Campaign events in 2003

The Control Arms campaign was launched on 9 October 2003 in almost 70 countries. The first campaign report, Shattered Lives: The Case for Tough International Arms Controls, showed that the global arms trade is dangerously unregulated, and allows weapons to reach repressive governments, human rights abusers and criminals. 

Thousands of candles were lit on a street in Sao Paulo, Brazil. In France, international footballer Claude Makelele was interviewed in support of the campaign. There was media coverage of the campaign in Portugal, New Zealand, Fiji, Venezuela, Switzerland, Tanzania, Sweden, Macedonia, India and Croatia. Actress Helen Mirren appealed to newspaper readers in Australia and Canada to join her in the Million Faces Petition. Radio listeners in Togo, Belgium and Malawi heard, probably for the first time, about the Arms Trade Treaty. Politicians in Austria, Finland, Germany and Netherlands joined in with local campaign activities, occasionally put on the spot to defend their Government's arms trading position.

In Sierra Leone and Uganda, where children as young as ten were forced to fight in civil wars, 9 October was a day to remember hundreds of lives that have been lost. Young people in the Philippines performed stories of their struggles against violence through dance. In Mali, doves were released over a crowd of 2000 supporters, and in the UK central London was transformed into a graveyard. Trade unions, churches and campaign groups in Sri Lanka, Denmark, Ireland, Poland and USA walked the streets or joined the Million Faces Petition in a demonstration for change. And in Costa Rica, the birthplace of the Arms Trade Treaty and a country without armed forces, the Museum for Peace was unveiled. You can see photos of the launch events here

Just two months later, International Human Rights Day saw seven governments - Brazil, Cambodia, Mali, Macedonia, Costa Rica, Finland and the Netherlands – announce their support for the Arms Trade Treaty.