Hundreds of thousands of people are killed,
injured, raped, repressed and forced to flee
their homes every year as a result of the
international arms trade. Families are torn
apart. Livelihoods and lives are destroyed.
Armed conflicts destroy social and economic
infrastructure, breed corruption and divert
public finances, denying the poor access
to health care, water, food, shelter and
education, increasing poverty and causing
yet more deaths.
For decades there has been a global treaty
on the import, export and transfer of
dinosaur bones yet there is no global treaty
to strictly control the deadly trade in
conventional arms.
Revolvers, rifles, machine guns, bullets, hand
grenades, missiles, rockets, armoured vehicles
and other weapons and arms can be traded
between governments, arms dealers and armed
groups with few restrictions. Unscrupulous
governments allow almost unlimited amounts
of arms to be supplied to those flagrantly
violating human rights and destroying lives.
Regulation at the country level has failed to
adapt to an increasingly globalized trade –
components are sourced from across the
world, and production and assembly take
place in different countries.
It’s time for all governments to commit to
securing an international Arms Trade Treaty.
amnesty.org/control-arms
Under international law, states can only sell,
acquire and possess arms for legitimate
security, law-enforcement and self-defence
needs.
An Arms Trade Treaty must require that
governments refuse arms transfers when
those arms are likely to facilitate human
rights violations or be diverted in breach
of a UN arms embargo. Those violating such
embargoes should be held accountable.
An Arms Trade Treaty must also prohibit
governments from transferring weapons,
munitions or related equipment when they
are likely to be used to commit or facilitate
war crimes or crimes against humanity,
including acts of genocide.
EXISTING PROHIBITIONS AND
OBLIGATIONS
NO MORE ARMS FOR ATROCITIESBosniak refugees push their elderly
in wheelbarrows as they flee
Srebrenica, where nearly 8,000
Muslims – mainly men and boys –
were killed by members of the Serbian
army in an act of genocide. Potocari,
Bosnia and Herzegovina, July 1995.
Human rights abuses committed
during the conflict in Bosnia and
Herzegovina were the most serious
witnessed in Europe since the Second
World War. All sides in the conflict
deliberately targeted civilians;
abductions, enforced disappearance,
detention without charge or trial,
killings, torture – including rape – and
mass forced displacement were all
commonplace.
© REUTERSA girl stands on a wall of a house
destroyed during fighting between
government forces and Shi’a rebels
in the north-western Yemeni city of
Sa’dah, February 2012.
Weeks of heavy bombardment in
Sa’dah during late 2009 and early
2010 by Saudi Arabian and Yemeni
forces reportedly killed hundreds of
people. There was widespread
damage to homes, mosques, schools,
local industries and infrastructure and
more than a quarter of a million
people were internally displaced.
Between 2005 and 2009 the biggest
supplier of military weapons to Yemen
was the USA.
© REUTERS K/ haled AbdullahThe Arms Trade Treaty must stop the delivery of bombs and artillery shells to armed forces
and armed groups who persistently and indiscriminately bomb civilian areas.
INDISCRIMINATE BOMBINGRelatives of Serb Mirko Milošević approach the spot outside his home where he was killed by the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in Bukos, Kosovo, February 1999. The snow has turned red with his blood.
Both sides in the Kosovo conflict committed grave human
rights abuses in 1999. The vast majority of victims were
ethnic Albanians, but Serbs also suffered abuses at the
hands of armed groups, such as the KLA.
At least 60 per cent of human rights violations documented
by Amnesty International have involved the use of small
arms and light weapons.
Ethnic Albanian armed opposition groups, particularly in
the ethnic Albanian diaspora communities of Germany,
Austria and Switzerland, trafficked substantial numbers
of weapons in the Balkans in the late 1990s.
Under the Arms Trade Treaty, governments
must also ensure that arms are not
delivered or diverted to armed opposition
groups that commit grave abuses of human
rights or war crimes.
GRAVE ABUSES OF HUMAN
RIGHTS
© Andrew Testa P/ anosA Palestinian child stands in a bomb
crater in Gaza, Occupied Palestinian
Territories, January 2009.
During Israel’s devastating bombing
campaign on the Gaza Strip in 2008-
2009, Israeli F-16 combat aircraft
targeted and destroyed civilian homes
without warning, killing and injuring
scores of people, often while they
slept. Munitions transferred from the
USA to the Israeli Defense Force were
used in the attacks.
