Disarmament, Security, Peace

Austria is a staunch supporter of comprehensive disarmament efforts and the advancement of international humanitarian law. The Permanent Mission contributes to the attainment of these goals through active participation in the relevant disarmament and arms control fora, affiliated to the United Nations Office in Geneva.

Conference on Disarmament (CD)

The Geneva-based Conference on Disarmament was established in 1979 as the single multilateral disarmament negotiating forum. Currently, it comprises 65 members, amongst them Austria since 1996. The Director-General of the United Nations Office in Geneva, Mr Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, serves as Secretary-General of the Conference on Disarmament as well as Personal Representative of the UN Secretary-General to the CD.

Regrettably, the Conference on Disarmament has not reached a tangible outcome for more than a decade and delegations could not agree and implement a programme of work. Nevertheless, deliberations on issues such as nuclear disarmament, a treaty on fissile material, negative security assurances and the prevention of an arms race in outer space have been ongoing.

In 2009, Austria served as one of the six annual Presidents to the Conference, thus being responsible for the adoption of its final report and the preparation of a resolution at the UN General Assembly in New York. In addition, Austria is strongly committed to the revitalization of the work of the Conference and its modernization.

Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC)

This Convention entered into force in 1975 and provides for a ban of the development, the production, and the storage of bacteriological (biological) and toxin weapons as well as for their destruction. The BTWC was the first international disarmament treaty to ban an entire category of weapons. Austria is following the work of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention with great interest. The Review Conference in December 2011 will be among the most important highlights of the Geneva disarmament calendar.

Anti-Personnel Landmine Convention (APLC)

This treaty, essentially based on an Austrian draft, was adopted in 1997 in Ottawa and entered into force in 1999. It prohibits the use of anti-personnel mines as well as their production, transfer and trade. Additionally, states parties are obliged to clear mined territories within ten years, to destroy their stockpiles within four years, and to assist landmine victims.

Since its inception, Austria has been one of the leading states in the so called Ottawa Process devoted to the fight against anti-personnel mines. In 2004, Austria chaired the first review conference of the Ottawa Convention in Nairobi, Kenya. A new Action Plan for the future implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty was agreed in late 2009 at the Cartagena Summit for a Mine-Free World.

Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM)

Cluster munitions are particularly atrocious weapons: they do not only kill and maim indiscriminately during conflicts, but due to their high failure rates, also pose a constant threat to civilians once hostilities have ceased. Austria was therefore actively involved in the negotiations and among the first to ratify the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which entered into force in August 2010.

Austria is actively promoting the Convention and its universalization. In particular, Austria is supporting the implementation of the victim assistance provisions through its role as Coordinator (with Bosnia and Herzegovina) on Victim Assistance.

Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW)

This Convention, with its unique structure of a framework covenant and annexed protocols, aims at prohibiting or restricting the use of specific types of weapons that are considered to cause unnecessary suffering to combatants or to indiscriminately affect civilians. Austria has ratified the convention as well as all its protocols and amendments.

Currently, negotiations are under way to address urgently the humanitarian impact of cluster munitions, while striking a balance between military and humanitarian considerations. Against the backdrop of the recent entry into force of the CCM, Austria seeks to uphold cutting-edge standards of international humanitarian law also within the framework of the CCW. Furthermore, Austria supports victim assistance efforts as coordinator under Protocol V on Explosive Remnants of War.