Toothless International Arms Trade Treaty
On April 2nd 2013, The United Nations General Assembly approved the first global arms trade treaty with 154 votes in favor, 3 against and 23 abstentions. The overwhelming approval comes one week after Iran, Syria and North Korea prevented a treaty-drafting conference at U.N. headquarters from reaching the required consensus to adopt the treaty. These same countries were the sole votes against the treaty last Tuesday. The text of this treaty carries the purpose of regulating the international trade in conventional arms. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon praised the treaty as a powerful new tool in preventing grave human rights abuses and…
Arms Trade Treaty Blocked by Iran, Syria and North Korea, for Now.
On Thursday March 28th, Iran, Syria and North Korea blocked the adoption of the first international treaty to regulate the $70 billion global arms trade when diplomats from 179 countries were ready to approve the text. But there is still hope for it yet. Consensus on the text of the treaty was a rule required by the negotiating conference. This disagreement resulted in the treaty text needing to be put before the UN General Assembly for approval. It could be as early as this coming Tuesday that the UN General Assembly will take up the text, most likely in current…
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