Statement by H.E. Dr. Kuniko Inoguchi

Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Japan

to the Conference on Disarmament

Geneva, 27^th February 2003

Mr. President,

Distinguished delegates,

Allow me at the outset, Mr. President, to assure you, once again, of the full support of my delegation as you guide us through this difficult period for the CD. Let me also express my deep condolences to the people and the government of China for the more than 250 victims of the recent earthquake which occurred along its far western border.

In the last Plenary, I asked for the floor to address FMCT and alert Member States of the pressing need to control and manage fissile material in order to maintain international security in the face of even greater dangers from nuclear proliferation to States and non-state-actors, including terrorists. Today, I have asked for the floor to report on recent events indicative of the strong commitment of my government in the area of conventional weapons: anti-personnel mines (APMs), small arms and transparency in armaments.

But before doing so, please allow me to thank the distinguished representative of the Netherlands, Ambassador Sanders, for following up on some of the substantive points which I discussed last week and, in particular, for doing so along the framework and structure that I laid out last week. I also thank His Excellency for making the current position of his government clear on some of the key issues.

Japan was one of the original members of the Ottawa Convention, and this year completed its obligations under Article 4 of the Mine Ban Treaty. I would like to take this opportunity to report to the international community with pride and special emphasis, on the fact that it was Prime Minister of Japan, Junichiro Koizumi, was present at the ceremony on the destruction of Japan’s last remaining stockpile of APMs held on the afternoon of February 8 at a Self-Defense Force base in Shiga Prefecture, and that Prime Minister himself ordered to explode those mines. Also in attendance were Senior Vice-Minsiter of Foreign Affairs and Parliamentary Secretary of the Defence Agency, as well as numerous parliamentarians, including representatives of the Parliamentary League for Landmines. My Capital instructed me to return to Japan to participate in this event also, and to report on Geneva-based efforts in the area of APMs. The entire ceremony was illustrative of the clear political commitment on the part of my government to the cause of the Ottawa Convention in eradicating anti-personnel mines.

Children, including victims from an APM-affected country, were also invited to the ceremony. This served, not only to enhance the sensibility of civil society to APMs, but also to build awareness across generations, and to share our commitment with the generations to come, those who will be bear the responsibility of eradicating worldwide APM-related tragedies in the future. My sorrow goes to those victims, including children, who would not have suffered if the world, including Japan, had acted more rapidly.

I can nevertheless assure you, Mr. President, that Japan will do everything in its ability to help affected countries cope with mine clearance operations, and that Japan will continue to stand by mine survivors in their courageous efforts to deal with the difficulties they now face. The Prime Minister was particularly pleased to see that Japan will serve as co-chair of the Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, Mine Awareness and Mine Action Technologies from September this year, and expressed his strong desire that all Members redouble their efforts to eradicate APM-related human tragedies.

Mr. President,

I would also like to take this opportunity, on behalf of the government of Japan as one of the co-sponsors, to express our sincere appreciation to the government of Indonesia for hosting the Regional Seminar on the Implementation of the Programme of Action Adopted at the United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All its Aspects on 10-11 February, and the United Nations Workshop on Transparency in Armaments on 14-15 February. The government of Indonesia successfully hosted both of them in Bali, with warm hospitality and efficiency. I would also like to express appreciation to Mr. Jayantha Dhanapala, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and his office, in particular, the Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific for organizing both workshops.

The Regional Seminar on Small Arms in Bali was the first meeting of national contact or focal points of twenty-one nations in the Asia Pacific region to exchange views on the implementation of the Programme of Action. The seminar addressed such topics as the role of national contact points and national coordinating agencies, trans-border cooperation and information sharing, national laws and legislation and administrative procedures, export/import licensing systems and marking, stockpile management and record-keeping, and civil society cooperation.

I myself attended the Seminar as chairperson-designate of the First Biennial Meeting of States on the Implementation of the Program of Action of the 2001 United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All its Aspects to be held in July this year, and had the opportunity to brief participants about the results of the informal consultations I conducted here and in New York in preparation for the biennial meeting. There is no doubt that the seminar made a significant contribution in facilitating the regional implementation of the Programme of Action.

The Regional Workshop on Transparency in Armaments also proved to be a significant success. From my country, Ambassador Mitsuro Donowaki participated in this important meeting as a keynote speaker. The primary objective of the workshop was to promote among the United Nations member states their familiarity with, and participation in two global transparency instruments, namely the UN Register of Conventional Arms and the Standardized Instrument for Reporting Military Expenditures. All the ten ASEAN member countries as well as several close neighboring countries such as East Timor, Papua New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand, China and Republic of Korea participated. It is the view of my government that both instruments will gain even wider acceptance among the UN Member States.

Thank you.