In a bid to curb armed conflict around the globe, Amnesty International and the British humanitarian group Oxfam launched Thursday a campaign in 50 countries to have a new international arms trade treaty adopted by 2006.
More than 500 000 people on average are killed with conventional, light weapons every year, one person every minute, and there are some 639-million small arms in the world, one for every 10 people, the two groups said in a press statement.
Amnesty and Oxfam have joined with the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) to campaign for a treaty to stop arms being exported to destinations where thay are likely to be used to commit human rights abuses.
The groups are seeking the adoption of such a treaty by 2006 — the year that the United Nations is next due to meet to discuss light arms.
Amnesty, Oxfam, and IANSA singled out the five permanent members of the UN Security Council — France, Russia, China, Britain and the US — who together account for 88% of the world’s conventional arms exports.
Later Thursday the groups were to launch a major new report entitled: Shattered Lives: The Case for Tough International Arms Controls. – Sapa-AFP