Delegates to the United Nations General Assembly applaud the passage of the first UN treaty regulating the international arms trade, in New York, yesterday..
NEW YORK: The UN general assembly has overwhelmingly approved the first treaty regulating the multibillion-dollar international arms trade, a goal sought for more than a decade to try to keep illicit weapons out of the hands of terrorists, insurgent fighters and organised crime.
The resolution was approved by a vote of 154 to three with 23 abstentions. As the numbers appeared on the electronic board, loud cheers filled the assembly chamber.
A group of treaty supporters sought a vote in the 193-member world body after Iran, North Korea and Syria blocked its adoption by consensus at a negotiating conference on Thursday. The three countries voted “no” at yesterday’s resolution.
Many countries, including the US, control arms exports. But there has never been an international treaty regulating the estimated $60bn global arms trade. The treaty will not control the domestic use of weapons in any country, but it will require all countries to establish national regulations to control the transfer of conventional arms, parts and components and to regulate arms brokers.
It covers battle tanks, armoured combat vehicles, large-calibre artillery systems, combat aircraft, attack helicopters, warships, missiles and missile launchers, and small arms and light weapons.
Countries also have to be sure that weapons being exported would not be used in genocide, war crimes, or by terrorists or organised crime. Individual nations can start ratifying from June and once the 50th country ratifies, the treaty takes effect.
US Secretary of State John Kerry welcomed the treaty and said it will help stem the flow of arms used in war crimes and genocide. The treaty was “strong, effective and implementable”, Kerry said, while insisting it would not infringe on the US Constitution and the Second Amendment right to bear arms.
In Britain, Prime Minister David Cameron called it a “landmark agreement that will save lives and ease the immense human suffering caused by armed conflict around the world”. The British leader said the treaty will “reduce the number of illegal arms and make it harder for these to reach the hands of criminals and terrorists”.
However, the Conflict Awareness Project, a non-governmental research organisation, said the treaty left a huge loophole by not directly addressing the role of middlemen in arms dealing networks. “Since the broker is the central actor using the cover of legitimate business to divert weapons into the illicit trade, of all actors, this is the one requiring the strictest regulation,” CAP’s Executive Director Kathi Lynn Austin said.
There was especially strong support during 10 days of arduous negotiations at the United Nations from African and Latin American states that for decades have been among the prime markets for weapons exports. The United States — the world’s biggest arms dealer — signed on, but ratification by Congress is not assured.
For more than a decade, activists and some governments have been pushing for international rules to regulating the arms trade. Hopes of reaching agreement at a UN negotiating conference were dashed in July when the US said it needed more time to consider the proposed accord, a move quickly backed by Russia and China.
In December, the assembly decided to hold a final negotiating conference to agree on a treaty and set last Thursday as the deadline. After two weeks of negotiations, there was growing optimism as the deadline approached that all 193 member states would approve the final draft treaty by consensus, a requirement set by the US. This time, America was prepared to support the final draft treaty. But Iran, North Korea and Syria objected.
Iran said the treaty had many “loopholes”, was “hugely susceptible to politicisation and discrimination” and ignored the “legitimate demand” to prohibit the transfer of arms to those who commit aggression. Syria cited seven objections, including the treaty’s failure to include an embargo on delivering weapons “to terrorist armed groups and to non-state actors”.
North Korea said the treaty favoured arms exporters who could restrict arms to importers that have a right to legitimate self-defence and the arms trade.
Russia has said there are “omissions” in the treaty and “doubtful” provisions, such as the failure to control arms transfers to non-state groups. Russia said it is worried about weapons getting into the hands of Chechen rebels, although for two decades the main sources of new weaponry in the tiny Caucasian province have included corrupt Russian suppliers and even military personnel.
Guardian News/AFP
