Why We Need an Arms Trade Treaty

A woman and child try to avoid shelling on the opposite side of the building.
Image via flickr: controlarms

In light of the recent school shootings, people all around the world have started to question laws concerning gun control; however, not many people stop and wonder how dictators and warlords all around the world get all their ammunition that causes immeasurable amounts of havoc and tragedy.

It seems people have accepted a common misunderstanding that there is little that can be done to significantly reduce the global number of violent crimes such as murder and rape. In actuality, the reason why arms are so overtly available is because the worldwide sale of weapons is severely unregulated and therefore, rather irresponsible. According to Amnesty International, each year enough bullets are manufactured to kill every person on this planet twice. In effect, arm companies generate a profit of approximately 12 billion pounds from the production of bullets alone. Despite the amount of dangerous weapons and ammunition manufactured annually, there are more regulations on the export of bananas and dinosaur bones than on firearms and other weapons that kill and cause havoc. With that in mind, Amnesty International and other civil society organizations have been promoting a Control Arms campaign since 2003.  This decade-long movement eventually prompted the United Nations to host negotiations for a possible global Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). For six years, governments, arms dealers and NGOs have been debating on this issue of whether there should be an Arms Trade Treaty and what it should consist of. Finally, the United Nations member states attended the closing conference from July 2-27 in New York without reaching an agreement. A new meeting is being scheduled for March 18-28, 2013.

Known to governments all around the world, irresponsible arm sales result in murder, torture, injury, rape, displaced persons and other life-threatening scenarios. In fact, according to Amnesty International, 1500 people are killed daily due to armed conflict and violence. Moreover, statistics indicate that a majority of arms sold are used on purchaser’s own citizens. These buyers are warlords and dictators that often have an unlimited supply of firearms, ammunition and even military and security gear and vehicles. Despite these shocking statistics, while the world watched the Arab Spring protestors fight for freedom from oppressive regimes, Western countries such as US and UK provided military dictators and corrupt governments in Egypt and Libya with ammunition, armored crowd-control vehicles and tear-gas grenades. Also, during the 15-month conflict in Syria, over 10,000 civilians were killed while in protest. In spite of the appalling brutality that was shown on the news worldwide, Russia, Iran and other countries continued to sell arms to the Assad regime. In the meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov made a statement claiming that the Syrian government “bears the main responsibility for what is going on.” In order to control the transfer of weapons, organizations such as Amnesty International and Oxfam feel that it only makes sense to have a form of regulation that prevents arms from falling into hands of bloodthirsty dictators in areas where human rights are abused.

Ultimately, the international transfer of arms needs a control system that will monitor weapon and ammunition deals based on standards set by international law. What civil society organizations hope to avoid is rough stipulation that is sensitive to manipulation. Instead, the ATT should be a legally binding clause that the countries will have to abide by. Also, the focus of this treaty must be kept in mind as the only people who will lose from ATT are dictators, warlords, and corrupt governments and arms agencies. On the other hand, the people who have the most to gain from this are innocent victims, men, women and children, who are caught in the middle of socio-political conflicts. The world is at a crossroads about this treaty that could change the world, as we know it. Thus, after six years of negotiations, the United Nations conference in March should result in an effective treaty that will carefully monitor the sales of arms and ensure that purchasers are using them within the standards of International Humanitarian Law.