Topic: 2024-Indiscriminate Weapons
Country: Austria
Delegate Name: Jaclyn Charbauski
Committee: Disarmament & International Security
Topic: Indiscriminate Weapons
Country: Federal Republic of Austria
Delegate Name: Jaclyn Charbauski
School: Forest Hills Northern
Unsurprisingly, world peace and safety are two key United Nations(UN) objectives, and have been for a long time. A primary debate when discussing ways to reach these goals is the use of weapons. In the past, there have been struggles when trying to ban them. The Geneva Protocol, signed in 1925, prohibits the use of chemical and biological weapons in international armed conflicts. However, at the time of its signing, several major powers reserved the right to use the forbidden weapons for retaliatory purposes. In 1946, the UN passed a resolution establishing a commission to deal with atomic energy. Almost all states agreed to constrain nuclear ambitions. However, the Cold War brought on usage for these explosives, despite the Geneva Protocol. In 1980, the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons treaty prohibited the use of weapons whose impact could not be detected by X-rays, and nondetectable anti-personnel mines and their transfer. This was effective, but it wasn’t until the Cold War ended that the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which bans nuclear use, the Ottowa Treaty, which prohibited anti-personnel landmines, and the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM), which bans cluster bombs, were implemented. All of these steps were strong actions towards the end of indiscriminate weapons and a safer future for the world, but issues are still present in this field.
The Federal Republic of Austria recognizes the need for security. As the host of the First Meeting of States Parties of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and one of the first countries to sign and ratify the TPNW, Austria sees the problems with the usage of this artillery and strongly supports the removal and destruction of nuclear weapons and other nuclear explosive devices. Additionally, Austria has signed and ratified the Ottowa Treaty and is a signatory of the CCM. Even though, in the current war in Gaza, Austria has been supplying Israel with kinetic weapons, we only do this because we support them so strongly. Additionally, in the war in Ukraine, Austria has abstained from arming any forces. Austria exports merely 0.53% of military weapons and imports 0.19% of them. This is to keep our country and others free of dangerous artillery. Austria sees that indiscriminate weapons are unpredictable, and thus, unsafe for our population. According to international statistics, 90% of the victims of explosive weapons in populated areas are civilians, which means Austria cannot allow this type of weaponry in our country.
Thus, within our borders, Austria does not own, possess, or control nuclear weapons, has never done so, and does not host any other state’s nuclear weapons on our territory. Therefore, we call upon the United Nations to ask the same of all countries, to enforce strict rules that ban chemical, biochemical, and nuclear weapon usage. Additionally, when it comes to the issue of explosive remnants of war, Austria’s suggestion is for the UN to bring all the countries together to assist in the clearance of them. If each country assembles teams on this issue, the number of victims of the seemingly dormant explosives would decline drastically. Indiscriminate weapons are dangerous for humanity and should not be in the hands of the wrong people. Hence, by prohibiting them in every country and enforcing such a law, every country will be a safer place, and the world will be a better place for us to live in. Austria is a great model for these goals and is more than willing to help other countries reach them, too.
Works Cited
United Nations. “The United Nations and Disarmament Treaties.” 2014. www.un.org/en/chronicle/article/united-nations-and-disarmament-treaties
Austrian Embassy to Lithuania. “Austria Stands With Ukraine – As Long As It Takes.” 2024. www.bmeia.gv.at/en/austrian-embassy-to-lithuania
Federal Ministry Republic of Austria (BMEIA). “Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas.” 2024. https://www.bmeia.gv.at/en/european-foreign-policy/disarmament/conventional-arms/explosive-weapons-in-populated-areas
Action On Armed Violence (AOAV). “Who Is Arming Israel? Other Global Exports to Israel.” 12 Apr. 2024. aoav.org.uk/2024/who-is-arming-israel-other-global-exports-to-israel/
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Humanitarian Law Databases. “Weapons That Are by Nature Indiscriminate.” 2024. ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/customary-ihl/v1/rule71
Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC). “Military Weapons, Product Trade, Exporters and Importers.” 2022. oec.world/en/profile/hs/military-weapons
