ATT: Latin America views

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

Daniel Mack

On June 20th, the extended deadline given by the UN Department for Disarmament Affairs for governments to submit their views on an Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) expired. Though many governments missed the original deadline of April 30th, over 90 countries worldwide complied with the UN Secretary General’s request through Resolution 61/89 for views on the “feasibility, scope and parameters” of a possible legally-binding ATT that would establish “common international standards for the import, export and transfer of conventional arms”. Of these, 14 responses came from Latin America and the Caribbean, rendering the region a leader in support for an ATT, arguably second only to Europe. A sub-regional exception to this pattern so far has been the Caribbean, with submissions from only two countries 1.

In general terms, Latin American responses to the consultation have been quite positive, replicating the region’s strong showing during the historic 153 nation vote in favor of the ATT proposal last December. With a few exceptions – such as Cuba and presumably Venezuela – Latin American countries are at the very least cautiously supportive of a tough ATT (Brazil, Mexico) and often quite enthusiastic in their responses (Argentina, Costa Rica, Paraguay).

Latin American respondents overwhelmingly noted that a legally-binding ATT is not only feasible but also necessary to stem the flow of irresponsible and illegal arms transfers that cause so much harm in the region. Feasibility is further supported as global conventions (such as the United Nation’s Charter, Firearms Protocol, and Program of Action) and regional instruments (Cifta, OAS Model Regulations) were virtually unanimously mentioned in the submissions as building-blocks and precedents for a global legally-binding instrument 2.

On scope, Latin American respondents explicitly stated that an ATT must encompass not only all conventional weapons but specifically the SALW and their ammunitions most present in the region’s violence problems 3. Moreover, in addition to imports and exports, Latin American countries suggest that other forms of transfers – such as brokering, transit, transport, donations, and lending – should also be included in the Treaty 4.

Finally, as concerns parameters, countries included several minimum guidelines to be considered for international transfers. Surprisingly, only Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay explicitly included a central tenet of an ATT, noting that all transfers must be expressly authorized by the countries involved. Yet, all of the available Latin American submissions – with the exception of Cuba and El Salvador – specifically mention that respect for human rights and international humanitarian law should be taken into account when considering arms transfers. Likewise, several countries deem threats to sustainable development and risks of diversion to terrorism/violent crime important factors to consider 5.

Implementation of an ATT emerged as a main concern of Latin American nations, with several calls for the effective “universalization” of the instrument lest major arms exporters fail to become signatories, as well as requests for monitoring and sanction mechanisms against countries that fail to comply. In order to guarantee on-the-ground compliance, several nations requested cooperation assistance, while others also call for an obligation to insert minimum implementation measures into national legislations 6.  Substantive discrepancies among Latin American submissions appeared mainly in details such as the inclusion of dual-use technologies in the ATT (Brazil was the only country explicitly against their inclusion), whether explosives should be part of the Treaty’s scope, and whether non-state actors should be possible recipients of arms transfers.

Rewardingly, several of the submissions made explicit references to civil society’s participation in government’s consultations through a series of policy recommendations, in addition to a process spearheaded by the Control Arms campaign, which organized “People’s Consultations” in 44 countries in order to hear a wide spectrum of civil society views on the ATT 7.

Next steps

Countries’ views will be collated in a report to be presented at the First Committee of the UN General Assembly’s 62nd session in October 2007. After that, in early 2008, a Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) from countries appointed by the Secretary General – respecting “equitable geographic distribution” – will begin to examine the submissions and add their perspectives in order to transmit a report to the 2008 General Assembly for a further and decisive resolution. The GGE will likely have representatives of 25 nations, with permanent members of the Security Council having the prerogative to participate if they chose to, and with a preference to the original co-authors of the proposal.

Thus, Latin America should figure prominently in the GGE with four or five slots, not only because of the demanded geographic balance but also because Argentina and Costa Rica were among the seven original co-authors. Several other countries have demonstrated their wish to be part of the GGE, though only Colombia makes the request explicitly in its submission. Regardless of the final number and nationalities of the GGE participants, civil society expects Latin American governments in the months ahead to continue to champion a robust and effective ATT, as they have done in the General Assembly vote and in the Secretary General’s consultation process.

* Daniel Mack is Policy and Advocacy Coordinator for Arms Control at Instituto Sou da Paz

1 The region’s countries that have submitted are: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela, in addition to Jamaica and Trinidad Tobago. All countries other than Guatemala, Venezuela, Jamaica and Trinidad Tobago have made available their views, which can be seen at:  http://www.controlarms.org/peoples-consultation/submissions.htm

2 See submissions from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Mexico, Paraguay and Peru.

3 See submissions from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Mexico, Paraguay and Peru.

4 See submissions from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Mexico, Paraguay and Peru.

5 Brazil, Costa Rica, Cuba, Panama and Paraguay mentioned development, while Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica and Paraguay included terrorism and/or violent crime as a factor.

6 See Argentina, Colombia, El Salvador, Paraguay and Peru for the first case; Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, El Salvador, Mexico and Paraguay for the latter.

7 See submissions from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Panama and Paraguay. For civil society’s policy recommendations, see “Assessing the Feasibility, Scope and Parameters of an Arms Trade Treaty (ATT): An NGO Perspective” from the ATT Steering Committee:

http://www.controlarms.org/peoples-consultation/documents/ATT%20position%20paper%20designed.pdf

For a report on the People’s Consultations in Brazil, see:

http://www.soudapaz.org/controlarms/materiais/consultas_populares.pdf