The role of Latin American states in promoting an Arms Trade Treaty

An exclusive article for the montlhy newsletter “En la mira – The Latin American Small Arms Watch.” Click here for subscriptions and for previous issues.

Maria Pía Devoto* 

The beginning of the 63rd period of United Nations General Assembly sessions meant an opportunity for the progress of disarmament topics in the First Commission, specially due to the support and interest created by the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), in the general and thematic debate on conventional weapons, being distinguished the interventions from the sub regional instances of our region and from the Latin American countries.

Since the beginning of the international process “Towards an Arms Trade Treaty”, the countries from Latin American have adopted a main promotion role , mainly Argentina and Costa Rica, that are part, together with Australia, Finland, Japan, Kenya, and England, of the group of countries who are impelling this initiative in a multilateral sphere. In a similar way, and with counted exceptions, the countries from the region support and stimulate the advances in the negotiations for an Arms Trade Treaty. Only Venezuela and Cuba have presented discrepancies based on the dynamics of their own internal politics and foreign policy, despite the fact that Venezuela had added itself to the common positioning of Mercosul and Associated States, in an effort of approaching the Region.

Comes from the words of the High Commissioner for Disarmament Affairs, Ambassador Sergio Duarte, in the opening of the general debate, the necessity to not forget that the conventional weapons have a weighed effect in the people’s live, provoking devastator effects that inspire different international initiatives, converging the  multilateral efforts in search of a possible Arms Trade Treaty .This concern was shared by the UN General Secretary, Ban Ki Moon, who has repeatedly mentioned the “recurring problem” of the lack  of a clear normative framework. Clearly “exists the necessity of a categorical progress”, he emphasized.

Throughout the debates, numerous delegations had expressed their support to United Nations. It is also necessary to detach that Group Rio, the Mercosul, Associated States and the SICA (Central American Integration System) together with Mexico, had also expressed their support on behalf of their members countries and that Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, El Salvador, Paraguay and Uruguay did it on their own name, in accordance with their national priorities.

Another prominent aspect of the debate on disarmament and ATT was centred in the emphasis that the representatives of the region had placed on the necessity that the Treaty has a legally binding character, that regulates the trade and controls the  deviation for the illicit traffic. Only Paraguay has mentioned the effect that  the irresponsible transferences has for the fulfilment of the Millennium Goals, and also said that many countries had mentioned the Humanitarian International Law and the International Law of the Human Rights. Only Uruguay mentioned specifically the necessity to avoid the transference when these ones and the development are affected.

Since December 2006, when 153 states decided to express their support to the beginning of a universal treaty and legally binding about the arms trade when approving the Resolution 61/89, a first step was advanced, in a consult from the General Secretary to the states about the viability, the reach and the parameters of a project of ample and legally binding instrument that establishes common international norms for the importation, exportation and transference of conventional weapons. Almost 100 States had sent its reply, this being considered one of the major success processes in United Nations. After that, took part a difficult and complex task of analysis by a Group of Governmental Experts, who had examined the elements of reach and parameters in order to establish the instrument feasibility. This gave step to a consensus document, that has not yet reached the expected success, but has allowed to continue with the negotiations.

In order to advance discussions, a resolution was negotiated – strongly stimulated by the United Kingdom - and it establishes the creation of an open composition group for the year of 2009. The text of the resolution incorporated, after the suggestions of countries of our region, especially Argentina, Brazil and Colombia, a mention to the necessity to prevent the deviation of small arms and light weapons, for being considered the violence perpetrated with this type of weapons, one of the worst torments that our region suffers. During the negotiations and informal consultations of the resolution text, Mexico and Brazil were the most positively active in favour of a stronger mandate for the discussions of the Open Composition Group, next to a group of European countries. For its part, Cuba expressed its disagreement in the inclusion of small arms and light weapons since this means, in its criterion, to situate a type of armament on the remaining portion of conventional weapons and that assumed agreement in the feasibility of the Treaty, when detailing its reach, which did not happen in the Group of Specialists.

The resolution, which counted on more than 100 co-sponsors, includes the innovative organization of Regional and Sub regional Seminaries, that will be added to the report of the open composition group. These Seminaries will be financed by the European Union, and in our region the countries probable to receive the mentioned actions are Mexico or Brazil. The Seminaries were received as an excellent chance to reach positive recommendations related to criteria that includes the Humanitarian International Law and the Human Rights International Law.

Some protagonists of the process are sincerely convinced that 2009 will develop the basis for the beginning of the treaty’s text negotiation, which cannot take longer, for the urgency of the devastating effects of the irresponsible transferences of weapons. Among those protagonists are also civil society organizations, whom for years have kept stimulating and supporting the realization of these initiatives, since this is witnessed, year after year, with thousands of human lives, mutilations, displacements, grave conflicts, lack of hope and future.

*Association for Public Politics ( Associação para Políticas Públicas - APP)
CLAVE - Argentina.
For further information:   
http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/political/1com/1com08/statements.html