Stop Flows of Arms that Fuel Abuses
By encouraging governments to act responsibly in this area, Amnesty International USA seeks to prevent or minimize violations or abuses of humanitarian and human rights law.
Human Rights Goals
- Build Support for an Arms Trade Treaty. Since 2003, Amnesty International and allied groups have been calling for an international, legally-binding Arms Trade Treaty to ease the suffering caused by irresponsible conventional weapons transfers. Since late 2003, the campaign has gathered the support of over one million people worldwide for an Arms Trade Treaty. In December 2006, 153 governments voted at the United Nations to start work on developing an international Arms Trade Treaty, a process that is now underway at the UN.
- Add Safeguards to DoD's New, Global Train & Equip Authority. Amnesty International is concerned that future U.S. arms transfers and military training authorized under the U.S. Department of Defense's (DoD) global train and equip authority may fuel serious human rights violations and deadly conflict unless critical safeguards are added. Since 2006, this DoD authority, often referred to as Section 1206 of the National Defense Authorization Act, has been used to furnish arms and military training to over 40 foreign militaries, several of which have gross human rights records and/or involved in armed conflicts such as Sri Lanka and Chad. The authority also appears to exempt DoD from several critical protections included in U.S. laws and regulations that other, traditional U.S. authorities to provide arms and military training must comply with.
