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United States Proposes New U.N. Nonproliferation Resolution
The United States yesterday distributed a draft U.N. resolution to the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council that would prohibit the transfer of weapons of mass destruction to individuals and organizations, according to the Washington Post (see GSN, Sept. 23). The resolution, first proposed by U.S. President George W. Bush during a Sept. 23 U.N. speech, calls on U.N. members to criminalize WMD proliferation and to “refrain” from providing support to organizations and individuals seeking to develop such weapons. The resolution also would require U.N. members to establish “domestic controls” for strengthening border and export controls, according to the Post. The draft U.S. resolution does not include the authority for the Security Council to sanction U.N. members that fail to comply, the Post reported. While Russia and the United Kingdom had supported the inclusion of an enforcement mechanism, some Bush administration officials were concerned that it would give the Security Council too large of a role in monitoring illicit trade, U.N. diplomats said (Colum Lynch, Washington Post, Dec. 17). Meanwhile, former chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix yesterday announced the members of a new independent commission on weapons of mass destruction (see GSN, Dec. 15). The new commission, to be based in Stockholm, was first proposed last year and will be the first such group since the 1999 Tokyo Forum, according to the Associated Press. Blix said that the commission will meet up to three times a year and is expected to present its first report to the United Nations by the end of next year. “My ambition for this commission is that we will be able to provide realistic and constructive ideas and proposals aimed at the greatest possible reduction of the dangers of weapons of mass destruction,” Blix said (Mattias Karen, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Dec. 17). U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan yesterday praised the creation of the new commission. “The commission faces a task of the utmost importance — providing proposals on how to make progress in nonproliferation and disarmament of weapons of mass destruction and on how to minimize the risk of these weapons falling into the hands of terrorists,” Annan said (U.N. release, Dec. 16).
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