UN passes historic arms trade treaty by huge majority

[klr]

The UN General Assembly has adopted a historic treaty to control the trade in conventional arms, voting it through by a huge majority.

Member-states voted by 154 votes to three, with 23 abstentions, to control a trade worth $70bn (£46bn) annually.

The treaty went to a vote after Syria, Iran and North Korea blocked its adoption by consensus.

Russia and China, some of the world's biggest exporters, were among those who abstained from the vote in New York.

The treaty prohibits states from exporting conventional weapons in violation of arms embargoes, or weapons that would be used for acts of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes or terrorism.

It also requires states to prevent conventional weapons reaching the black market.

Washington welcomed the move, with Secretary of State John Kerry describing the treaty as "strong, effective, and implementable".

He said the document "can strengthen global security while protecting the sovereign right of states to conduct legitimate arms trade".

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said: "This is an historic day and a major achievement for the United Nations.

"The world wanted this treaty and would not be thwarted by the few who sought to prevent the introduction of robust, effective and legally-binding controls on the international trade in weapons."

Amnesty International tweeted: "We did it! The world has been waiting a long time for this historic #ArmsTreaty...and now we have it."

Before the vote, Australia's ambassador to the UN, Peter Woolcott, had said the final draft of the treaty was a compromise text to bring together the broadest range of stakeholders.

"We owe it to those millions - often the most vulnerable in society - whose lives have been overshadowed by the irresponsible and illicit international trade in arms,'' he said.

But Russia's Vitaly Churkin described as a significant shortcoming the lack of a clause in the draft treaty about banning the supply of weapons to non-state entities.



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continued here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-21998394

Will it change anything? Who knows ...

[JimC]

But Russia's Vitaly Churkin described as a significant shortcoming the lack of a clause in the draft treaty about banning the supply of weapons to non-state entities.

That seems odd to me, given that Russia is such a major exporter, and I would bet to quite a few "non-state entities"

However, still a good thing, even if somewhat of a paper tiger...

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Non-signatory nations will take up the slack, probably as proxies for arms companies already in business.

[klr]

But Russia's Vitaly Churkin described as a significant shortcoming the lack of a clause in the draft treaty about banning the supply of weapons to non-state entities.

That seems odd to me, given that Russia is such a major exporter, and I would bet to quite a few "non-state entities"

However, still a good thing, even if somewhat of a paper tiger...

Exactly. Iran and Syria are both notable for the amount of arms they export to "non-state entities", so this opposition is hypocritical to say the least. In this case, Syria has done an about-turn to serve its own interests, and Iran is Syria's ally. As for NK, it just voted "no" because it could.

[Rum]

But it is a good thing, right?!

[klr]

But it is a good thing, right?!

Well, we shall have to wait and see. Presumably, it still has to be ratified by each of the signatory countries. And then it will take some years for various exposés of countries breaching the treaty before it's taken really seriously. But it's a start.

[Tyrannical]

We owe it to those millions - often the most vulnerable in society to ensure they have the weapons and means to overthrow their oppressors.