Amnesty Calls for Global Arms Treaty

By VIOLET CHO

Amnesty International on Wednesday issued a report calling for a global arms trade treaty which would deter the transfer of weapons to repressive military regimes such as the Burmese junta.

The 125-page report, titled “Blood at the Crossroads: Making the Case for a Global Arms Trade Treaty,” said that serious human rights violations are continuously occurring worldwide because of the variation and loopholes in the multi-billion pound global arms trade.

Amnesty International detailed case studies from Colombia, Côte d'Ivoire, Guatemala, Guinea, Iraq, Burma, Somalia, Sudan, Chad and Uganda to graphically demonstrate the catastrophic human rights consequences of unrestrained arms trading.

The report also documented how huge quantities of arms are still being supplied to Burma despite the junta’s ongoing repression of civilians.

Despite a persistent outline of well-documented human rights violations committed by Burmese government forces, Amnesty International said that states like China, Serbia, Russia and Ukraine have provided armored personnel carriers, trucks, weapons and munitions, while India has recently offered more arms.

The Amnesty report comes ahead of October’s UN meeting of world leaders. Last week, UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband expressed his government’s commitment to push for a robust and effective arms trade treaty to be delivered at next month's summit.

However, according to Amnesty International, it is likely that some countries—such as China, India, Pakistan and the USA—would “block, delay and water down” proposals to restrict the trading of arms.

“The time for an arms trade treaty is now,” said Kate Allen, director of Amnesty International UK. “The world leaders have to uphold their obligations on human rights and to move forward on an international arms trade treaty.”

Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Wednesday, Helen Hughes, an arms control researcher at Amnesty International, said that the “Golden Rule” on human rights is that “governments must prevent arms transfers where there is a substantial risk that they are likely to be used for serious violation of international humanitarian law.

“In the case of Myanmar (Burma), I understand that [the international community] has been calling for the United Nations Security Council to impose an arms embargo. But this has been opposed by Russia and China, so it is quite unlikely,” she added.

Burmese political activists have added their voices to Amnesty’s calls for an international arms agreement.

Htay Aung, from the Research and Documentation Department of the Network for Democracy and Development, said: “An effective international agreement that will prevent the illegal arms trade to Burma is highly required, because the military generals are continuously expanding the armed forces, and obtaining modern weapons and military technology to maintain their power.”

Aung Kyaw Zaw, a Burmese analyst living on the China-Burma border, said, “A global agreement that will fully prohibit arms trading is good for our civilians. The military regime is importing arms and expanding its military power while threatening and killing people.”

He said that China is the main culprit in fuelling Burma with various arms and equipment. “Ninety percent of Burmese military transportation is from China,” he said.

Meanwhile, China and Burma appear to have increased political, economic, cultural and military cooperation. At a meeting between the two countries in late August, the Chinese defense ministry declared itself ready to work with Burma to further expand bilateral cooperation, so as “to help the two nations’ defense building and to safeguard regional peace and stability.”