Blood at the Crossroads:
Making the case for a global Arms Trade Treaty
The world is reaching a crossroads in deciding how to control the arms trade. Governments must act now to create effective and robust regulation. This report shows through illustrative cases how that trade contributes to serious violations of human rights in different parts of the world. In particular, it seeks to help demonstrate why the establishment of a global Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) is an urgent necessity and how an ATT could work to save lives, preserve livelihoods and enhance respect for human rights.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Introduction 6
2. Illustrative cases of irresponsible arms transfers 16
3. Colombia - small arms supplies fuel grave human rights abuses 17
3.1 Guerrilla groups 17
3.2 Paramilitary groups 18
3.3 Security forces 20
3.4 Importing small arms 21
3.5 Illicit small arms supplies 22
3.6 Procuring arms through brokering 23
3.7 Lessons from the Colombia case 26
4. Côte d’Ivoire – a belated UN arms embargo 26
4.1 Rearming on all sides before the UN embargo 30
4.2 Shopping lists of arms 32
4.3 Lessons from the Côte d’Ivoire case 33
5. Guatemala - exacerbating violent crime 34
5.1 A legacy of arms 35
5.2 Failing to protect human rights 35
5.3 Continuing small arms supplies 39
5.4 Lessons from the Guatemala case 41
6. Guinea - arms used for excessive force against protestors 42
6.1 Deliveries of arms to Guinea during 2003-06 46
6.2 Lessons from the Guinea case 47
7. Iraq - unceasing small arms supplies worsen carnage and despair 48
7.1 US Funded Military Sales to Iraq 53
7.2 Sub-contracting 54
7.3 Military equipment supplied by the UK 60
7.4 Arms procurement by the Government of Iraq 62
7.5 NATO military equipment donations 64
7.6 Commercial sales of military equipment 65
7.7 Recirculation from seizures and stockpiles of weapons 65
7.8 Inadequate training and accountability of Iraqi security forces 69
7.9 Lessons from the Iraq case 72
8. Myanmar – ongoing misuse of arms transfers 75
8.1 Imposing the crackdown 75
8.2 Main suppliers of military equipment to Myanmar 76
8.3 Abuses since the crackdown 80
8.4 Arms embargoes on Myanmar 81
8.5 Responding to the repression 82
8.6 Lessons from the Myanmar case 83
9. Somalia - continuing inflow of arms worsens a human rights catastrophe 84
9.1 The UN arms embargo on Somalia 89
9.2 Clandestine deliveries to armed groups via Eritrea 91
9.3 Arms deployed from Ethiopia 93
9.4 Alleged use of weapons that are inherently indiscriminate 97
9.5 Lessons from the Somalia case 98
10. Sudan and Chad - arms flows fuel attacks in Darfur 99
10.1 Continued armed clashes affecting civilians 100
10.2 The UN arms embargo on parties to the Darfur conflict 103
10.3 Arms supplies to Sudan and deployments in Darfur 107
10.4 Arms supplies via Chad 115
10.5 Lessons from the case of Darfur 118
11. Uganda - disproportionate military force and abuse of small arms 119
11.1 Uganda government’s forcible disarmament program 120
11.2 Counter-operations against pastoralists and Turkana warriors 121
11.3 Lessons from the Uganda case 123
12. Ensuring an ATT has realistic scope 124
12.1 Covering all conventional arms 125
12.2 Covering all types of transfers 126
13. How to apply human rights standards to arms transfer decisions 128
13.1 International human rights instruments 129
a. The UN Charter 129
b. Human rights treaties 129
13.2 States’ human rights obligations 131
a. IHL and human rights law during conflict 133
b. International criminal law 134
13.3 Key concepts for applying international human rights law 134
a. Preventative not Punitive Approach 135
b. Fairness and Objectivity 136
13.4 Practical application of international human rights law to transfer decisions 136
a. Recipient state’s attitude 137
b. Assessing the nature of the conventional arms and its end-use/end-user 138
c. Assessing the nature of the conventional arms 138
d. Assessing the End–User 139
e. Risk of Diversion 140
f. Reaching a decision 141
g. At what point does a risk become “substantial”? 141
h. National legislation 143
13.5 Sources of Information 143
14. Golden Rules for making an ATT effective 144
15. Conclusion and recommendations 146
15.1 Recommendations to UN Member States 146
Appendix 1: UNGA Resolution on an Arms Trade Treaty 149
Appendix 2: The World’s Top Exporters of Conventional Arms 151
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