© Amnesty InternationalEXCESSIVE USE OF FORCE
The Arms Trade Treaty must require
governments to refuse international
transfers of riot control weapons and
munitions where they are likely to be used
by security forces with excessive force,
resulting in deaths or injuries.
© REUTERS A/ hmed JadallahProtesters react after police use a “flashbang” stun grenade during an antigovernment rally in Manama, Bahrain, April 2012.
Despite the Bahrain government’s insistence that it will learn from its heavyhanded response to mass protests in February and March 2011, reports of
torture and unnecessary and excessive use of force against protesters continue.
At least 60 people have been killed in connection with the protests since
February 2011.
US-made tear gas canisters and baton rounds were found in the aftermath of
the 17 February 2011 raid by Bahraini riot police on peaceful protests. The
USA has since resumed arms sales to Bahrain, despite the ongoing human
rights violations committed by the Bahraini authorities.© REUTERS A/ ndrew BirajPolice officers charge towards a garment worker during a protest in Dhaka,
Bangladesh, July 2010. Bangladesh’s police and security forces have used
excessive force against demonstrators systematically.
In spite of this, China, the Russian Federation and the USA, among others,
continue to supply them with arms.
POORLY TRAINED POLICE AND
SECURITY FORCES
Police and security forces are more
likely to commit serious human rights
violations when they are poorly trained or
unaccountable. Consequently, weapons,
munitions or associated equipment must
not be authorized until the institutions
have been fully reformed and perpetrators
brought to justice.© AP P/ A Photo E/ milio MorenattiDisplaced people wait for their daily food ration during a sand storm at the
Chota Lahore refugee camp at Swabi, north-west Pakistan, June 2009. At least
a million people remain displaced by the brutal conflict between the Taliban
and Pakistani forces, in which all sides have failed to adequately distinguish
between civilians and combatants.
Pakistani forces have received billions of dollars in military aid over the last 10
years, primarily from the USA, while the Taliban have benefited from a thriving
black market in arms.
At the end of 2010, 43.3 million people
were displaced due to armed conflict and
persecution, according to UNHCR, the UN
refugee agency.
The Arms Trade Treaty must prevent
international transfers of conventional arms
that provoke or prolong armed conflict and
contribute to displacement.
DISPLACEMENTA woman cradles her baby in an overcrowded camp for displaced people in
Somalia, while an armed man looks on in the background. Mogadishu,
Somalia, September 2011.
According to UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, 1.5 million Somalis were
internally displaced at the end of 2011 as a result of the longstanding civil war.
Women and girls are especially vulnerable in the camps and have been raped
and attacked, sometimes by men in Transitional Federal Government uniforms.
The actions of armed groups can define
public spaces for women. If armed groups
are on the street and are known to attack
and rape women, then even simple, daily
activities like getting to work become
dangerous.
The Arms Trade Treaty must prevent the
transfer or export of arms when there is a
substantial risk that they will be used to
further gender-based armed violence and
sexual violence against women.
ARMED VIOLENCE AGAINST
WOMEN AND GIRLS© Sven Torfinn P/ anos© Sylva ni LiechtiIn 2011, child soldiers enlisted by
government forces or armed groups were
involved in conflicts in at least 14 countries;
in many other countries, children were
forced to join armed criminal gangs.
Apart from the tragedy of themselves
becoming perpetrators of human rights
violations, many child soldiers are killed,
maimed or are victims of rape and other
sexual violence.
A child soldier of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda in Ntoto,
Walikale territory, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), January 2012.
In 2010, an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 children were serving in the conflict in
eastern DRC. They continue to be recruited by armed groups and state armed
forces, despite the government having formally ended child recruitment in 2004.
Those who recruit children are rarely brought to account, and those who are
convicted often escape, in some cases returning to the armed forces.
CHILD SOLDIERSDiseth Aguiar weeps over the body of her husband, 34-year-old Corporal
Alberto Jimenez Arocha, who was killed with a shot to the head while someone
tried to steal his weapon in the San José neighbourhood of Petare, Venezuela,
October 2009. In the 12 months from June 2008, 79 per cent of homicides in
Venezuela involved firearms.
In 2010 alone, nearly half of all homicides around the world involved firearms.
Systemic armed violence is often fuelled by firearms and ammunition supplied
either directly to criminals, or to legal but poorly regulated markets.
