UNITED NATIONS, Dec 24: A landmark treaty regulating the USD 85 billion global arms trade came into force today, with UN chief Ban Ki-moon saying it will help prevent transfer of weapons to terrorists and human rights abusers and asked major arms exporters and importers to join the pact.
The Arms Trade Treaty, adopted by the UN General Assembly in April last year, is the first legally-binding multilateral agreement that prohibits nations from exporting conventional weapons to countries when they know those weapons would be used for genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes.
As of December 23, 60 nations had ratified the treaty and 130 had signed it, indicating that they intended to ratify.
India was among the 23 nations that had abstained from voting on the treaty resolution last year, saying the draft treaty annexed to the resolution is “weak on terrorism and non-state actors” and these concerns find no mention in the specific prohibitions of the Treaty.
UN Secretary-General Ban said the treaty coming into force less than two years after it was adopted by the General Assembly “attests to our collective determination to reduce human suffering by preventing the transfer or diversion of weapons to areas afflicted by armed conflict and violence and to warlords, human rights abusers, terrorists and criminal organisations.”
He encouraged all nations, “particularly major arms exporters and importers”, to join the treaty.
“With this in mind, I call on those States who have not yet done so, to accede to it without delay,” he said.
Major weapons producers like Russia, China, India and Pakistan have not signed the treaty.
Top arms exporters that have signed and ratified it include Britain, France and Germany. The US, the world’s top arms exporter, signed the treaty in September 2013 but the Senate has not ratified it.
Ban said the treaty marks the opening of a new chapter in the international community’s efforts to bring responsibility, accountability and transparency to the global arms trade.
“From now on, the States Parties to this important treaty will have a legal obligation to apply the highest common standards to their international transfers of weapons and ammunition,” Ban said in a statement.
Calling it a breakthrough in curbing human rights violations and reducing human suffering, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein hailed the treaty for establishing the highest possible common international standards for regulating the trade in conventional arms. (PTI)
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