The Viktor Bouts of the world provide the tools that fuel instability and decrease human security; it’s time we had a legal mechanism by which to address this problem.
The UN Security Council has formally recognized the threat posed by the late Gadhafi's unsecured arms depots and the resulting proliferation of weapons, particularly small arms and man-portable air-defense systems, or MANPADS.
Amnesty International won a remarkable victory last week when the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) agreed to end its dealings with companies known to produce cluster munitions.
The continued supply of weapons to repressive regimes is nothing new, but it does highlight the need for a globally binding Arms Trade Treaty that restricts transfers to human rights abusers.
If Italy did supply these arms to the Libyan rebels in late May, it would join France in the legal gray area between civilian protection and the arms embargo. An Arms Trade Treaty might help establish the legal bounds of these transfers.
While estimates vary of the number of guns that were knowingly – and illegally – trafficked to Mexico under the ATF's controversial Operation Fast and Furious program, what is almost certain is that these guns will turn up at future crime scenes.
In a three-day meeting organized by the UN, the European Union, and the Government of the Republic of Indonesia, representatives of nearly 30 East Asian and Pacific countries are gathering with regional and international organizations to discuss the Arms Trade Treaty. This has fueled some bizarre conspiracy mongering.
Evidence of the deepening entrenchment of Mexico's drug war surfaced last week in the form of El Monstruo 2011, a homemade tank-like vehicle belonging to Los Zetas, the former enforcement arm of - and now competitor to - the powerful Gulf Cartel.