12 November
2004
Following the annual meeting of the Nobel Peace Laureates
in Rome, Italy, a group of Nobel Peace Laureates and
Laureate organizations will restate their support
for an International Arms Trade Treaty (ATT).
The ATT seeks to establish a binding international
agreement to control the arms trade according to established
principles of human rights, humanitarian law, sustainable
development and peaceful international relations.
It would ban the transfer of arms that could be used
to seriously violate international human rights standards
and international humanitarian law and would require
exporting states to avoid the sale of weapons that
could have an adverse impact on sustainable development
or regional peace and security.
In October of 1995, led by Dr. Oscar Arias, a group
of Nobel Peace Laureates pledged to promote an international
initiative to establish an agreement to control the
arms trade. Together, they drafted the Nobel Peace
Laureates International Code of Conduct on Arms Transfers,
which over time has developed into the Arms Trade
Treaty. To date, this initiative has been endorsed
by 20 individuals and organizations awarded the Nobel
Peace Prize.
In October 2003, Amnesty International, Oxfam, IANSA
and several organizations worldwide launched the Control
Arms campaign calling for the establishment of the
Arms Trade Treaty. Since October 2003, a number of
governments have pledged support for the treaty.
The press conference, which will be opened by the
Mayor of Rome, is being organized by The Arias Foundation
for Peace and Human Progress and the Italian ControllArmi
coalition in cooperation with the organizers of the
annual Peace Laureates meeting and the Italian branch
of the Gorbachev Foundation. The goals of the conference
are to increase support and activity for the Arms
Trade Treaty and to reaffirm the commitment of the
Nobel laureates and the key role they will have in
making this treaty a reality.
The group of Nobel Peace Laureates and Laureate organizations
includes:
American Friends Service Committee, Amnesty International, Oscar Arias, Norman Borlaug, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, John Hume, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, Mairead Maguire, Rigoberta Menchu, Adolfo Perez Esquivel, Jose Ramos-Horta, Joseph Rotblat, Aung San Suu Kyi, the Reverend Desmond Tutu, Lech Walesa, Elie Wiesel, Betty Williams, Jody Williams, Jimmy Carter, and Albert Schweitzer Institute.
For more information please contact:
Chris Stevenson (Arias Foundation)
00 + (506) 224-1919 ext.125 or
chris@arias.or.cr
Francesco Vignarca (ControllARMI)
At 00 + 39 328 3399267 or
segreteria@disarmo.org
Further information is available at:
www.armstradetreaty.com and www.disarmo.org
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