Tougher controls of small arms urged

HUNDREDS of thousands of lives could be saved each year by combating the illegal trade in small arms and the Government has a role in bringing that about.

That was the message from Amnesty International and Oxfam Ireland yesterday as the two organisations highlighted a major UN conference on the problem of the global trade in small arms and light weapons.

As part of the global Control Arms campaign, representatives from Amnesty and Oxfam displayed a 20-metre banner containing hundreds of photographs of faces outside the Department of Foreign Affairs on St Stephen’s Green yesterday morning.

They used the occasion to call on the Government to use its role at the conference to press for firm commitments towards a legally-binding international arms trade treaty which would save countless lives each year.

Over 10,000 photos from Ireland, which have been included in the Our Million Faces petition, were presented to Junior Foreign Affairs Minister Noel Treacy.

The full petition will be handed over to UN secretary general Kofi Annan at the start of the two-week conference which begins in New York next Monday.

It will be the first time in five years that world leaders have come together to review progress made on implementing the UN Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons.

An Amnesty spokesperson said: “Lack of controls on the arms trade is fuelling conflict, poverty and human rights abuses worldwide. Every government is responsible.

“The Control Arms campaign is asking governments to toughen up controls on the arms trade.”