Human Rights, Development And Arms Trade Treaty

EDM number 117 in 2012-13, proposed by Mark Durkan on 22/05/2012.
Categorised under the topic of Arms control.

That this House is deeply concerned about the death, damage to human rights, destruction and undermining of development that is facilitated by arms trafficking and ease of access to weapons; notes the approaching final negotiation and adoption of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) at the United Nations Conference in July 2012, whichshould legally bind the regulation of arms exports and imports, provide international oversight and create the necessary enforcement mechanisms; regrets suggestions from some representatives of Russia, China and the US that the proposed Treaty is too prescriptive;demands that the Government sustains the commitmentto a robust ATT that will enforce strict criteria and provide for categorical prohibition of all types of specified weapons and associated components with no exemptions; recognises that the arms trade is estimated to account for 50 per cent of all global corrupt transactions; welcomes the proposition of an independent anti-corruption provision in the ATT; upholds the need for strong human rights protections in the Treaty to prevent weapons and ammunition used in internal security being supplied to a country where there is a risk they will contribute to human rights abuses, atrocities or repression; stresses the importance of an effective ATT for underpinning sustainable development; and urges that the Treaty must be enforceable on signatories, non-signatories and non-state actors.

This motion has been signed by a total of 55 MPs.