Arms Trade Treaty – UN human rights experts
urge all States to ratify it and consider disarmament
GENEVA (23 December 2014) – A group of United
Nations human rights experts urged all Governments around the world to ratify
the landmark United Nations Arms Trade Treaty that will enter into force
tomorrow. So far, only 60 out of the 130 Treaty signatories have ratified it.*
The UN Arms Trade Treaty is the first
legally-binding multilateral agreement that prohibits states from exporting
conventional weapons to countries when they know those weapons will be used for
genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes.
“The entry into force of this Arms Trade
Treaty is a very important step to peace and security,” the UN Special
Rapporteur on human rights and countering terrorism, Ben Emmerson, said.
“However, further consideration on the issue of prohibiting the sale of weapons
to non-state entities is needed and a subsequent agreement should address
outstanding issues that were left out in the final compromise.”
“Terrorist attacks have become more and more
atrocious by the kind of weapons they acquire. This needs to end,” the expert
added, noting that numerous ambiguities remain in the text of the treaty which
could end up supporting the arms industry. “Nothing in the treaty forbids
selling weapons to non-state entities. States must intensify their efforts for
disarmament in protecting the right to life and physical security.”
Human rights expert Elzbieta Karska, who
currently heads the UN Working Group on the use of mercenaries, noted that the
prohibited activities of mercenaries, which have threatened peace and security
in various regions, have also relied heavily on the proliferation of arms and
weapons. “This treaty is a welcome avenue to curbing the provision of arms to
illicit actors such as mercenaries,” she said.
“Ratifying this treaty will also assist States
in regulating non-state entities such as private military and security
companies –which often carry and use arms in their line of work– and ensuring
compliance with international law,” Ms. Karska added.
“The Arms Trade Treaty is a significant first
step with the potential to reduce the atrocious human cost of the trade in
conventional weapons and the conflicts such weapons exacerbate, the Independent
Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order,
Alfred de Zayas, stated.
“More important than this treaty on regulation
of the arms trade are efforts at reduction of weapon stockpiles worldwide and
ongoing disarmament negotiations that must be pursued in good faith, especially
in the field of nuclear disarmament.”
The Independent Expert noted that progress on
the implementation of this convention would give momentum to the movement to
draft and adopt a convention banning nuclear weapons, as proposed by several
Delegations at the Third Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear
Weapons held early December in Vienna.
“Such weapons violate the principles of
distinction and proportionality – two pillars of international humanitarian law
– and pose the greatest danger to the survival of the human species,” Mr. de
Zayas stressed.
“The world needs to stop not only the trade
in, but also the profit-driven production of, all arms since once weapons have
been produced, there is a strong incentive to make sure they are put to use
somewhere in the world, so as to continue producing them,” the human rights
experts underscored.
The experts proposed conversion strategies so
as to gradually recycle resources and manpower to peacetime enterprises that
create jobs and contribute to social justice. “Efforts, as well as resources,
ought to be moved from the rational of armed conflict and instead be shifted
toward the advancement of peace and the promotion all human rights,” they
added.
(*) Check the status of ratifications:
http://disarmament.un.org/treaties/t/att.
ENDS
The UN independent experts are part of what is
known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures,
the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the
general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring
mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues
in all parts of the world.
Special Procedures’ experts work on a voluntary
basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They
are independent from any government or organization and serve in their
individual capacity.
Learn more, log on to:
The Special Rapporteur on the promotion and
protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering
terrorism:
The Working Group on the use of mercenaries:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Mercenaries/WGMercenaries/Pages/WGMercenariesIndex.aspx
The Independent Expert on the promotion of a
democratic and equitable international order:
Check the Arms Trade Treaty facts: http://www.un.org/disarmament/ATT/
For media inquiries related to other UN
mandates:
Xabier Celaya, UN Human Rights – Media Unit (+
41 22 917 9383 / xcelaya@ohchr.org)
UN Human Rights, follow us on social media:
Twitter: http://twitter.com/UNrightswire
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/UNOHCHR
Storify:
http://storify.com/UNrightswire
Nema komentara:
Objavi komentar