International Trade in Arms and Military Training


The Flow of Arms: Solutions

To those who say that nothing can be done to control the flow of arms, Oxfam and Amnesty International argue that it can. The 1997 Landmines Treaty was brought into being by the combination of active governments and worldwide popular support. Although the scourge of landmines has not yet been eradicated, no country has openly traded in these weapons since 1997. The same combination of public pressure and action by sympathetic governments is needed to secure an Arms Trade Treaty.

Governments are acting too slowly to control arms. Amnesty International and Oxfam therefore propose urgent and interlinked action, from community level to international level, to control their proliferation and misuse more effectively.

International action

Key objective: Governments are urged to agree an Arms Trade Treaty by 2006, to prevent arms being exported to destinations where they are likely to be used to commit grave violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.

At the international level governments should:

  1. Adopt the Arms Trade Treaty by the time of the 2006 UN review conference on small arms. Progressive governments must champion the Arms Trade Treaty in international and regional forums and lobby other governments, pressing for action outside the UN process if necessary. Once in force, this new legally binding treaty will ensure that all states are working to the same standard, to prevent the irresponsible transfer of arms where they would contribute to violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.
  2. Create new international instruments to prevent irresponsible arms brokering, transporting, and financing, and foreign licensed production, using the Arms Trade Treaty criteria to define and prevent irresponsible transfers.
  3. Provide more funding for practical assistance for arms-affected communities - particularly from donor agencies in arms-producing countries.

Regional action

Key objective: Governments are urged to develop and strengthen regional armscontrol agreements, to uphold international human rights and humanitarian law.

At the regional level, neighbouring governments must work together to:

  1. Create or strengthen regional arms controls, based upon international human rights and humanitarian law, building on - as well as inspiring - work at the national level. Such controls should both address the flow of arms, instituting effective measures to limit supply and reduce demand for weapons, and also reduce the widespread availability of arms, striving to improve community safety. Regional collaboration provides opportunities for sharing information and best practice, as well as building consensus on regional policies and programmes.

National action

Key objective: For governments to improve state capacity and their own accountability to control arms transfers and protect citizens from armed violence, in line with international laws and standards.

At the national level, every government must act responsibly to prevent the misuse of arms

  1. Ensure the responsible use of arms by its security forces, based firmly on existing international human-rights standards and principles of humanitarian law, requiring a minimum level of training, discipline, and control. All states should abide by the UN Basic Principles for the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials, the UN Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials, the Geneva Conventions and other relevant international standards, incorporating their provisions into domestic law in every country.
  2. Take swift action, when conflict has ended, to work with international bodies to implement high-quality disarmament, demobilisation, and reintegration programmes.
  3. Establish independent mechanisms to bring to justice, without delay, those who perpetrate serious violations of international human rights or humanitarian law, ensuring that such violations are adequately punished and other steps are taken to end impunity.
  4. Enforce existing legislation or create new legislation to control the import, export, transit, production, sale, management, and use of all arms. The standards outlined in the Arms Trade Treaty should be used when taking decisions on national arms exports, ensuring that human rights, international humanitarian law, and sustainable development do not suffer under commercial pressure.
  5. Ensure transparency and oversight by providing regular and meaningful information to the public about the production, possession, and transfer of arms. These reports should be subject to regular review by legislatures and parliaments.
  6. With civil society, develop and implement an action plan for the strict control of all arms. A first step is to undertake a broad review to assess problems of protection, arms availability, and misuse of weapons; then to develop solutions and implement an effective action plan. Each stage must involve close collaboration with civil society.

Local action

Key objective: Civil society and local government agencies are urged to take effective action to improve safety at community level, by reducing the local availability and demand for arms.

Community safety must be improved by the following means:

  1. Rebuild confidence in the possibility of non-armed security, by
    • reducing the quantity of surplus and illegal arms in circulation - through the establishment of gun-free zones, removal of illegal arms which could contribute to violations of international human rights and international humanitarian law, and destruction of surplus weapons;
    • building relationships and trust between opposing communities and between communities and police; such work should be based on international human rights and humanitarian standards;
    • delivering civic education about community safety to counter cultures of violence, including the destructive link between arms and conventional notions of masculinity;
    • introducing and using tools for peaceful conflict resolution.
  2. Providing assistance to victims of armed violence.
  3. Developing sustainable livelihoods as an alternative for those who might be dependent upon armed violence for their living.

To date, there has been a tragic lack of urgency on the part of most governments around the world to address the problem of the proliferation of arms. Words are plentiful, real progress is slight. The time to act is now.

Civil society and governments need to work proactively and effectively together to address the problem of arms at each level - stemming the source of the supply, and addressing the root causes of why people posses arms in insecure environments.

Oxfam, Amnesty International, and IANSA (the International Action Network on Small Arms, which represents more than 500 non-government organisations around the world) are campaigning for a safer future for us all, through strong action to turn the tide of weapons abuse. Certain key governments have already expressed their support for this work, and we appeal to others to join our efforts.