Topic: Measures to Prevent Terrorists from Acquiring Weapons of Mass Destruction
Country: Guatemala
Delegate Name: Autumn Schmidt
School: Forest Hills Central High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Guatemala position papers GLIMUN 2013 committees
Although Guatemala isn’t necessarily a high risk country for the acquisition of weapons of mass destruction, we are very aware that it is a critical issue for world safety because if a terrorist acquires a weapon in any country it could be extremely destructive to the safety and well-being of all countries. To prove our commitment to preventing terrorists from acquiring these weapons we joined in the ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). The executive secretary of the preparatory commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) said: “Guatemala’s ratification underlines their commitment to outlaw nuclear testing and to enhance non-proliferation and disarmament worldwide.” There are other organizations involved such as the CEC, BWC and Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
The existing WMD stockpiles or components of WMDs should be better secured by agreements on methods by all governments or could be stored in agreed upon locations where unauthorized access could not be possible. The existing border controls and trade restrictions are not sufficient protection as proved by the continued illegal transport and rising black market. The additional measures should be to improve the security of existing stockpiles, dismantling the stockpiles more efficiently, improving border security and coordination of tracking suspect shipments through increased communication among all governments.
The circumstances in which it is appropriate for the international community to intervene to prevent extremist groups from accessing WMDs or WMD components is when there is sufficient suspicion or established proof that they will likely acquire the weapons. The international community should work together to intervene immediately because any delay could result in catastrophic harm, however, this is proving extremely difficult because this involves issues of individual sovereignty and parts of some treaties may be good for one country but not for others. This is why it is taking so long to find an international solution.
