Desmond Tutu on the African arms trade

2006-09-16

Richard Moore

Original source URL:
http://comment.independent.co.uk/commentators/article1523112.ece

Desmond Tutu: The modern successor to the slave trade

No longer should the peace business be undermined by the arms business

Published: 13 September 2006

For many years, I've been involved in the peace business, doing what I can to 
help people overcome their differences. In doing so, I've also learnt a lot 
about the business of war: the arms trade. In my opinion it is the modern slave 
trade. It is an industry out of control: every day more than 1,000 people are 
killed by conventional weapons. The vast majority of those people are innocent 
men, women and children.

There have been international treaties to control the spread of nuclear, 
chemical and biological weapons for decades. Yet, despite the mounting death 
toll, there is still no treaty governing sales of all conventional weapons from 
handguns to attack helicopters. As a result, weapons fall into the wrong hands 
all too easily, fuelling human rights abuses, prolonging wars and digging 
countries deeper into poverty.

This is allowed to continue because of the complicity of governments, especially
rich countries' governments, which turn a blind eye to the appalling human 
suffering associated with the proliferation of weapons.

Every year, small arms alone kill more people than the atomic bombs dropped on 
Hiroshima and Nagasaki put together. Many more people are injured, terrorised or
driven from their homes by armed violence. Even as you read this, one of these 
human tragedies is unfolding somewhere on the planet.

Take the Democratic Republic of Congo, where armed violence recently flared up 
again, and millions have died during almost a decade of conflict. Despite a UN 
arms embargo against armed groups in the country, weapons have continued to 
flood in from all over the world.

Arms found during weapons collections include those made in Germany, France, 
Israel, USA and Russia. The only common denominator is that nearly all these 
weapons were manufactured outside Africa. Five rich countries manufacture the 
vast majority of the world's weapons. In 2005, Russia, the United States, 
France, Germany and the UK accounted for an estimated 82 per cent of the global 
arms market. And it's big business: the amount rich countries spend on fighting 
HIV/Aids every year represents just 18 days' global spending on arms.

But while the profits flow back to the developed world, the effects of the arms 
trade are predominantly felt in developing countries. More than two-thirds of 
the value of all arms are sold to Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin 
America.

In addition to the deaths, injuries and rapes perpetrated with these weapons, 
the cost of conflict goes deeper still, destroying health and education systems.

For example, in northern Uganda, which has been devastated by 20 years of armed 
conflict, it has been estimated that 250,000 children do not attend school. The 
war in northern Uganda, which may be finally coming to an end, has been fuelled 
by supplies of foreign-made weapons. And, as with so many wars, the heaviest 
toll has been on the region's children. Children under five are always the most 
vulnerable to disease, and in a war zone adequate medical care is often not 
available.

The world could eradicate poverty in a few generations were only a fraction of 
the expenditure on the war business to be spent on peace. An average of $22bn is
spent on arms by countries in Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and Africa 
every year, according to estimates for the US Congress. This sum would have 
enabled those countries to put every child in school and to reduce child 
mortality by two-thirds by 2015, fulfilling two of the Millennium Development 
Goals.

This year, the world has the chance to finally say no to the continuing scandal 
of the unregulated weapons trade. In October, governments will vote on a 
resolution at the UN General Assembly to start working towards an Arms Trade 
Treaty. That Treaty would be based on a simple principle: no weapons for 
violations of international law. In other words, a ban on selling weapons if 
there is a clear risk they will be used to abuse human rights or fuel conflict. 
The UN resolution has been put forward by the governments of Australia, 
Argentina, Costa Rica, Finland, Japan, Kenya, and the UK. These governments 
believe the idea of an Arms Trade Treaty is one whose time has come.

I agree. We must end impunity for governments who authorise the supply of 
weapons when they know there's a great danger those weapons will be used for 
gross human rights abuses. Great strides are being made towards ending impunity 
for war criminals. It cannot be acceptable that their arms suppliers continue to
escape punishment. No longer should the peace business be undermined by the arms
business. I call on all governments to put the control of the international arms
trade at the top of their agenda.

www.controlarms.org
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