An outdated model Arms race in space Halting gang violence Religion and conflict Canada needs to update Talks to prevent weapons Toronto program helps It is time for an Office procurement processes in space not gaining traction youth caught up in gangs of Religious Freedom The Ploughshares Monitor AUTUMN 2012 | VOLUME 33 | ISSUE 3 ‘For the sake of all humanity’ Arms Trade Treaty negotiations produced a meaningful draft text—now states must push to secure a treaty as soon as possible by Kenneth Epps TheA Ploughsharesquarterly publicationMonitor | Sum- of Project Ploughshares • Available online: www.ploughshares.ca 1 Contents The Ploughshares Monitor Volume 33 | Issue 3 PROJECT PLOUGHSHARES STAFF Autumn 2012 John Siebert Executive Director Kenneth Epps Cesar Jaramillo Maribel Gonzales Anne Marie Kraemer Debbie Hughes Matthew Pupic ‘For the sake of all humanity’ Cover story Tasneem Jamal Wendy Stocker 3 With a draft text in hand, states must now push for a robust The Ploughshares Monitor is the quarterly journal of Project Ploughshares, the peace Arms Trade Treaty. centre of The Canadian Council of Churches. by Kenneth Epps Ploughshares works with churches, nongovernmental organizations and governments, in Canada and abroad, to advance policies and actions that prevent A lacklustre performance war and armed violence and build peace. Project Ploughshares is affiliated with 7 Canada lived up to low expectations at the ATT conference. the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, by Kenneth Epps Conrad Grebel University College, University of Waterloo. Office address: Project Ploughshares Beyond the Cold War 57 Erb Street West Canada’s procurement model is outdated, says a Canadian Waterloo, Ontario N2L 6C2 Canada 8 519-888-6541, fax: 519-888-0018 Forces Colonel. [email protected]; www.ploughshares.ca by John Siebert Project Ploughshares gratefully acknowledges the ongoing financial support of the many individuals, national churches and church Arms control beyond Earth? agencies, local congregations, religious orders and organizations across Canada that ensure Talks to curb an arms race in space are not gaining traction. that the work of Project Ploughshares 10 continues. by Cesar Jaramillo We are particularly grateful to The Simons Foundation in Vancouver An idea whose time has come for its generous support. 14 The Harper government’s promised, but yet to be All donors of $50 or more receive opened, Office of Religious Freedom is welcome. a complimentary subscription to The Ploughshares Monitor. Annual by John Siebert subscription rates for libraries and institutions are: $30 in Canada; $30 (U.S.) in the United States; $35 (U.S.) internationally. Single copies are $5 plus shipping. 2012 Armed Conflicts Report: Summary Unless indicated otherwise, material may be 19 reproduced freely, provided the author and Two conflicts were added in the year of the Arab Spring. source are indicated and one copy is sent to Project Ploughshares. Return postage is guaranteed. Publications Mail Registration No. 40065122. ISSN 1499-321X. Breaking the cycle of gang violence The Ploughshares Monitor is indexed 20 A Toronto program aims to help youth caught up in gangs. in the Canadian Periodical Index. by Maribel Gonzales Photos of staff by Karl Griffiths-Fulton Printed at Waterloo Printing, Waterloo, Ontario. Printed with vegetable inks on paper with recycled content. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund COVER: A campaigner from Control Arms demonstrates in front of the UN building at the of the Department of Canadian Heritage. start of the diplomatic conference on an Arms Trade Treaty in July. Andrew Kelly/Control Arms ‘For the sake of all humanity’ With a draft text in hand, states can now push to secure a strong and effective Arms Trade Treaty By Kenneth Epps “Our common goal is clear: a robust and legally binding arms trade treaty that will have a real impact on the lives of those millions of people suffering from the consequences of armed conflict, repression and armed violence. It is ambitious, but I believe it is achievable.” –United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in an opening address to the UN Arms Trade Treaty conference, July 3, 2012. he July conference to ne- been inevitable since December 2009 ABOVE: In July, fake gotiate a global Arms when, during the drafting of the UN tombstones are placed Trade Treaty (ATT) to General Assembly resolution to host the along the East River in New York by members better regulate interna- 2012 conference, the United States, as a of the Control Arms tional transfers of con- condition of participation, insisted that Coalition to coincide ventional weapons could be deemed a the conference reach agreement by the with Arms Trade Treaty T negotiations at the failure because it did not reach agreement. consensus of all UN member states. The United Nations. Many would argue that this result had condition was imposed to allow the Control Arms Photo