Archbishop Desmond Tutu on Tuesday appealed to United Nations member states to ”end the slaughter” resulting from the uncontrolled small arms trade by backing a global arms trade treaty.
In a message delivered to all 192 missions at the United Nations, he pointed out that ”in the last two years almost three quarters of a million people have died as a result of armed violenceâ€.
”You can and must act to control the deadly trade in weapons that is behind these deaths. There can be no further delay … It is time to end the slaughter,” he added.
Tutu’s appeal came as the UN disarmament committee is set to vote on an Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) resolution next week. About 85 countries are co-sponsoring the text.
”There are some states which are opposed to a treaty. They will seek to block, derail, and delay any further progress. They will seek to convince you this treaty is not required or cannot work,” Tutu said in his message.
”They must not be allowed to succeed, the human cost is too high,” he said.
Tutu’s message was delivered by activists of the Control Arms campaign, which is pushing for a strong treaty to stop the sales of small arms around the world.
The campaign was launched five years ago by Amnesty International, Oxfam International and the International Action Network on Small Arms.
In December 2006, the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly adopted a resolution launching a process for a treaty to prevent arms transfers that fuel conflicts and serious human rights violations around the world.
Only the United States voted against, while 24 governments abstained.
That resolution asked then-UN secretary general Kofi Annan to seek the views of member states ”on the feasibility, scope and draft parameters for a comprehensive, legally binding instrument establishing common international standards for the import, export and transfer of conventional arms”. – AFP
