ECOWAS has proposed elements to be included in the Arms Trade Treaty being negotiated by United Nations Member States in order to ensure that the impending Treaty becomes an effective instrument for checking the abuses associated with small arms transfers.
In a paper delivered at the first session of the Preparatory Committee on ATT at the UN headquarters in New York, an official of the ECOWAS Commission, Mrs. Henrietta Didigu, said arms transfers should remain a state-to-state activity while transfers to individuals should only be conducted under the authorization of States.
Transfers ought to take account of, and be guided by, respect for other international, regional or sub-regional commitments or decisions made on non-proliferation, small arms and light weapons control, and disarmament to which States involved in the transfer are a party, she argued in the presentation to the 12-day session.
The United Nations General Assembly Resolution A/RES/64/48 of 2009 envisages that the negotiation of an ATT should be concluded by 2012.
Based on the experiences of eight years of implementation of the ECOWAS Moratorium on Small Arms and Light Weapons as well as the Convention on Small Arms and Light Weapons, Their Ammunition and Other Related Materials that came into force in August 2009, Mrs. Didigu called for an ATT that reflects contemporary challenges of small arms transfers.
In this regard, she suggested that the scope of the impending ATT should cover, among others, the seven categories of the UN Conventional Arms Register, Small Arms and Light Weapons, and Ammunition and activities such as brokering, import, export, transit, transshipment and transport.
Such an ATT, she added, should establish criteria for assessing requests for arms transfer that will include respect for State obligations under international law; consideration of final user and use of arms to avoid diversion and violation of international human rights and International humanitarian law; consideration of the internal situation in the country of final destination; and consideration of the regional peace and security situation in order to avert a situation where such transfers may adversely affect regional security, endanger peace and contribute to regional instability.
She then called for mechanisms that will promote transparency and build confidence among Member states, promote international cooperation as a way of providing support for countries in need of assistance with regards to implementation of the Proposed ATT as well as mechanisms that will help monitor implementation of the proposed Arms Trade Treaty.
Prior to the on-going discussions in New York, the ECOWAS Commission has been working with the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) to sensitize representatives of ECOWAS Member states in order to ensure a common understanding of the issues around the arms trade negotiations.
Included in the delegation to the New York meeting is the Head of the ECOWAS Small Arms Division, Dr. Cyriaque Agnekethom.
