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Revised UN arms treaty raises hopes of deal
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b26957de-d...#axzz21qowPx1V
A revised draft of a new UN treaty to regulate the multibillion dollar global arms trade raised hopes from supporters and the British government, which has been the leading proponent, that a historic agreement could be reached by Friday’s deadline for action.
The draft circulated late Thursday closed several loopholes in the original text, though the Washington-based Arms Control Association said further improvements were still needed to strengthen measures against illicit arms transfers.
A spokesman for Britain’s UN mission, speaking anonymously because he was not authorised to speak publicly, said the new text was “a substantial improvement” and “a historic agreement that effectively regulates the international trade in conventional arms is now very close”.
The estimated $60bn international arms trade is unregulated, though countries including the US have their own rules on exports.
Opponents in the US, especially the powerful National Rifle Association, have portrayed the treaty as a surrender of gun ownership rights enshrined in the US constitution. The issue of gun control, always a politically explosive one for American politicians, has re-emerged since last week’s shooting at a Colorado cinema killed 12 people.
In Washington, a bipartisan group of 51 senators on Thursday threatened to oppose the treaty if it fell short in protecting Americans’ constitutional right to bear arms. In a letter to President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, secretary of state, the senators expressed serious concerns with the draft treaty that has circulated at the UN, saying that it signals an expansion of gun control that would be unacceptable.
Supporters of a treaty say it will not affect law-abiding individual gun owners, but would close loopholes that allow arms dealers to evade the strict laws that already exist in countries and transfer guns through weaker states.
The UN general assembly voted in December 2006 to work towards a treaty regulating the growing arms trade, with the US casting a No vote. In October 2009, the Obama administration reversed the Bush administration’s position and supported an assembly resolution to hold four preparatory meetings and a four-week UN conference in 2012 to draft an arms trade treaty.
Widney Brown, senior director for law and policy at Amnesty International, said of the latest draft that “some of the significant loopholes that we were concerned about have, if not been closed, definitely been narrowed”.
It would require all countries to establish national regulations to control the transfer of conventional arms and to regulate arms brokers, and would prohibit states that ratify the treaty from transferring conventional weapons that violate arms embargoes or facilitate acts of genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes.
In considering whether to authorise the export of arms, the draft says a country must evaluate whether the weapon would be used to violate international human rights or humanitarian laws or be used by terrorists or organised crime – and if there is “a substantial risk” the treaty would prohibit the transfer.
The new draft makes clear that does not pertain only to arms exports but to all types of arms transfers, closing a loophole raised by campaigners.
The US objected to any requirement to report on exports of ammunition and that remains out of the latest draft.
Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, said that the new text would potentially allow states to exclude arms transfers that were not commercial sales, such as gifts, from review under the terms of the treaty and did not include a broad enough list of weapons to be covered.
He said it would also potentially allow states to exempt arms sales under previous defence co-operation agreements under the terms of the treaty. That could undermine another line of attack from opponents in the US – that the treaty would prevent arms sales to allies such as Israel and Taiwan.
“We urge the United States and other arms exporters and importers, including China, Russia, the UK and India, to work with other states, especially those most affected by violence fuelled by illicit arms dealing, to provide the leadership and flexibility needed to reach a sound agreement by Friday’s deadline,” Mr Kimball said.
With the conference scheduled to end on Friday, negotiators have been trying to come up with a text that satisfies advocates of a strong treaty with tough regulations and countries that appear to have little interest in a treaty including Syria, North Korea, Iran, Egypt and Algeria.