After weeks of intense negotiations at the UN Conference, including a bitter roadblock put up by Iran, Syria and North Korea, a final treaty was adopted! The treaty prohibits arms transfers that would be used to commit genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. We are now closer than ever to the golden rule we've been advocating for more than ten years: "Governments must prevent arms transfers where there is a substantial risk that they will be used to commit serious violations of human rights."
In the U.N. General Assembly, 154 states voted to adopt the treaty just days after Iran, North Korea and Syria – three countries under U.N. sanctions for human rights abuses – staged a cynical move to try and block it.