CHAPTER 2 — THE 21st CENTURY STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENT Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Treaties Based on constitutional principles, which govern its international relations, Brazil seeks proactive participation in international negotiations concerning disarmament, nonproliferation and weapons control. Due to clear security needs — dictated by its political, strategic and defense environment — Brazil understands that realistic and credible measures to reduce or eliminate weapons as well as transparent inspection processes may be adopted multilaterally to contribute to an environment of mutual confidence among sovereign states. Brazil, in its capacity as a member of the Geneva Disarmament Conference, defends the strengthening of said Conference as the only multilateral group in the field of disarmament. In this forum, the country has given highest priority to the elimination of nuclear weapons through the adoption of a series of complementary measures, in the bilateral, regional and multilateral spheres, which may result in the adoption of a nuclear disarmament convention. Among other measures, Brazil supports the initiation of treaty negotiations on the prohibition of fissile material production for explosive purposes, including pre-existent stocks. In this way, a significant step could be made in the direction of nuclear disarmament. Since the beginning of the 1990s, Brazil has participated, with personnel, in the landmines deactivation campaigns organized by the Program for Comprehensive Action against Antipersonnel Mines in the Americas and Africa with significant results in terms of deactivated landmines and swept areas. Brazil has also acted in favor of discussions pertaining to the prevention of an arms race in outer space, while upholding the adoption of a relevant legal international instrument on the matter. Concerning conventional armament, Brazil is a party to the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons which may be deemed to be Excessively Injurious or to have Indiscriminate Effects, better known as the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons. Brazil reaffirms its commitment to the following humanitarian principles: • prohibition of the use of weapons that release fragments within the human body that are not detectable by X-rays; • prohibition or restriction of the use of antipersonnel landmines, traps and other similar devices; • prohibition of laser weapons that can cause blindness; and • acceptance of responsibilities and obligations regarding explosive remnants of war. 40 DEFENSE WHITE PAPER