An Arms Trade Treaty would prevent
transfers where there is credible and reliable
evidence that the arms will be used to
commit acts of “armed violence”, and where
there are serious violations or abuses of
international law. This would enable states
to improve human security and the work of
law enforcement bodies.
International arms transfers should be
assessed under an Arms Trade Treaty
against the risk of being diverted to fuel
persistent or pervasive armed violence or
organized crime.
PERVASIVE ARMED VIOLENCE© Kisai Mendoza© UN Photo A/ bl ert Gonzalez FarranA child holds up bullets collected from the ground in the village of Rounyn,
north of Shangil Tobaya, North Darfur, March 2011. Most of Rounyn’s residents
have fled to displacement camps following clashes between the government
and armed groups in the area.
Existing arms export controls and a UN arms embargo on Darfur have failed to
stop international arms transfers to Sudan. Despite the ongoing humanitarian
crisis, arms from Belarus, China and the Russian Federation have repeatedly
been deployed.
It is critical that all munitions, including
ammunition, rockets, bombs and other
explosives fall within the scope of the Arms
Trade Treaty, in spite of a bid by some
governments to exclude ammunition.
CONTROL ALL AMMUNITIONA member of the Amigos dos Amigos (ADA) holds an Uzi submachine gun,
Rocinha favela, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, February 2009. The ADA is one of three
main criminal armed groups in the city, where gangs and militias made up of
corrupt former police use violence and intimidation to control favelas.
The spread of conventional arms among criminal gang networks undermines
development and prevents people from rising out of poverty.
International transfers of conventional arms
can seriously impair poverty reduction and
undermine socio-economic development. As
conflict or lawlessness takes hold, countries
slide into chaos, causing development to
grind to a halt. This can be seen in nonconflict situations, but also when easily
available arms are used unlawfully in
post-conflict peace-building, or when they
involve excessive, unaccountable spending
or corruption.
UNDERMINING POVERTY
REDUCTION© Christian Franz Tragni D/ emotix© REUTERS Y/ iorgos KarahalisA policeman sprays tear gas at protesters during a student rally in Athens,
Greece, December 2008. Protesters hurled firebombs at police outside
parliament on the 13th day of protests after police killed a teenager.
Amnesty International has documented several cases of police using excessive
force and the excessive use of chemicals and tear gas during demonstrations in
Greece in 2012.
Weapons such as tear gas and stun grenades are widely used by police in
Europe and elsewhere but the way they are deployed often falls short of
international standards. In Greece, these weapons have been supplied by
Brazilian, German, UK and US companies.
Weapons and munitions used by police and
internal security forces must be covered by
the Arms Trade Treaty.Members of Sudan’s military delegation inspect a rocket system at the MILEX-
2011 arms and military equipment exhibition in Minsk, Belarus, May 2011.
Many countries continue to supply arms to governments, security and police
forces known to commit human rights violations or abuse.
The global market place for arms is a
complex environment. Transactions often
involve many different suppliers, agents,
brokers and transporters – sometimes
operating from several different
jurisdictions. An Arms Trade Treaty must
require governments to register all parties
involved and strictly regulate all
international transfers.
ROBUST CONTROL MECHANISMS© REUTERS V/ asily Fedosenko© Guy Till miAn Antonov 12 cargo aircraft takes off from a remote airstrip in Goma,
Democratic Republic of the Congo, September 2003. This kind of aircraft has
often been used to deliver weapons to embargoed conflict zones in many parts
of the world.
In Africa’s Great Lakes region, Goma has been a hub for this activity. In many
parts of the continent, the illicit arms trade has contributed to violence,
corruption and poverty.
The Arms Trade Treaty must include robust
provisions to control the physical movement
of arms across international borders. It
should require all states to impose effective
controls on the transport and transporters of
arms, including through Free Trade Zones.
Without this, the Treaty will fail to address
a significant loophole in international arms
transfer controls, and will deprive the
international community of a key tool to
prevent arms transfers from being used to
commit and facilitate serious violations of
human rights.An anti-Gaddafi fighter looks at weapons left by Colonel Mu’ammar al-Gaddafi’s
forces in Misrata, Libya, October 2011. Under Colonel al-Gaddafi, violations
of human rights were routine and included arbitrary detention, enforced
disappearance, torture and other ill-treatment, unlawful killings and deaths
in custody.
The risk of arms being used for serious human rights violations in Libya under
Colonel al-Gaddafi was substantial. Yet many states, including Belgium, the
Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Russian Federation and
the UK, supplied the country with weapons.
