On
Friday at the United Nations, after years of discussions and debates, the vast
majority of governments agreed to a timetable to establish a “strong and robust”
Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) with the “highest common standards” to control
international transfers of conventional arms. There is currently no global treaty
on the conventional arms trade.
Most of the
world's biggest arms traders – including the USA - will now all back the UN
process. Russia and China abstained from the vote on the UN resolution that
moved discussions into the treaty negotiation phase but are expected to take
part in the process. The Obama Administration’s decision to back the arms
trade talks reverses the position of the Bush Administration who voted against
the moving the UN process toward treaty negotiations multiple times. Zimbabwe was the only country to vote no on
the resolution.
The Control Arms campaign – a coalition of hundreds of non-governmental
organizations in more than 100 countries that has promoted the ATT - welcomed
the historic breakthrough at the UN today and called on all states to negotiate
a truly effective treaty. They warned that governments must keep up the
momentum to ensure the final treaty has firm international standards for the
global arms trade. Campaigners expressed reservations about the procedure
planned for the UN conference which could give every state the right of veto over
final decisions at the UN conference. They warned a small number of skeptical states
must not be allowed to hijack the ATT process when it is clear the world wants
a strong treaty.
“All countries participate in the conventional arms trade and share
responsibility for the ‘collateral damage’ it produces – widespread death,
injuries and human rights abuses,” said Rebecca Peters, director of the
International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA). “Now, finally, governments
have agreed to negotiate legally binding global controls on this deadly trade.”
The agreement in the UN today means that the eventual ATT will be
negotiated in a series of UN meetings concluding at a UN conference in 2012.
“The Arms Trade Treaty needs a ‘golden rule’ requiring governments to
stop any proposed arms transfer that poses a substantial risk of being used for
serious violations of human rights or war crimes,” said Brian Wood, Amnesty
International's head of arms control. “Such a golden rule could save hundreds
of thousands of lives and protect the livelihoods of many millions.”
The resolution on the ATT also highlights the issue of international
arms transfers contributing to armed conflict, displacement of people, organized
crime and terrorism, thereby undermining peace, safety, security and
sustainable development.
“For too long, governments have let the flow of weapons get out of
control causing pain, suffering and death in some of the world's poorest
regions. With hundreds of thousands of people dying a year from armed violence,
weapons that fall into the hands of criminals and rights abusers destroy
communities and livelihoods.” said Anna Macdonald of Oxfam International. “Governments
must ensure that negotiations live up to the promise of setting the highest
possible standards - this is a life and death situation for thousands of poor
people worldwide.”