UN to Vote on Nuclear Disarmament Resolutions

[From] Monday November 2, and running the whole week, the United Nations General Assembly in New York [is voting] on a number of draft resolutions on nuclear disarmament. Many of these are repeat resolutions from previous years – and countries [are likely voting] for them the same way as they have in the past. However there are a few exciting new resolutions – which if adopted with significant support – could pave the way for effective multi-lateral negotiations.

Open Ended Working Groups

There are two separate resolutions through which the UN General Assembly would establish Open Ended Working Groups (OEWG) to take forward multilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations. UNFOLD ZERO has been promoting the establishment of an OEWG in order to negotiate a new legal instrument or instruments – similar to the way an OEWG was used to facilitate negotiations that led to the conclusion of the Arms Trade Treaty (see UN General Assembly to re-open the door to a nuclear-weapon free world?)

• Draft resolution L.13: Taking forward multilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations, introduced by Mexico, would establish an OEWG to ‘negotiate on concrete and effective legal measures to achieve nuclear disarmament, in particular new legal provisions and norms to attain and maintain a world without nuclear weapons.’ The OEWG would be held over 15 days in Geneva and report back to the UN General Assembly at its 71st session (October 2016).
• Draft resolution L.28: Effective measures on nuclear disarmament, introduced by Iran, would establish on OEWG to ‘identify and elaborate effective measures on nuclear disarmament, including legal provisions or other arrangements that contribute to and are required for the achievement and maintenance of a world without nuclear weapons.’ The OEWG would hold sessions in 2016 and 2017 for a total of 30 working days.

The Mexican resolution is much more ambitious – with a mandate to negotiate legal measures, and to do this in just 15 days of negotiations. It would operate under UNGA rules, allowing the possibility of voting if consensus is not forthcoming. The Iranian resolution aims to be more inclusive by holding the sessions in New York (where all UN members have representation) and by operating according to consensus – but this runs the risk of the deliberations being held hostage by some of the nuclear-armed States who could block progress – just as they have done in the Conference on Disarmament for the past 19 years.

So far, attempts to bring the two resolutions together in a joint compromise approach, have been unsuccessful. If both OEWGs are established, it will be important to ensure that governments participate in good faith in both processes, and that they operate constructively – utilising their different strengths in order to advance mutually supporting legal instruments for nuclear disarmament.

Universal Declaration

Kazakhstan has introduced a draft Universal Declaration on the Achievement of a Nuclear-Weapon-Free World. The declaration affirms that any use of nuclear weapons would be a violation of international law and a crime against humanity. It also commits endorsers to negotiate ‘a global, non-discriminatory, multilateral, legally binding instrument for the total elimination of nuclear weapons.’ Kazakhstan has been leading on a nuclear of nuclear disarmament initiatives since eliminating the nuclear weapons inherited from the Soviet Union upon its collapse. These include the achievement of a Central Asian Nuclear Weapon Free Zone, and the decision by the UN to establish August 29, the anniversary of the closure of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site, as the International Day Against Nuclear Tests.

Humanitarian Impact, Pledge and Ethical Aspects

There are four new resolutions this year which highlight the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons and the imperative for their abolition. These include:

• Draft Resolution L.37: Humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons puts into a UN resolution the main points from the Joint Statement on Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons. It is endorsed by 159 non-nuclear countries;
• Draft Resolution L.26: United action towards the total elimination of nuclear weapons is endorsed by a mixture of non-nuclear countries and those under extended nuclear deterrence doctrines. It notes the links between the humanitarian dimension of nuclear weapons, nuclear disarmament and international peace and security;
• Draft resolution L.40: Ethical imperatives for a nuclear-weapon-free world elevates the ethical arguments for the abolition of nuclear weapons, including their illegality, their waste of resources ($100 billion per year spent on them), their destruction of the environment, and their violation of the basic principles of humanity;
• Draft Resolution L.38: Humanitarian pledge for the prohibition and elimination of nuclear weapons puts into a UN resolution the pledge released by Austria at the Vienna Conference in 2014 and since then endorsed by 121 countries.

UNFOLD ZERO Consultation

UNFOLD ZERO [held] a roundtable meeting with other key civil society representatives in New York on Tuesday November 3 to discuss follow-up strategy and activities over 2016 and 2017 to ensure the success of these resolutions in facilitating the adoption of concrete nuclear disarmament measures nationally, regionally and internationally.Φ