Rapid progress has been made in the year since the global Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) opened
for signature at the United Nations in New York, and a surge of further ratifications will soon activate the treaty this year, helping to save millions of lives and protect human rights, Amnesty International said as it marks the anniversary of the treaty signing on 3 June.
The historic treaty has now been signed by 118 states and will become legally binding international law shortly after 50 countries ratify. Thirty-two states have already done so and around 10 more ratifications are expected on 3 June.
The organization is also reminding states that they do not need to wait until the ATT’s entry into force to begin observing the treaty’s human rights provisions. Several countries – Antigua and Barbuda, Belgium, Costa Rica, Germany, Iceland, Mexico, Norway, Serbia, Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, and the UK – have already declared they will implement the treaty’s human rights provisions before it enters into force.
Once it enters into force, the ATT will prohibit states from transferring conventional weapons and munitions to countries when they know those arms would be used to commit or facilitate serious human rights abuses, including genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes. All states parties will have to carry out objective assessments to avoid an overriding risk that an arms export would be used for serious human rights violations.
http://www.amnesty.org./en/news/un-final-push-will-bring-landmark-arms-trade-treaty-force-2014-06-02
As I remember republicans has refused to consider much less ratify the ATT which the US voted in favor of at the UN. Russia, China and India abstained at the UN, while Syria and Iran voted against it. Someone should point out to the repubs that by blocking the ATT's ratification they are siding with Syria and Iran and, to some extent, Russia, China and India.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UN_Arms_Treaty#Content
