluster Munitions has been
negotiated and adopted outside the Conference on Disarmament. As
emphasised by the 62nd General Assembly, multilateralism is “the core principle
in resolving disarmament and non-proliferation concerns” (Resolution 62/27). The
Holy See shares this view and supports the plan for a fourth Special Session of
the General Assembly on disarmament which could foster multilateralism within
international organisations and in particular the Conference on Disarmament.
We need to
invert the trend of erosion of multilateralism in the area of arms regulation,
disarmament and non-proliferation. The Conference on Disarmament has not
had a programme of work for more than 10 years, and the lack of political will
in the international community regarding these projects is disconcerting. It is
well known that more progress can be made with an approach based on responsible,
honest and coherent dialogue and cooperation of all the members of the
international community than with individualized and contrasting approaches.
The adoption
of the Arms Trade Treaty is uncertain. A greater transparency, given the
enhanced complexity of the arms trade linked also to an increase of the exchange
of so-called “dual-use” goods and technologies, would contribute to actual
security and provide the premises for a future limitation of the arms trade. In
this prospective it seems opportune to recall General Assembly Resolution 62/13
which refers to the “objective information on military matters, including
transparency of military expenditures”, and Resolution 62/26 which speaks of
“national legislation on transfer of arms, military equipment and dual-use goods
and technologies”.
Finally,
disarmament is becoming an increasingly complex issue, which brings us back to
more general problems, such as the reform of this Organisation, the procedural
and structural reform of the Conference on Disarmament, the tendency of
overlapping the civil and military economies and the scarce coherence of the
policies adopted in the strategic sectors.
In this
context, the Holy See calls upon the international community for a greater
sensitivity and more efforts in promoting the peaceful coexistence and survival
of the entire human family, and believes that the best formula for success is
cooperation and partnership between States, the United Nations, international
organizations and civil society.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
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