The Sierra Leone Action Network on Small Arms (SLANSA) and the West African Network on Small Arms, have proposed that they call on their governments to prohibit international arms transfers if they are likely to be used to facilitate serious violations of human or international humanitarian law.
This stance was suggested to SLANSA during their recent workshop on small arms held in Freetown last week to get their governments to make these submissions to the UN Secretary General.
The suggestions were that states have an obligation to not participate in the internationally wrongful acts of another state, and that states have binding commitments to several human rights treaties and under international humanitarian law.
WANSA also urged that all conventional weapons must be included in the proposed Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) and that the international arms transfers be prohibited if they violate a UN arms embargo (directly or by diversion) and other obligations under the UN Charter.
WANSA also suggested that transparency must be central to an ATT, requiring states to report on their transfers and that there must be a mechanism for monitoring the effectiveness of an ATT.
The WANSA suggestions also stated that sanctions, mechanisms must be appropriate to enforce the ATT effectively, explaining that the success or failure of the ATT will depend upon states promptly and impartially investigating alleged violations and imposing appropriate sanctions.
ADVERTISEMENT