Centre urged to support ATT

Hyderabad, Sep 19 (UNI) Amnesty International, Hyderabad, and the People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Andhra Pradesh, today jointly appealed to the Centre to support the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) in the UN to save people's lives and protect their livelihoods worldwide.

Addressing a press conference here, Amnesty International Coordinator Ch Narendar and PUCL General Secretary V Jaya Vindhyala deplored the attempts of some governments, including India, China, Russia and the US to block the process in the United Nations.

They said every year, more than three lakh people were being killed with conventional weapons, millions more were injured, abused,forcibly displaced and bereaved as a result of armed violence.

In many cases, the weapons used to commit these violations were sourced from the poorly regulated international arms market, they said.

They alleged that failure of over 80 per cent of the states to establish laws to control arms brokering and arms transportation makes this problem worse. They claimed that terrorism was increasing all over the world through illegal arms sale and transportation, and demanded control on arms sale, manufacturing and transportation.

Alleging that arms sale had become a threat to the peace in the world, they said governments should deliver an effective agreement on international arms transfer with a thrust on human rights.

This was strategically necessary for the international human rights movement to bring in an effective ATT, they added.

They said the Amnesty International India had successfully launched 'the Global Arms Trade Treaty Week of Action' in 25 states at 30 locations in India on September 13.

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