Presented by Dr. Sameh Aboul Enein

The United Nations and Disarmament

University of East Anglia  Dec 3, 2013 

IntroductionThe United Nations is an international organization

founded in 1945 after the Second World War by 51 countries committed to maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations and promoting social progress, better living standards and human rights.

There are currently 193 member states, including every internationally recognized sovereign state in the world but Vatican City. From its offices around the world, the UN and its specialized agencies decide on substantive and administrative issues in regular meetings held throughout the year. 

Purpose of the UNTo keep peace throughout the world;To develop friendly relations among nations;To help nations work together to improve the

lives of poor people, to conquer hunger, disease and illiteracy, and to encourage respect for each other’s rights and freedoms;

To be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations to achieve these goals.

Main BodiesGeneral Assembly

Security Council

Economic and Social Council

Trusteeship Council

International Court of Justice

Secretariat

Quick FactsGeneral Assembly: 193 Member States

Security Council: 5 permanent members and 10 non-permanent

Economic and Social Council: 54 members

International Court of Justice: 15 judges

General AssemblyThe United Nations General Assembly  is one of the five

principal organs of the United Nations and the only one in which all member nations have equal representation. Its powers are to oversee the budget of the United Nations, appoint the non-permanent members to the Security Council, receive reports from other parts of the United Nations and make recommendations in the form of General Assembly Resolutions. It has also established a wide number of subsidiary organs.

The General Assembly meets under its president or Secretary-General in regular yearly sessions the main part of which lasts from September to December and resumed part from January until all issues are addressed (which often is just before the next session's start). It can also reconvene for special and emergency special sessions. Its composition, functions, powers, voting, and procedures are set out in Chapter IV of the United Nations Charter.

General AssemblyThe first session was convened on 10 January 1946 in

the Westminster Central Hall in London and included representatives of 51 nations.

Voting in the General Assembly on important questions – recommendations on peace and security; election of members to organs; admission, suspension, and expulsion of members; budgetary matters – is by a two-thirds majority of those present and voting. Other questions are decided by majority vote. Each member country has one vote. Apart from approval of budgetary matters, including adoption of a scale of assessment, Assembly resolutions are not binding on the members. The Assembly may make recommendations on any matters within the scope of the UN, except matters of peace and security under Security Council consideration. The one state, one vote power structure theoretically allows states comprising just eight percent of the world population to pass a resolution by a two-thirds vote.

Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the principal

organs of the United Nations and is charged with the maintenance of international peace and security. Its powers, outlined in the United Nations Charter, include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of international sanctions, and the authorization of military action. Its powers are exercised through United Nations Security Council resolutions.

The Security Council held its first session on 17 January 1946 at Church House, Westminster, London. Since its first meeting, the Council, which exists in continuous session, has travelled widely, holding meetings in many cities, such as Paris and Addis Ababa, as well as at its current permanent home at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City.

There are 15 members of the Security Council, consisting of five veto-wielding permanent members (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States) and 10 elected non-permanent members with two-year terms. This basic structure is set out in Chapter V of the UN Charter. Security Council members must always be present at UN headquarters in New York so that the Security Council can meet at any time. This requirement of the United Nations Charter was adopted to address a weakness of the League of Nations since that organization was often unable to respond quickly to a crisis.

Economic and Social CouncilThe United Nations Economic and Social Council

(ECOSOC) constitutes one of the six principal organs (one is not active, as of 2011) of the United Nations. It is responsible for coordinating the economic, social and related work of 14 UN specialized agencies, their functional commissions and five regional commissions. ECOSOC has 54 members; it holds a four-week session each year in July. Since 1998, it has also held a meeting each April with finance ministers heading key committees of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The ECOSOC serves as the central forum for discussing international economic and social issues, and for formulating policy recommendations addressed to member states and the United Nations system.

Trusteeship CouncilThe United Nations Trusteeship Council, one of the

principal organs of the United Nations, was established to help ensure that trust territories were administered in the best interests of their inhabitants and of international peace and security. The trust territories—most of them former mandates of the League of Nations or territories taken from nations defeated at the end of World War II—have all now attained self-government or independence, either as separate nations or by joining neighboring independent countries. The last was Palau, formerly part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, which became a member state of the United Nations in December 1994.

International court of JusticeThe International Court of Justice is the

primary judicial organ of the United Nations. It is based in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands. Its main functions are to settle legal disputes submitted to it by states and to provide advisory opinions on legal questions submitted to it by duly authorized international organs, agencies, and the UN General Assembly.

SecretariatThe United Nations Secretariat is one of the six principal

organs of the United Nations and it is headed by the United Nations Secretary-General, assisted by a staff of international civil servants worldwide. It provides studies, information, and facilities needed by United Nations bodies for their meetings. It also carries out tasks as directed by the UN Security Council, the UN General Assembly, the UN Economic and Social Council, and other U.N. bodies. The United Nations Charter provides that the staff be chosen by application of the "highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity," with due regard for the importance of recruiting on a wide geographical basis.

The Charter provides that the staff shall not seek or receive instructions from any authority other than the UN. Each UN member country is enjoined to respect the international character of the Secretariat and not seek to influence its staff. The Secretary-General alone is responsible for staff selection.

NPT BackgroundDate of Adoption: 12 June 1968Date of Signature: 1 July 1968Place of Adoption: United Nations, New YorkDate of Entry into Force: 5 March 1970Depositary Governments: Russian

Federation, United Kingdom, United StatesParties: 190 States PartiesNon-Parties: India, Israel, DPRK (Withdrew)

and Pakistan.

BackgroundThe NPT is an international treaty whose objective is

to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament.

