Expert Calls for Talks on Killing with Weapons

August 20, 2018

Tokyo- Parties to the Arms Trade Treaty should discuss the fact that people are killed with weapons before talking about arms control, an international antiarms campaigner said Monday.

Patric Wilcken, an arms control and human rights researcher at Amnesty International, made the remark at a press conference on the day, when the parties to the treaty for conventional arms trade control opened a five-day meeting in Tokyo.

The press conference was held by Control Arms, an international coalition of nongovernmental organizations and researchers. Amnesty International is a member organization.

Control Arms worked for a decade to realize the U.N. General Assembly adoption of the treaty in 2013. The group still plays an active role in the field after the pact entered into force in 2014.

Ali Jameel of Mwatana for Human Rights, a Yemeni organization that is a Control Arms member, stressed that weapons brought from around the world via Arab nations are used in Yemen.

Shobha Shrestha, executive chair of Women for Peace and Democracy Nepal, said illegal arms dealing would end if every signatory abides by the treaty. She called for cooperation to save ordinary citizens from suffering.

Anna Macdonald, director at the Control Arms secretariat, said the importance and influence of the treaty will increase if more nations and regions participate, noting that the number of signatories rose to 97 over the four years from the effectuation of the treaty. Jiji Press