AI and Oxfam want small arms to be banned

[October 10, 2003 - 10.30 GMT]

Amnesty International and Oxfam joined forces yesterday in a major campaign to get the world’s first arms trade treaty in place by 2006.

The two world’s best-known NGOs said they want to stop small arms and light weapons from being exported to places where they are likely to be used to commit grave violations of human rights and humanitarian law.

In a report titled “Shattered Lives: The Case fro Tough International Arms Control,” they said they wanted to see a treaty to ban such exports by 2006- the year that the UN is next due to discuss light arms.

It is estimated that around 500,000 people die each year from ‘armed violence’ worldwide.

The campaign against small arms-defined as anything from a pistol to an assault rifle-was being extended to 65 countries by the International Action Network on Small Arms.

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Last Updated Date: October 10, 2003  -10.30 GMT.