The Disarmament Section at the Permanent Swedish Mission represents Sweden in all disarmament fora in Geneva.
The Conference on Disarmament, CD, was established in 1979 and is the sole standing multilateral forum for negotiations on disarmament and non-proliferation matters. A Programme of Work was adopted in May 2009, which gives new possibilities for negotiations on a Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty (FMCT). This is a major step forward considering that the work of the CD has been blocked for 12 years due to oppositions over the Programme of Work. For Sweden, this means an increased number of consultations within the format of our regional CD group, the Western European and Others Groups (WEOG) and within the EU. Sweden has actively contributed to all major disarmament treaties negotiated by the CD; the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC – see below), the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).
The Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, the Ottawa Convention, entered into force in 1999 and has currently over 150 States Parties (156 in May 2009). The main purpose of the Convention is an absolute ban on the use, development, production, acquisition, transfer and stockpiling of AP mines. Stockpiles should be destroyed according to the Convention. Sweden completed destruction of its national stockpiles in 2002. The Ottawa Convention makes an exception for a certain number of AP mines to be used for training and development of mine destruction techniques. Information on these mines is submitted annually. The Convention also includes a number of commitments dealing with the consequences of previous use of AP mines. This includes for example mine clearance, support to mine victims and assistance with stockpile destruction. Sweden supports these actions with over 100 million SEK annually. The secretariat services and other support to the Ottawa Convention is handled by the UNODA, and the Convention’s Implementation Support Unit is managed by GICHD, both of which are situated in Geneva.
The Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) entered into force in 1975 and is the first Convention to ban the production of a whole category of weapons. All meetings concerning the Convention are held in Geneva. Sweden and the EU work for the strengthening of the Convention’s implementation, including verification, as well as universalisation of the Convention.
The Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) regulates or bans different types of weapons which may be deemed to be excessively injurious, or to have indiscriminate effects in the damage they cause either soldiers or civilians. Weapons such as incendiary weapons, permanently blinding laser weapons and mines as well as explosive remnants of war are included in this category. The latest negotiations within the CCW framework have been concerned with anti-vehicle mines and cluster munitions, and have yet to be completed. Sweden has for many years submitted a resolution in support of the Convention in the First Committee (the Disarmament and International Security Committee) of the UN General Assembly.
Sweden signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) in December 2008. This Convention has been negotiated within the framework of the so called Oslo Process, and agreement on the Convention text was reached during a meeting in Dublin in May 2008. The Convention contains a ban on the use, development, production, procurement, stockpiling and transfer of cluster munitions.
When Geneva hosts other Disarmament or Non-proliferation related meetings, such as Preparatory Committee meetings for the NPT-review Conference, meetings on Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW), negotiations on an Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), discussions on Outer Space Security, as well as Expert Panels and Seminars, the Swedish Section for Disarmament and Non-proliferation is participating in those.
The Section for Disarmament and Non-proliferation is responsible for covering the First Committee of the UN General Assembly in New York City each fall. This is done together with representatives from Sweden’s Permanent Representation to the UN in New York as well as colleagues from the Department for Disarmament and Non-proliferation (UD-NIS) at the MFA in Stockholm. The First Committee deals primarily with questions concerning Disarmament and Non-proliferation. Resolutions that are passed by the General Assembly establish norms and regulations for the UN Member States.
During the second half of 2009, Sweden, in the capacity of EU Presidency, speaks and acts on behalf of the European Union in many of the meetings mentioned above.
Sweden’s Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament is Ambassador Hans Dahlgren.
The Section for Disarmament and Non-proliferation has three staff members.Head of Section is Ambassador Magnus Hellgren.
Swedish Disarmament and Non-proliferation policy is managed by the Department for Disarmament and Non-proliferation (UD-NIS) within the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
> Read more (in Swedish) on UD-NIS webpage.