EU Condemns Trump’s Withdrawal From UN Arms Trade Treaty – TheNigerialawyer

The European Union warned Saturday that US President Donald
Trump’s rejection of a UN treaty designed to regulate the global
arms trade would hamper the global fight against illicit weapons
trafficking.

“A decision by the US to revoke its signature would not
contribute to the ongoing efforts to encourage transparency in the
international arms trade, to prevent illicit trafficking and to
combat the diversion of conventional arms,” said the EU’s chief
diplomat, Federica Mogherini.

“The EU will continue to call on all states, and in particular
the major arms exporters and importers, to join the Arms Trade
Treaty without delay,” she said.

Trump said Friday the United States would not abide by the 2013
treaty aimed at regulating the global arms trade, calling it
“misguided” and encroachment on US sovereignty.

The US Senate never ratified the treaty after former president
Barack Obama endorsed it. Trump said he was revoking his
predecessor’s signature.

Mogherini said the EU viewed the pact — which seeks to regulate
the flow of weapons to conflict zones — as key to “contributing to
international efforts to ensure peace, security and stability.

“All 28 Member States have joined the ATT and are determined in
pursuing its objectives and its universal ratification and
implementation,” Mogherini said.

The treaty, which entered into effect in December 2014, requires
member countries to keep records of international transfers of
weapons and to prohibit cross-border shipments that could be used
in human rights violations or attacks on civilians.

While 130 countries originally signed the treaty, only 101 have
ratified it. Those include major powers like France, Germany and
the United Kingdom.

The world’s largest arms traders, the United States, China and
Russia, have not joined.

“The unregulated arms trade continues to cause major suffering
in many parts of the world, fuelling conflicts, terrorism and
organised crime,” Mogherini said.

“Small arms and light weapons kill around 500,000 people every
year, in addition to the victims of other conventional
weapons.”

Trump has already withdrawn the United States from the Paris
Agreement on curbing Earth-warming carbon emissions, signed by most
of the world’s nations.

He has also taken the country out of a multilateral nuclear deal
on Iran, as well as a Cold War-era arms treaty with Russia.

The EU has hit out at each of these moves, which have soured
transatlantic ties and relations between Washington and its
European allies in NATO.

AFP

Subscribe ToNairalaw News!