At the 1995 NPT Review and Extension Conference held in New York at the United Nations, States Parties agreed without a vote "that the Treaty shall continue in force indefinitely."

structureThe NPT consists of a preamble and eleven

articles.

the treaty is interpreted as a three-pillar system, with an implicit balance among them:

Non-Proliferation

Disarmament

The right to the peaceful use of Nuclear Technology.

First Pillar: Non-ProliferationFive states are recognized as nuclear weapon states

(NWS): China , France, the Soviet Union (obligations and rights now assumed by the Russian Federation), the United Kingdom , and the United States.

These five NWS agree not to transfer "nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices" and "not in any way to assist, encourage, or induce" a non-nuclear weapon state (NNWS) to acquire nuclear weapons (Article I).

NNWS parties to the NPT agree not to "receive," "manufacture" or "acquire" nuclear weapons or to "seek or receive any assistance in the manufacture of nuclear weapons" (Article II).

NNWS parties also agree to accept safeguards by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to verify that they are not diverting nuclear energy from peaceful uses to nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices (Article III).

Second Pillar: DisarmamentArticle VI of the NPT represents the only binding

commitment in a multilateral treaty to the goal of disarmament by the nuclear-weapon States. The NPT's preamble contains language affirming the desire of treaty signatories to ease international tension and strengthen international trust so as to create someday the conditions for a halt to the production of nuclear weapons, and treaty on general and complete disarmament that liquidates, in particular, nuclear weapons and their delivery vehicles from national arsenals.

Third Pillar: Peaceful us of Nuclear Energy

Since very few of the states with nuclear energy programs are willing to abandon the use of nuclear energy, the third pillar of the NPT under Article IV provides other states with the possibility to do the same, but under conditions intended to make it difficult to develop nuclear weapons.

The treaty recognizes the inalienable right of sovereign states to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, but restricts this right for NPT parties to be exercised "in conformity with Articles I and II

ObligationsNuclear weapon states (NWS) are not to transfer to

any recipient whatsoever nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices and not to assist, encourage, or induce any non-nuclear weapon states (NNWS) to manufacture or otherwise acquire them.

NNWS are not to receive nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices from any transferor, and not to manufacture or acquire them.

NNWS must place all nuclear materials in all peaceful nuclear activities under IAEA safeguards.

ObligationsAll Parties are obligated to facilitate and participate

in the exchange of equipment, materials, and scientific and technological information for the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

All Parties must pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to the cessation of the nuclear arms race and to nuclear disarmament, and on a treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control.

Verification and ComplianceNNWS are to conclude agreements with the IAEA

for safeguards to be applied on all source or special fissionable materials in all peaceful nuclear activities within the territory of such States. Such agreements are to be concluded with the IAEA, individually or together with other States, and enter into force within 18 months after their accession to the Treaty.

Verification and Compliancethe NPT does not have a built-in mechanism for non-

compliance. In case of non-compliance with IAEA safeguards, the IAEA Board is to call upon the violator to remedy such non-compliance and should report the non-compliance to the UN Security Council and General Assembly. The UN bodies may impose specific penalties, such as curtailment or suspension of assistance, return of materials, or suspension of privileges and rights. An incentive to comply is peaceful nuclear assistance.

Review ConferenceNPT states parties meet every five years to “review the

progress of the Treaty”. In 1995, the Review Conference also addressed the

question of extending the Treaty past its initial 25 years. States parties at the 1995 Review and Extension Conference agreed to a package of decisions:

1. Strengthening the review process and providing for intercessional Preparatory Committees;

2. Adopting principles and objectives for achieving nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament;

3. Extending the Treaty indefinitely; 4. Adopting a resolution on the Middle East.

Review ConferenceIn 2000, states parties at the Review Conference adopted

thirteen progressive and systematic steps to implement the nuclear disarmament obligation in the Treaty and the decisions reached at the 1995 conference.

In 2005, states parties failed to agree on an outcome document, largely because of disagreement between NWS and NNWS, with the former emphasizing the importance of strengthening nonproliferation efforts and focusing on specific cases of actual and suspected non-compliance with the Treaty, and the latter emphasizing the importance of compliance with and implementation of past disarmament obligations. Developments outside the review process also prevented progress, including the failure to bring into force the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, the United States’ withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, and the failure of states to commence negotiations on a treaty banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons.

2010 Review ConferenceThe 2010 Review Conference took place at the United

Nations Headquarters in New York City from 3-28 May.The section of the Final Document titled "Conclusions

and recommendations for follow-on actions," which includes 64 specific actions items, was adopted by consensus. It is divided into four broad subsections dealing with nuclear disarmament, nuclear nonproliferation, peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and the Middle East.

2010 Review Conference 1995 Resolution on the Middle East: The RevCon called on Israel to

accede to the NPT as a NNWS and to place all its nuclear facilities under comprehensive safeguards. All States in the Middle East region were urged to take the relevant steps and confidence-building measures to contribute to the objectives of the 1995 Resolution on the Middle East. The RevCon established that a conference should be convened by the UN Secretary-General and three cosponsors of the 1995 Resolution (the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Russian Federation) in 2012 on the establishment of a zone free of weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East. It further decided that the UN Secretary-General and the cosponsors, in consultation with the States of the region, should appoint a facilitator, with a mandate to support implementation of the 1995 Resolution by conducting consultations with the States of the region in that regard and undertaking preparations for the convening of the 2012 Conference, as well as assisting in implementation of follow-on steps. The IAEA, Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OCPW) and other relevant international organizations were requested to prepare background documents for the conference.