No excuse
Ratification delay must not limit Brazil’s participation in discussions on the arms treaty
The delay in the ratification process of the ATT (Arms Trade Treaty) must not stop Brazil from engaging positively in the Second Conference of States Parties to the treaty, which is taking place between August 22 and 26 in Geneva, Switzerland.
Despite participating in the conference as an observer, ineligible to vote, Brazil can (and should) engage in the debates on the transparency of the reports, on the universalization and effective implementation of the treaty and, finally, on the immediate cessation of arms transfers to countries where there are reasonable concerns of human rights violations.
These recommendations were made by the Coalition for the Responsible Export of Arms, of which Conectas is part, in a petition sent to Marcelo Paz Saraiva Câmara, of the Disarmament and Sensitive Technologies Division of the Ministry of Foreign Relations, and to Neil Giovanni Paiva Benevides, Brazilian representative at the Disarmament Conference in Geneva.
According to the group of organizations, as a signatory, Brazil “is required to respect the provisions of the ATT, behaving in a way that does not obstruct its objective and purpose, even before the conclusion of the ratification process”.
Brazil was one of the first countries to sign the treaty, in June 2013, but it has still not completed the ratification process, which is currently pending in two committees in the Lower House of Congress. The ATT is the first global agreement to regulate international transfers of conventional arms and munitions (a category that includes everything from pistols to tanks).
Click here to read the petition in full.
