Arms Control Experts Call for Permanent U.N. Body for WMD Investigations
October 18, 2004
A panel of non-governmental experts called for the establishment of a standing U.N. WMD investigations body at a Forum held on October 7, 2004 at the United Nations. The forum, titled “Should the U.N. have a Standing Capability for WMD Investigations, was co-sponsored by the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation. The United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), the Verification Training and Information Centre (VERTIC), and the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace and Security also co-sponsored the event.More than 80 representatives of U.N. missions from around the world listened to presentations by Ambassador Henrik Salander, Secretary-General of the WMD Commission chaired by Hans Blix, Dr. Barbara Rosenberg, Chair of the Center’s own Scientists Working Group on Biological and Chemical Weapons, and Dr. W. Pal S. Sidhu of the International Peace Academy. Center for Arms Control Senior Science Fellow Mr. John Gilbert also participated. The panel was chaired by by Patricia Lewis, the Director of UNIDIR.
The speakers all pointed to the experiences of the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Iraq to demonstrate the importance and effectiveness that a U.N. WMD inspections body could have. According the Dr. Rosenberg, “the success of the U.N. [in Iraq] underlined the need for the U.N. to be prepared when the need arises.”
The panelists agreed that it would be in the interest of all nations to have a standing body with international legitimacy provided by the U.N. that could provide unbiased assessments to help settle disputes of any country’s WMD programs. Such a body would have both the expertise and the authority to investigate charges of illegal WMD activity by a nation. The panelists felt that such investigations would be rare but likely in the future.
Audience members were very interested in the ideas presented, and extensive formal and informal discussion ensued following the speaker’s presentations. Discussion and debate centered around the questions of how an inspection would be triggered, what authority the body would have, and whether the body should be placed under the authority of the U.N. Security Council or the General Assembly.
Formation of a standing inspections body within the U.N. has been explicitly advocated by some nations. For instance, in his address to the opening session of the U.N. on September 22, 2004, Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin called for the U.N. to “establish a permanent inspection and verification mechanism that can reinforce and supplement existing verification systems.”