Printed from: www.icbl.org/Library/News-Articles/08_Contents/Archive/Old/452
Intersessional Daily Update 5 - Review Conference
Author/Origin: Mary Wareham wareham@hrw.org |
(Friday 13 February 2004
Geneva, Switzerland) Friday 13 February 2004 First Preparatory Meeting for Mine Ban Treaty Review Conference (Nairobi Summit), which will
take place in Nairobi, Kenya from 29 November – 3 December 2004. President-designate Ambassador Wolfgang Petritsch, Austria
Key Discussions
- Administrative-type items relating to the Review Conference were recommended for adoption at the review conference including the provisional agenda and programme of work, draft rules of procedure, and cost estimates
- Discussion papers prepared by Friends of the President were discussed including a draft review of the general status and operation of the Convention (by Canada & Nicaragua), a draft 2004-2009 action plan (by Norway & Mozambique), a document on the nature, timing and sequencing of meetings in the period following the review conference (by Germany & Malaysia), and elements for a high-level declaration (by Austria).
- Kenya gave a presentation on host country preparations for the Review Conference.
Highlights for ICBL
- Over 100 governments attended including at least 15 non-signatories to the Mine Ban Treaty, especially from the Middle East: Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Syria.
- New Zealand, Switzerland, and others urged the Review Conference to include substantive discussion of some of the ICBL’s core issues of concern.
Concerns for ICBL
- South Africa asking why it was necessary for compliance measures to be included in either the review document of the action plan.
- The draft review and action plan both neglect to mention by name the core prohibitions contained in the Mine Ban Treaty, e.g. use, production, and transfer.
A second preparatory meeting is scheduled for 28-29 June 2004 and another on 30 September.