کئی مغربی ممالک کے مندوبین نے انسانی حقوق کی تنظیموں کے اس بل کے حوالے سے تحفظات کو، یہ توجیہہ پیش کرتے ہوئے، پس پشت ڈال دیا کہ اس مسودے میں اسلحے کی تجارت کے حوالے سے کافی پیش رفت ہوئی ہے تاہم اس میں مزید بہتری کی گنجائش ہے۔ یاد رہے کہ اوکسفام، ایمینسٹی انٹرنیشل اور گرجا گھروں کی بین الاقوامی کونسل جیسے انسانی حقوق کے علمبردار ادارے اس بل کے حوالے سے مسلسل  اپنے تحفظات کا اظہار کر رہے ہیں۔

اقوام متحدہ کے رکن ممالک نے اس مجوزہ مسودہ قانون کو حتمی شکل دینے کے لیے گزشتہ ہفتے گفت وشنید کا دوبارہ آغاز کیا تھا، تاکہ ایک مؤثر ضوابط بنا کر روائتی ہتھیاروں کی تجارت کے حوالے سے موجود ریگولیشن کے خلا کو پر کیا جاسکے۔ جمعے کے روزہ آسٹریلیا سے تعلق رکھنے والی ریگولیٹری ٹیم کے صدر پیٹر والکوٹ  نے ترمیم شدہ مسودہ رکن ممالک کے سفارت کاروں میں دوبارہ تقسیم کیا۔

ابتدائی مسودے میں ان ہتھیاروں کا بھی تذکرہ کیا گیا تھا جو اس معاہدے کے زمرے میں لائے گئے تھے، ان میں ٹینک، بکتر بند گاڑیاں، بھاری توپخانہ، جنگی طیارے، جنگی بحری جہاز، میزائل اور میزائیل لانچر شامل تھے۔ اب معاہدے کے نئے مسودے میں سے یہ ہتھیار اور آلات نکال دیے گئے ہیں۔ سرگرم گروپوں کے خیال میں ان ہتھیاروں کو نئے مجوزہ معاہدے کی دستاویز سے خارج کر کے ممکنہ ہتھیاروں کی فہرست کو بہت وسیع کر دیا گیا ہے۔

آکسفام سے تعلق رکھنے والی آنا میکڈونلڈ نے نئے مسودے کا ناکافی قرار دیتے ہوئے کہا،’یہ معاہدہ اس قابل نہیں کہ لوگوں کی زندگیوں کا تحفظ کر سکے ‘۔ چرچز کی بین الاقوامی تنظیم سے تعلق رکھنے والے جوناتھن فریرچز نے کہا کہ بغیر پائلٹ کے چلنے والے ڈرون طیارے اور ہینڈ گرینیڈ مہلک جان لیوا ہتھیار ہیں لیکن ان کا سرے سے تذکرہ ہی نہیں ہے۔

تخفیف اسلحہ کے قانون کے لیے سرگرم تنظیموں اور انسانی حقوق کے لیے کام کرنے والے اداروں کا کہنا ہے کہ دنیا میں ہر ایک منٹ میں ایک شخص مسلح تشدد کے نتیجے میں ہلاک ہو جاتا ہے۔  ایک ایسے قانون کی ضرورت ہے جس سے گولا بارود اور اسلحے کی ترسیل و تجارت کی کڑی نگرانی ہوسکے۔ ان اداروں کے مطابق شام، مالی، جمہوریہ کانگو، آئیوری کوسٹ سمیت دنیا کی کسی بھی ایسی حکومت کو ہتھیار نہیں دیے جانے چاہیں جو ان کو عوام پر مظالم کے لیے استعمال کرتی ہوں۔

(zb/ah(Reuters

 * Scope of arms covered by draft treaty has narrowed

    * NRA welcomes U.S. Senate call to repudiate arms treaty

    * U.N. arms treaty drafting conference ends on Thursday

    By Louis Charbonneau

    UNITED NATIONS, March 25 (Reuters) - Human rights groups on

Monday sharply criticized the latest draft of what could become

the first international treaty to regulate the $70 billion

global conventional arms trade, accusing the United States and

others of pushing to dilute it.

