Officials call for a strong, robust Arms Trade Treaty

Why is it that CARICOM states have the unenviable distinction of routinely leading the world in per capita murder rates?{{more}}

This question was asked by Acting Prime Minister Girlyn Miguel as she delivered the feature address at the opening ceremony for third regional workshop on Negotiations for the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), which concluded here on May 25, at the National Insurances Services Conference room in Kingstown.

“By some measures, if you were to list countries of the world by their murder rate, four of the top ten, and 13 of the top 30, would be CARICOM states,” Miguel said.

“The police would also state that over 70 per cent of the murders were committed with firearms and ammunition that entered the countries of the region illegally.

“Though CARICOM does not build a single gun or forge a single bullet, our region is awash with them,” she explained.

More than the obvious problem associated with gun violence, Miguel said that there was also the negative impact on the region’s development as well.

“In this period of global recession and flat or negative economic growth, we cannot ignore the economic impact of the unregulated flow of arms in our region,” she said.

Miguel spoke of this country’s interest in the adoption of what she termed a legally binding and robust arms treaty.

“The moment is ripe for CARICOM to continue to make a difference at the United Nations and to demonstrate our common vision on the need for an ATT,” she said.

She urged all delegates present to defend the position and interests of the region, saying that Trinidad and Tobago and St Vincent and the Grenadines will be playing leading roles at the conference.

“We must not surrender to those who oppose an ATT at any cost. We cannot ignore the cries of all Caribbean people for an effective, efficient and legally binding Treaty to regulate this ongoing scourge,” Miguel continued.

She further contended that an ATT would assist in the saving of lives in our inner cities and streets and prevent governments having to divert resources from social and economic development to the war on illegal drugs and all manner of heinous crimes.

The two-day workshop was held just before the Treaty is expected to be negotiated at a global conference, under the auspices of the United Nations, from July 2 to 27, this year.

The Arms Trade Treaty is the name of the potential multilateral treaty that would regulate the international trade in conventional weapons.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of National Security Godfred Pompey, while speaking at the opening ceremony on May 24, said that the use of small firearms and ammunition has been of great concern to the region and the workshop was being held so that the relevant stakeholders would be in a state of readiness for the UN dialogue.

“The concern for the conclusion of a robust and legally binding arms trade treaty is in essence a concern for the stability, security and development of our community,” Ambassador Noel Sinclair of the CARICOM Secretariat said.

“The statistics about what guns are doing to our societies are merely short hand notes of our everyday experience…we live with the realities that are the subjects of those figures,” he continued.

Guns are not manufactured in the region, but while the trade in guns is as legitimate as that of rum and sugar, unscrupulous people take advantage of the loop holes in the trade.

The purpose therefore, for wanting an arms treaty, Ambassador Sinclair explained, was to close some of these loopholes.

He called the joint effort by the region unique, in that this was the first time in the history of the region, which is made up of separate states, that they will have the opportunity to join with the rest of the international community to negotiate a comprehensive set of rules.

And while he said that he did not think that the Treaty would bring an immediate end to the problem of gun violence in the region, Ambassador Sinclair said that negotiating such an agreement was a significant first step.

“Our position is clear, we want a strong, a robust ATT…we want an ATT that includes small arms and ammunitions, because gun homicides are our greatest challenge and the proliferation of illegal firearms continues to fuel our citizens’ insecurity,” Folade Mutota of the Caribbean Coalition for Development and the Reduction of Armed Violence (CDRAV) said.

She further explained that her organization’s strategy was built on people, process and research which were strengthened by the regional coalition.

Her organization stood ready to bring the collective genius of the people of the region in support of the governments in this matter. (DD)