Sep 29, 2011 18:40 BST Bishops’ Conference unanimous about arms trade treaty The bishops of the Church of Sweden would like an international arms trade treaty. Photo: Ewa Almqvist/IKON. The 14 bishops of the Church of Sweden have together backed a multi- religious declaration of support for an international arms trade treaty within the UN. In Sweden the issue is above all being pursued by the Swedish Fellowship of Reconciliation (SweFOR) and the Göteborgsprocessen (an ecumenical project for dialogue between churches and players involved in the legal international arms trade). The multi-religious declaration, launched on 21 September 2011, actively pursues the issue of establishing a treaty to control the international arms trade. The initiative for an international Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) was taken by peace prize winners and organisations in civil society, and the issue was raised in the UN in 2006. A negotiation process is currently under way that is to result in a complete arms trade treaty in 2012. “In their standpoints, both the UN and many churches have been affected by the medieval doctrine of the just war that should not affect civilians,” says Archbishop Anders Wejryd. “However, civilians are those affected most in all modern wars. We must start to think in new ways, not based on the just war, but on how just peace can be built.” Through work together with the Swedish Fellowship of Reconciliation (SweFOR), the steering group of the Göteborgsprocessen adopted an ecumenical church declaration for the Arms Trade Treaty in October 2009. Since then, it has developed into a multi-religious declaration within the Control Arms alliance, which consists of individual organisations that are pursuing the matter of an arms trade treaty from civil society; these organisations include the World Conference on Religions for Peace. The Bishops’ Conference of the Church of Sweden (photo attached), which backs the declaration, consists of: Anders Wejryd, archbishop Ragnar Persenius, diocese of Uppsala Esbjörn Hagberg, diocese of Karlstad Hans Stiglund, diocese of Luleå Erik Aurelius, diocese of Skara Hans-Erik Nordin, diocese of Strängnäs Antje Jackelén, diocese of Lund Thomas Söderberg, diocese of Västerås Tuulikki Koivunen Bylund, diocese of Härnösand Eva Brunne, diocese of Stockholm Jan-Olof Johansson, diocese of Växjö Sven-Bernhard Fast, diocese of Visby Martin Modéus, diocese of Linköping Per Eckerdal, diocese of Gothenburg The declaration has been signed by religious leaders, churches and organisations, both in Sweden and internationally. These include the Christian Council of Sweden; the Swedish Mission Council; the Grand Mufti Mustafa Ceric, Bosnia; Bishop William Kenney, Birmingham; the Canadian Council of Churches[W1] ; and the Life and Peace Institute. More information, about the declaration and links, for example to the signatories[W2] , are available at www.controlarms.org. Information about the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) is provided on the Swedish Fellowship of Reconciliation’s website. Press contact Ewa Almqvist tel. +46(0)18-16 96 77 Contacts Daniel Bramsell Press Contact Press secretary Archbishop Antje Jackelén [email protected] +46-18-16 94 19 +46-72-237 28 86 Ewa Almqvist Press Contact Press secretary [email protected] +46-18-16 96 77 +46-70-546 96 77 Stefan Håkansson Press Contact Press secretary [email protected] +46-18-16 94 20 +46-768-00 01 02 Lotten Andersson Press Contact Head of Media [email protected] +46-18-16 97 95 +46-70-549 97 95.