2/6/2006
French Hold Disarmament Seminar

The French Foreign Affairs Ministry and the French Defense Ministry are jointly holding a seminar at the International Conference Center (Avenue Klévber, Paris 16e) on June 6 and 7, 2006 entitled: “Conventional arms control today: may we speak of ‘humanitarian disarmament’?”

The seminar, which will be attended by about a hundred participants, including legislators, qualified individuals, national experts, representatives of nongovernmental organizations and civil society, will address the links existing between international humanitarian law and disarmament.  It is taking place on the sidelines of the current work within the 1980 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW), in particular with a view to the preparation of the CCW review conference in November 2006 at which France will preside.

The seminar will be organized into two round tables and two case studies that will discuss current themes—the concept of “human security,” mechanisms for compliance, the concept of use applicable to certain conventional weapons, and taking into account the role of non-state actors in the sphere of conventional weapons.