DISARMAMENT: Nobel Laureates Back UN Arms Code of Conduct

By Thalif Deen Reprint | | Print |

Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 27 2000 (IPS) - A group of 19 Nobel Peace Laureates, led by former Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, wants the United Nations to adopt an international code of conduct to regulate the global arms trade.

In a letter to Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the group says: “Together, we have written an International Code of Conduct on Arms Transfers, which, once adopted by all arms-selling nations, will benefit all humanity, nationalities, ethnicities and religions.”

The 11-page code stipulates that any country wishing to purchase arms must meet certain criteria, including the promotion of democracy, the protection of human rights and transparency in military spending.

The code prohibits arms sales to nations that support terrorism and to states that are engaged in aggression against other nations and peoples. “The international community can no longer ignore the repercussions of irresponsible arms transfers,” the letter said.

Besides Arias, the other Nobel Peace Laureates who are signatories to the letter include Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, Jose Ramos Horta of East Timor and the human rights organisation Amnesty International.

The former Costa Rican president, one of the strongest advocates of demilitarisation, has already launched a global campaign against the international arms trade.

Last month Amnesty International urged the United Nations to formulate a mandatory code of conduct to curb the flow of small arms into the world’s war zones.

“Governments have talked about the need to stem the proliferation of small arms,” Joost Hiltermann, Executive Director of the Arms Division of Human Rights Watch said. But so far, it has been all talk – and no action, he added.

Human Rights Watch is not only calling for binding codes on arms transfers but also the establishment of transparency measures, including annual reporting of arms sales, and the creation of a UN Register for Small Arms.

Michel Rocard, a former French prime minister and head of an Eminent Persons Group, told reporters last month that an international code of conduct could set clear standards for arms transfer eligibility.

The proposed code must also set stringent measures to curtail the black market, and trafficking must be punishable, even it occurs abroad. Additionally, he said, small arms trafficking should be made a treaty crime before the International Criminal Court.

Addressing the Security Council Friday, Ambassador Bernd Niehaus of Costa Rica said his government would strongly support the proposed code, a draft of which had been circulated to all UN member states.

If it picks up support, the draft code is expected go before the UN Committee on Disarmament and International Security later this year, and if approved, it will be submitted to the 188-member General Assembly for approval. Currently the only major code of conduct governing arms sales is being implemented by the 15-member European Union.

Niehaus said the temptation to use weapons remained latent even in post-conflict situations unless there was disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration.

In Central America, he pointed out, the importance of disarmament had been witnessed first hand. Guatemala and El Salvador had been success stories, he said, but Central America had also witnessed failures. “An abundant supply of weapons at the end of conflicts had caused violence and destruction in neighbouring countries,” he added.

Arguing that the stockpiling of weapons was a “true obstacle for peace,” Niehaus called for the destruction of those weapons.

Under the proposed code, governments which systematically abuse internationally recognised human rights through practices such as torture or arbitrary executions would not receive military training. Additionally, countries that commit genocide would not be able to buy munitions, and governments engaged in armed aggression against other countries or peoples could not buy missiles.

The draft also stipulates that countries that support terrorism should be prevented from acquiring weapons. In addition, all nations would be required to report their arms purchases to the United Nations.

Under the code, arms sales may also be barred to countries which have not ratified the 11 international conventions against terrorism.

Currently, there is an annual UN Arms Register, where member states are expected to declare their arms imports and exports. But since the exercise is voluntary, nearly half of the UN member states do not reveal their arms transfers to the world body.

As a means to promote human development, one of the Articles of the draft code says that arms transfers may be conducted only if the recipient state’s expenditures on health and education combined exceed its military expenditures.

The only exception would be if a country can reasonably demonstrate that such arms transfers are justified by exceptional needs to counter acts of aggression. The preamble to the code recognises that every state has a right to individual and collective self-defence against acts of aggression.

The draft, which is really aimed at countries holding onto excessive stockpiles of weapons, says that international arms transfers can undermine social and economic development in both exporting and importing countries by diverting scarce resources.

As defined by the code, the arms include “all weapons, munitions, sub-components and delivery systems, including for example: battle tanks, armoured combat vehicles, military aircraft, artillery systems, military helicopters, missiles, paramilitary police equipment, mortars, machine guns, sub-machine guns, rifles, pistols, anti-tank weapons, mines, grenades, cluster bombs and all types of ammunition.”

In their letter, the Nobel Laureates have also told Annan that indiscriminate weapons sales foster political instability and human rights violations, prolong violent conflicts, and weaken diplomatic efforts to resolve differences peacefully.

“Sadly, many governments continue to divert scarce resources toward arms purchases while their people live in abject poverty,” the letter said.