Globally, a wide range of conventional arms
have been used by government forces and
armed groups in attacks designed to kill
and intimidate civilians. Some of these
arms have been diverted illegally; others
have been supplied with the knowledge or
complicity of states and their agents.
The Arms Trade Treaty must forbid such
transfers.
WEAPONS PROLIFERATION© REUTERS S/ uha bi Salem© REUTERS G/ oran TomasevicA riot policeman fires a shotgun at protesters during clashes in a side street
near Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, November 2011. More than 6,000 people
were injured in connection with the “25 January Revolution” in 2011, some of
them permanently. At least 840 people were killed.
The USA is the biggest arms supplier to Egypt, and has continued to transfer
arms there in spite of the numerous human rights abuses committed since the
beginning of the revolution. More than 100 people have been killed as a result
of excessive and lethal force by security forces since October 2011.
Outside armed conflict, even if it is unclear
whether crimes against humanity will
be committed, governments still have an
international obligation to stop arms
transfers to military, security or police
forces who are known to commit serious
international human rights violations.
These rules are essential for an effective
Arms Trade Treaty.
SERIOUS VIOLATIONS OF
HUMAN RIGHTSAmnesty International, alongside NGO
partners and activists around the world, has
been campaigning for an Arms Trade Treaty
since the early 1990s. It was 2009 before
the UN General Assembly adopted a
resolution to develop a Treaty to regulate
the international arms trade.
In July 2012, states will at last meet to
agree the Treaty at a four-week-long UN
Conference. Every government has an
interest in the outcome.
However, the world’s largest arms traders
– including the USA, the European Union
(especially France, Germany and the UK),
the Russian Federation and China – wield the
most influence and there is a real danger that
China, the Russian Federation and the USA
will push for the Treaty text to be watered
down until it is ineffective. Some states
in the Middle East and Asia may even veto
the Treaty.
We must keep up the pressure on states to
adopt a Treaty that will save lives and help
protect human rights.
After July, we will campaign even harder
to make sure states ratify and comply with
the Arms Trade Treaty.
Governments must stamp out irresponsible
arms transfers and keep weapons out of
the wrong hands. Amnesty International is
calling on governments to adopt, ratify and
implement a treaty that will:
n Stop arms getting into the hands of
people likely to commit war crimes,
genocide, mass rape, torture, displacement
and other grave human rights abuses.
n Control all arms, ammunition and
components parts.
n End secrecy, corruption and wasted
resources.
n Be enforced and policed, and hold
governments to account.
IT’S TIME FOR A BULLET-PROOF ARMS TRADE TREATY KEEP WEAPONS OUT OF THE
WRONG HANDSAmnesty International Publications
First published in 2012 by
Amnesty International Publications
International Secretariat
Peter Benenson House
1 Easton Street
London WC1X 0DW
United Kingdom
www.amnesty.org
© Amnesty International Publications 2012
Index: ACT 30/032/2012 English
Original language: English
Printed by Amnesty International,
International Secretariat, United Kingdom
All rights reserved. This publication is copyright, but
may be reproduced by any method without fee for
advocacy, campaigning and teaching purposes, but not
for resale. The copyright holders request that all such
use be registered with them for impact assessment
purposes. For copying in any other circumstances,
or for reuse in other publications, or for translation or
adaptation, prior written permission must be obtained
from the publishers, and a fee may be payable. To
request permission, or for any other inquiries, please
contact copyright@amnesty.org
Amnesty International is a global movement
of more than 3 million supporters, members
and activists in more than 150 countries and
territories who campaign to end grave abuses
of human rights.
Our vision is for every person to enjoy all the
rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights and other international human
rights standards.
We are independent of any government, political
ideology, economic interest or religion and are
funded mainly by our membership and public
donations.
Find our more and take urgent
action: amnesty.org/control-armsNO MORE ARMS FOR ATROCITIES
OR ABUSE
TAKE ACTION
Visit amnesty.org or contactyourlocal Amnesty
International office to find out how you can help
Cover image: Somali children stare at
a Transitional Federal Government
soldier carrying a machine gun
ammunition belt while on patrol in
Burgabo, south of Kismayu in
Somalia, December 2011.
Civilians have been targeted many times
during Somalia’s armed conflict by
government forces and armed Islamist
groups. A UN arms embargo in place
since 1992 has been repeatedly violated
thanks to its built-in government
exemptions and ineffective arms
controls in other countries.
© REUTERS/Noor Khamis
