軍縮会議というもの [2007年08月25日(Sat)]
わが秋田高校の後輩である、尊敬する阿部信泰駐スイス特命全権大使は、日本の関係者と世界の軍縮関係者とのすばらしいパイプ役をつとめておられる。 自ら軍縮ネットワークなるものを構築し、公にできる情報は着実に知らせてくれる。 きょうも、「ジュネーブ軍縮会議の膠着状態に怒りを現したカナダ大使の発言記事です。4年在勤、こう着状態が続く中、離任されるようです」「2005年のNPT検討会議が不調に終わったときにも憤懣を述べていたのが思い出されます」などといったコメントとともに、以下のような、軍縮協議の実情を報道した記事をおくってくれました。 ロイター通信の Stephanie Nebehay記者の書いたものです。 邦訳の時間がありませんので、英文のままご紹介します。あしからず。 ★.。.:*・゜★.。.:*・゜★.。.:*・゜ A United Nations-sponsored forum on disarmament is failing to do anything to rid the world of weapons of mass destruction or prevent an arms race in outer space, the Canadian envoy to the body said on Thursday. Outgoing Ambassador Paul Meyer said the international community had invested considerably in the Geneva-based Conference on Disarmament (CD), but said a "dysfunctional" voting system allowed a few states to hold the forum hostage. "Alas, we have to acknowledge that the return on that investment has been virtually nil. If the CD were a business, it would have been declared insolvent long ago and shut down," Meyer said in a blunt speech after fou years in his post. The 65-member state forum -- whose last success was the 1996 Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty prohibiting underground nuclear explosions -- has been unable to launch negotiations on a treaty to ban production of nuclear bomb-making fissile material. All decisions must be taken by consensus at the Geneva talks, the world's main multilateral disarmament negotiating forum. A Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty is strongly backed by the United States and others, but delegations differ on whether it should include a verification mechanism, opposed by Washington. China and Russia are among countries that have long argued that parallel progress was needed on other issues, including negotiations to prevent weapons being deployed in outer space. "It would appear only logical that in a situation where there is an insurmountable conflict between a given forum and the substance to be addressed by it -- that the latter should not be sacrificed to the former," Meyer said. "In other words, if despite the best efforts of many in this hall, we are unable to agree on a way to resume work, we should look to other fora or processes for carrying this work forward." Meyer noted Canada and others had taken their campaign to ban antipersonnel landmines outside of the scope of the 1980 Convention on Conventional Weapons. The negotiations resulted in the 1997 Ottawa treaty banning the pernicious weapons. He said the conventional arms pact may be side-stepped again later this year to take action on cluster munitions, blamed for thousands of civilian casualties worldwide. "The chief point is that if states are serious about accomplishing something in the field of multilateral arms control, they will find the appropriate diplomatic vehicle for so doing," Meyer declared. |