Submitted by crinadmin on
Urge your government to support an Arms Trade Treaty at the UN! What? During the First Committee at the UN General Assembly, governments will vote on whether to start negotiations on an Arms Trade Treaty, to regulate international arms transfers. An Arms Trade Treaty has been a key goal of the Control Arms campaign, and would regulate international transfers of all conventional arms – not only small arms and light weapons. In July, a draft resolution was put forward by 7 governments: Argentina, Australia, Costa Rica, Finland, Japan, Kenya and the UK. Although Control Arms welcomed the tabling of this draft resolution at the UN, it fails to make crucial references to human rights law, which is a fundamental requirement of an ATT. Out of the 192 states represented at the UN, at least half of these must vote in support of an ATT for the resolution to be passed and for negotiations to begin on an ATT. Fifty-five governments have already broadly given their support for an Arms Trade Treaty or the Global Principles for International Arms Transfers (if you do not know your government’s public position please contact Laura Cheeseman [email protected] to find out). When? Heads of State and other senior ministers will be travelling to New York for the opening of the UN General Assembly on 18 September. The Global Day of Action for an ATT is scheduled for 13 September to influence governments before they leave capital cities. The First Committee begins on 2 October 2006 and continues until the end of October. In the final week governments will vote on the establishment of a negotiating process for an ATT.