Is there still room for victims’ rights in the ATT?

by Hector Guerra, Coordinator of the IANSA Survivors Network

For many member states,  any reference to the rights of victims or victims’ assistance in the final treaty language of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) will be particularly difficult to adopt and it will be unlikely that states in favor of these references will be able to convince their counterparts to include such a provision in the final document. This opposition to adopting victims’ rights language corresponds to both a realpolitik perspective, which would limit the Treaty to such a minimal expression that, if possible, would not even include references to International Humanitarian Law (IHL) in the instrument, as well as to the perspective of those states that are in favor of basic references to IHL and human rights but believe it is necessary to make concessions, such as foregoing victims’ assistance, for the sake of consensus.

Support a strong ATT that helps prevent gender-based armed violence

Four international organisations and networks—Amnesty International, the Women's Network of the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA), the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), and Religions for Peace—have united to support a strong Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) and the inclusion of a specific criterion on gender-based violence in the negotiated text.

Enhancing human security by regulating the arms trade

by Ray Acheson, Reaching Critical Will of WILPF

With the negotiating conference to develop legally-binding standards for the international arms trade set to begin today, advocates, delegates, and survivors of armed conflict around the world have tuned in to participate and watch the action at the United Nations. Out in the rest of the world, the daily news clearly demonstrates the urgency of the UN’s task. So-called “conventional weapons” are used all over the globe to kill or maim civilians; violate human rights; cause refugee crises; facilitate sexual violence and trafficking; obstruct economic and social development; and more. The global arms trade is valued at over US$50 billion per year and global military spending as a whole reached US$1.74 trillion in 2011. Above all else, weapons are tools of violence and repression by those that use them and tools of financial gain by those who make and sell them.