Statement at the United Nations Disarmament Commission

during the 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly

New York, 1 April 2024
 

 

Mr. Chair, 

First, allow me to congratulate you on your election as Chair of this Commission and assure you of my Delegation’s full support.

 

Amid growing military expenditures and rising conflict around the globe, it is important to recall that deterrence is an illusion. Rather than preventing conflict, “the availability of weapons encourages their use and increases their production. Weapons create mistrust and divert resources”.[1] Tragically, their use results in the killing and maiming of hundreds of thousands of people every year.

These ill-effects of weapons proliferation, stockpiling and use make disarmament “a moral duty”, which calls upon “all members of the great family of nations, to move from an equilibrium of fear to an equilibrium of trust”,[2]  the only basis upon which lasting peace can be achieved.[3]

 

The illusory logic of deterrence is often used to justify the unjustifiable: the continued possession of nuclear arms, any use of which would have catastrophic humanitarian and environmental consequences, which do not distinguish between combatants and non-combatants. As a result, any use of nuclear weapons would contravene the law of war, as recognized by the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). The Holy See reiterates its call for all States to reject nuclear deterrence and join the TPNW, thereby contributing to the replacement of a negative conception of security with a positive one.

 

Mr. Chair,

 

The disarmament and non-proliferation regime, centered upon the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), has allowed humanity to benefit from the peaceful use of nuclear technology, while limiting the spread of nuclear weapons in spite of challenges. The achievements of this regime were not accidental, nor preordained; rather, they resulted from deliberate cooperation on the part of the international community.

 

At a time when emerging technologies offer both “exciting opportunities and grave risks, with serious implications for the pursuit of justice and harmony among people”,[4] the nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime offers the international community lessons to draw upon for limiting military risks and promoting peaceful benefits. Any global framework governing the development and use of emerging technologies must be grounded in “the inherent dignity of each human being and the fraternity that binds us together as members of the one human family”.[5]

 

Many parallels can be drawn between the international governance of nuclear technology and the urgent need to develop a normative and operational framework regarding the use of artificial intelligence. It is worth noting that the creation of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which focuses on the peaceful uses of nuclear technology, preceded the adoption of the NPT, and the work of both international mechanisms are mutually complementary.

 

In this regard, the Holy See reiterates its proposal to consider the creation of an international agency on artificial intelligence[6], while simultaneously urging “the global community of nations to work together in order to adopt a binding international treaty that regulates the development and use of artificial intelligence in its many forms”.[7]While such a treaty is beyond the scope of this Commission, principles, guidelines and recommendations formulated here can contribute to the formation of such a governance regime, which can help ensure that emerging technologies serve humanity as a whole, rather than particular interests.

 

Mr. Chair,

 

“Peace is built not with weapons, but through patient listening, dialogue and cooperation, which remain the only means worthy of the human person in resolving differences”.[8] With this in mind, the Holy See renews its “unceasing call for arms to be silenced, for the production and trade of these instruments of death and destruction to be rethought, and for the path of gradual but complete disarmament to be resolutely pursued”.[9]

 

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

 

[1] Pope Francis, Address to Members of the Diplomatic Corps Accredited to the Holy See, 8 January 2024.

[2] Pope Francis, Angelus, 3 March 2024.

[3] Cf. Pope John XXIII, Encyclical Letter Pacem in Terris, 11 April 1963.

[4] Pope Francis, Message for the 57th World Day of Peace, 1 January 2024.

[5] Idem.

[6] Cf. Submission of the Holy See to the 6th Review Conference of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, CCW/CONF.VI/WP.3, n. 24.

[7] Idem.

[8] Pope Francis, Message signed by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, to the Participants in the Sixth Edition of the “Paris Peace Forum 2023”, 10 November 2023.

[9] Idem.