US/UK Defeated On DU Vote At The UN Sub-Commission

Efforts by the US/UK to keep depleted uranium off the agenda of the UN Sub- Commission on Protection and Promotion of Human Rights failed this August as the Sub-Commission clearly decided that depleted uranium weaponry qualify as weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and authorized a prominent member, Justice Y. Sik Yuen (Mauritius) to prepare a study on the topic. The UK member of the Sub-Commisson tried to have depleted uranium weaponry deleted from the study, which had been authorized earlier by the Sub- Commission, arguing that DU weaponry are not WMD,but her proposed amendments and a substitute resolution were defeated, drawing only two votes — hers and the vote of the member from Norway.

The debate as well as the outcome reinforces the claim made by Karen Parker and supported by a clear majority of international experts —including 23 of the 26 members of the Sub-Commission — that DU is already banned because it is incompatible with existing humanitarian law and qualifies as WMD. The vote to study weapons of mass destruction including DU is the latest success of UN non-governmental organizations (NGOs), who, beginning in 1996, started a campaign for a strong condemnation of both DU and sanctions.

Thanks to Karen Parker, Margarita Papendreou, Dr. Beatrice Boctor, Philippa Winkler and Dr. Gorst Gunther (all representing International Educational Development/ Humanitarian Law Project (IED/HLP)) Felicity Arbuthnot, Damacio Lopez and others the United Nations Sub-Commission on Human Rights adopted a resolution that listed DU among other ‘bad’ weapons. In 1997 the Sub-Commission appointed one of its members, Mme Forero Ucros (Columbia), to prepare a working paper preparatory to a full study.

Unfortunately Mme Forero never returned to the Sub-Commission, with many saying this was because of US pressure. The same year, however, the Sub-Commission moved on the sanctions issue, and adopted a resolution on economic sanctions — responding again to a speech by Karen Parker. Unfortunately, that resolution’s author, Marc Bossuyt (Belgium) was ill the following year, and was unable to attend the Sub- Commisison’s session. When he returned in 1999, the Sub-Commission authorized him to prepare a working paper on sanctions, issued as UN Doc.E/CN.4/Sub.2/2000/33.

Following the departure of Mme Forero, there were changes in the membership of the Sub-Commission, and the “team” was uncertain whether it was necessary or useful to go forward with a study on DU and the other listed weapons, in part because (1) the Sub-Commission had already labeled DU as a WMD, and (2) the Secretary-General’s report contained substantial portions of both the Parker Memorandum on Weapons, the submission of the International Indian Treaty Council and a number of countries, all essentially implying the same thing — DU weaponry is incompatible with existing international humanitarian law and human rights norms.

However, during these three years, the NGOs at the UN continued to present seminars, films and keep up the pressure. In 1999, the video documentary “From Radioactive Mines to Radioactive Weapons” was shown at the Commission. The documentary linked the health impacts of uranium mining on Navajo miners to the impacts of DU weapons, and described tests done by Dr Hari Sharma showing the presence of DU in Gulf War veterans including Ray Bristow. The number of UN NGOs presenting statements on DU continued to grow. At the 2001 session of the Sub-Commission, one of the most respected members of the Sub- Commission, Justice Y. Sik Yuen (Mauritius) agreed to go forward with the study.

By Thursday of the first week of the 2001 session, the draft resolution was tabled (submitted) with 16 co-sponsors. In the final debate on the draft the US and UK tried to urge that DU is a ‘conventional’ weapon and therefore ‘legal.’ So the debate really shows that these two countries are backed into a corner, and the rest of the world accepts that DU is and always was illegal.” In the meantime, Karen Parker will be assisting Justice Sik Yuen on this study, and requests that people collect the latest relevant information to transmit to her at [email protected] if they are small enough. Larger documents may be sent by mail. Funds to assist this effort may be made out to Karen Parker directly or to the Association of Humanitarian Lawyers, and sent to The Law Offices of Karen Parker, 154-5th Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94118, USA. Below is the relevent press release from the UN website http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/
Contact: Philippa Winkler 928 774 1765 (USA)

Copies of Karen Parkers Report ‘Depleted Uranium at the UN’ (published by CADU) are still available from the CADU office (see Resources)

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From CADU News 8: Summer 2001

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Page last updated: 6th December 2002