The Ploughshares Monitor | Autumn 2012 3 ARMS TRADE TREATY United States to pull the conference tional weapons are governed by the treaty. plug—an option which at the last minute It also will determine national standards it exercised—but it was always possible and international regulations for arms that any state could have taken similar ac- transfers. To meet the humanitarian objec- tion. In other words, the conference fail- tives of the treaty, improvements in the ure was predictable. The outcome would text on both topics are required. At pres- not have surprised participants going into ent the draft text is weaker on the former. the conference. The draft currently covers the seven What did surprise participants was how major conventional weapons categories of close the conference appeared to come to the UN Register of Conventional Arms, a meaningful final agreement before the plus the additional category of small arms United States and a few other states called and light weapons (SALW). The inclusion The draft is close to delivering a human security treaty. But the route to this end is less certain. for extra time. Conference President Am- of SALW is essential to advancing human bassador Roberto Garcia Moritán of Ar- security; these weapons are most responsi- gentina introduced draft treaty text only ble for widespread armed violence. late in the conference, in part to avoid But important weapons categories are providing an early target for treaty “skep- missing from the list, most controversially, tics” such as Algeria, Egypt, Iran, and ammunition and weapons parts and com- North Korea. For many state proponents ponents. Prior to and during the confer- of a robust Arms Trade Treaty, as well as ence, the United States persistently for the international civil society coalition opposed the inclusion of ammunition Control Arms, the draft was flawed, but within the scope of the treaty, although certainly worthy of continued effort. A U.S. export controls cover ammunition. second iteration was on the table when U.S. influence on the draft text resulted in the conference ended. This draft was at- distinct export regulations for both am- tached to the final conference report by munition and weapons parts and compo- the President “under his own responsibil- nents that were weaker than provisions ity,” and is now a tangible conference for the major weapons categories. product to take forward. Latin American, Caribbean, and, espe- The draft text will be at the centre of cially, African states were vocal in their future treaty developments. In the next opposition to the separate ammunition few months civil society proponents of a provision. They argued that, without strong and effective treaty will seek to en- strong regulation of ammunition and mu- sure that the text meets the humanitarian nitions exports, they would continue to and human security goals for an ATT by experience prolonged warfare and armed securing limited but significant amend- violence. They justifiably argued that the ments. The draft is close to delivering a text should be amended to include ammu- human security treaty. But the route to nition and munitions as another category this end is less certain. in the equipment list. The ATT will establish which conven- Other important weapons categories, 4 The Ploughshares Monitor | Autumn 2012 ARMS TRADE TREATY including military electronics, transport helicopters, and counterinsurgency air- craft, are omitted. There is no mechanism to expand the list to include evolving cate- gories and new weapons such as drones. The draft refers to “the following cate- gories at a minimum” to suggest the list is indicative rather than exclusive, but the text needs to be strengthened to support ongoing expansion of the weapons cate- gories covered by the treaty. Crucially, the draft text makes risk as- sessment the core of a standard national process to authorize weapons exports. In particular, the draft requires a state to de- termine whether there is an “overriding” risk that an export could be used to com- mit or facilitate serious violations of in- ternational humanitarian law or international human rights law. If so, “the State Party shall not authorize the ex- port.” Although it sets the bar for assess- ing risk too high (it should be based on substantial, rather than overriding, risk), this requirement is fundamental to an ATT that meets humanitarian goals and reinforces state responsibility to uphold international law. The draft text includes important risk assessment criteria long advocated by civil society. But some need to be more strongly worded. For example, states are only required to “consider taking feasible measures” to prevent the diversion of provements. As it stands, Article 3 of the arms to illicit markets. After such consid- draft, which deals with prohibited trans- eration, states could then take no action at fers, would weaken international humani- all and not be in violation of the treaty.