    Several Western delegations, however, played down the

complaints of groups like Oxfam, Amnesty International, the

World Council of Churches and Control Arms, saying the latest

draft showed progress, though improvements were clearly needed.

    United Nations member states began meeting last week in a

final push to hammer out a binding international treaty to end

the lack of regulation over conventional arms sales.

 On Friday, Peter Wolcott of Australia, president

of the drafting conference, distributed a revised draft treaty.

    One of changes was in the list of arms the treaty covers.

    The previous draft treaty said that the following weapon

types would be covered by the pact "at a minimum" - tanks,

armored combat vehicles, large-caliber artillery systems, combat

aircraft, attack helicopters, warships, missiles and missile

launchers and small arms and light arms.

    But in the new draft, the words "at a minimum" have been

removed, which rights groups said has dramatically narrowed the

scope of the weapons to be covered by the treaty.

    "This treaty is not good enough," said Anna Macdonald of

Oxfam. "This is not the treaty that is going to save lives and

protect people."

    Jonathan Frerichs of the World Council of Churches told

reporters predator drones and hand grenades are examples of

deadly arms that should be explicitly covered but are not.

    Arms control campaigners and human rights advocates say one

person dies every minute worldwide as a result of armed

violence, and that a treaty is needed to halt the uncontrolled

flow of weapons and ammunition that they argue helps fuel wars,

atrocities and rights abuses.

    They say conflicts in Syria, Mali, Democratic Republic of

the Congo, Ivory Coast and elsewhere highlight the need to keep

arms from going to governments that use them for atrocities.

    NRA APPLAUDS SENATE MEASURE

    Several Western diplomats said that the rights groups were

ignoring improvements and exaggerating shortcomings of the new

draft, noting a new draft comes out on Wednesday ahead of the

final day of negotiations on Thursday.

    If the pact does not get the required unanimous approval of

member states, it would go to a vote in the 193-nation General

Assembly, where diplomats say it is very likely to pass.

    The point of an arms trade treaty is to set standards for

all cross-border transfers of conventional weapons. It would

also create binding requirements for states to review all

cross-border arms contracts to ensure arms will not be used in

human rights abuses, terrorism or violations of humanitarian

law.

    In addition to the narrowing of the scope of weapons

covered, rights groups and supporters of a tough treaty said

ammunition is not properly covered, and loopholes that exclude

defense cooperation agreements, loans and leases remain in the

draft.

    Oxfam's Macdonald suggested it was the United States, the

world's top arms producer, that had pushed for a narrowing of

the scope of the weapons covered in the treaty. The U.S. mission

did not have an immediate reaction, but several diplomats also

blamed it on the United States and other major arms exporting

nations.

    U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry voiced conditional

support for the treaty last week, saying Washington was

"steadfast in its commitment to achieve a strong and effective

Arms Trade Treaty that helps address the adverse effects of the

international arms trade on global peace and stability."

    But he did not promise U.S. support. He repeated that the

United States would not accept a treaty that imposed new limits

on U.S. citizens' right to bear arms, a sensitive political

issue in the United States.

    Over the weekend, the National Rifle Association, a powerful

U.S. pro-gun lobby, welcomed a measure adopted by the U.S.

Senate on Saturday that called on the United States not to join

the U.N. arms trade treaty. The NRA has vowed to fight hard to

prevent ratification of the treaty if it reaches Washington.

    The measure, which was put forward by Senator James Inhofe,

an Oklahoma Republican, passed on a 53-46 vote. Several U.N.

diplomats in New York said this was a sign of the difficulties

the United States would have securing Senate approval of a pact.

    "Thanks to the efforts of Senator Inhofe, we are one step

closer to ensuring the U.N. will not trample on the freedoms our

Founding Fathers guaranteed to us," said Chris Cox, executive

director of NRA's Institute for Legislative Action.

    The American Bar Association, an attorneys' lobbying group,

last month disputed the NRA position on the treaty, saying in a

paper that "ratification of the treaty would not infringe upon

rights guaranteed by the Second Amendment."

    The main reason the arms trade talks are taking place at all

is that the United States - the world's biggest arms trader -

reversed U.S. policy on the issue after President Barack Obama

was first elected and decided in 2009 to support an arms treaty.

 (Reporting By Louis Charbonneau; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

  REUTERS

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