Armed Violence in Numbers
2 of 3 people killed by armed violence die in countries at peace
2 bullets are produced each year for each person on the planet
700 people are estimated to be killed with arms each day in Latin America
As MCC workers in Latin America, we see firsthand the injuries, deaths, and suffering caused by guns and other weapons. The current violence in Mexico and Central America, the on-going internal armed conflict in Colombia, and violence in marginal urban neighbourhoods throughout the region are evidence of the easy availability of weapons.
At the national level, governments attempt to regulate the sale and possession of arms, however increased globalization of arms production and marketing requires a coordinated set of legally-binding regulations at the international level.
“How can the sale of bananas be more tightly controlled than the sale of machine guns?” Anna MacDonald, Oxfam UK[i]
In 2012, during a month-long conference in New York, UN member states will complete negotiations of a global Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). This will be the culmination of 15 years of civil society advocacy and government negotiations for binding common standards to prevent irresponsible transfers of conventional arms.
Mennonite Central Committee has joined a world-wide campaign of civil society and faith-based organizations calling on the United Nations member states to ratify a strong and effective Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). The Interfaith Declaration that MCC is supporting includes Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, and Islamic leaders and faith-based organizations from around the world.[ii]
An Arms Trade Treaty would require States to:
- adopt and implement national mechanisms that expressly authorize international transfers of arms;
- prohibit the transfer of arms that would be used to violate internationally established standards of human rights, international humanitarian law and non-aggression;
- not authorize transfers of weapons that would adversely affect sustainable development, regional peace and security or be used in the commission of violent crimes.[iii]
Add your voice for arms control – Every signature counts.
Individual signatures are also being collected. To add your support to this petition, follow this link: http://www.controlarms.org/home
[…] the entire blog entry on the MCC Latin America Advocacy Blog. To add your support to a petition in favor of the treaty, follow this link: […]
It is really a wonderful or it may be also a question to the other way round,that Anna put forward for sure governments manages to control about food for people to live healthly but fail to control the use of arms that takes life,but I think of another thing about drugs I think these things works hand in hand as we hear about killings other people are been killied for no reason really innocent blood,so I think it would be proper if they include this point of drugs on how countries can control the use of drugs in this arms treaty but we also have a role to play thus to pray for the people that they shall take part in these discussions that God give the answers through these discusions
Thanks for your comment, Yohane. I agree with you – the illegal drug trade is major reason behind the current violence in Latin America, and as you say, more work is needed internationally to control drug trafficking and the violence related to it. Maybe this Arms Trade Treaty is the first step – it just deals with weapons – and maybe the next step is an international agreement on how to handle the devastation of the illegal drug trade. Thank also for the reminder of the importance of prayer for the international leaders making these decisions.
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