Control Arms: Governments show overwhelming support for Arms Treaty

The Control Arms campaign: Oxfam International, Amnesty International and the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA)

Campaigners around the world are celebrating a significant victory after more than 80 governments participated in the UN consultation process on an Arms Treaty.

The Arms has no effective global controls at present. The proposed treaty would establish global standards that could save thousands of lives and hold irresponsible arms dealers accountable for their actions.

Speaking earlier this month at a conference in New York, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon confirmed the proposed treaty would establish common international standards for the import, export and transfer of all conventional arms. The treaty would make a major contribution to the attainment of humanitarian, human rights and development objectives worldwide, he said.

Control Arms says the work of global civil society must be recognised as a major contributing factor to the success of the treaty process so far. Control Arms coordinated more than 100 People’s Consultations around the world where ordinary people shared their views on what the ATT should include.

The majority of states where consultations were held made submissions to the UN. The submissions showed widespread support for a treaty that protects human rights and sustainable development and enhances regional security.

Fred Lubang of Non-Violence International, representing the Control Arms campaign said:

“In the Philippines, where I’m from, the unregulated Arms fuels widespread human rights abuses – politically motivated killings and attacks on freedom of speech are a regular occurrence.

From the start, I knew the People’s Consultation would be an important campaign to ensure that the voices of ordinary people were taken into account. It’s really positive that governments have listened to people who suffer from armed violence on a daily basis.”

Over the past week, two major regional bodies have restated their support for the proposed Treaty. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Council of the European Union (EU) both issued public statements last week supporting moves towards more responsible and stringent regulation of the global Arms.

Heather Sutton from Sou da Paz in Brazil said:

“We welcome supportive statements from the UN Secretary-General, ECOWAS and the European Union. All governments must now ensure that human rights, international humanitarian law and sustainable development are at the heart of the Arms Treaty so it can save lives.”

Charles Nasibu-Bilali, a Congolese researcher and Control Arms campaigner said:

“Heads of State will be meeting at the African Union, Southern African Development Community and Pacific Islands Forum meeting over the coming months – we want to see those regional organisations pledging support for an Arms Treaty. We hope all responses to the Secretary-General will be carefully considered when the UN General Assembly holds further discussions on the treaty in October this year.”

Government submissions are now being collated for the Secretary-General, whose next move will be to establish a Group of Governmental Experts that will formally start work on the Arms Treaty in 2008.

• Find out more about the Control Arms campaign

Notes to editors

Interviewees are available from People’s Consultations in South Africa, Thailand, Democratic Republic of Congo, Brazil, India and Fiji. Requests for interviews in English, Spanish, French, Italian and Portuguese can be facilitated. Short biographies of available interviewees are attached.

The Control Arms Campaign is a joint initiative by Amnesty International, Oxfam International and the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA). Hundreds of non-governmental organisations from all over the world work with Control Arms to
reduce arms proliferation and misuse.

The official deadline for government submissions on an Arms Treaty to the UN Secretary General was 20 June but submissions will be accepted until the end of the month and issued as addendums to the main consultation document.