The conference is dedicated to provide and distribute information on why development will depend on disarmament, or a reallocation of the funds presently being misused for military purposes. It is dedicated to mobilizing informed public opinion and to inspire non-violent action that will be a major contribution to the growth of a culture of peace.
Disarmament for Peace, Human Security & Development in 21st Century India
A series of workshops, peace vigils, round table conference on a global arms trade
which is out of control
Organized by Control Arms Foundation of India, School of Law, Christ University& FEDINA,
Bangalore
Dates: 10 to 12 February, 2009
Venues: Indian Social Institute, Mahatma Gandhi Square& Christ University, Bangalore
To promote the establishment and maintenance of international peace and security with the least diversion for armaments of the world’s human and economic resources
-Article 26 of the UN Charter
The World and Arms:
In 2000, 8 years back, the majority of nations, at the United nations, voted at the beginning of this new century to halve poverty by the year 2015 as part of the “MDG’s”, the Millennium Development Goals. On the other hand, military spending has broken the trillion dollar mark.
India is the third largest military spender following China and the US, which spends three times as much.
Human security… that should be the goal of every government and of everyone. Decent housing, adequate health care, drinking water, jobs, education… it’s not nearly as expensive as maintaining nuclear weapons, designing new ones, or buying guns. Developing countries bought $1.45 billion worth of small arms, light weapons and ammunition in 2003 alone. There are 600 million small arms in circulation, the weapon of choice in 47 of the 49 major conflicts of the 1990’s. That’s how 500, 000 people died in any given year, from some shooting a gun.
Resource wars have nothing to do with poverty, they cause more poverty. Humiliation because of discrimination against certain religions or cultures which result in violent retribution is not caused by poverty. The men who flew the world trade centre towers or bombed the Madrid train were not poor. Peace will depend on more than the eradication of poverty or support for development. First, it will depend on eliminating all the nuclear weapons, improving conditions of life, training people for skilled jobs, providing education which develops critical thinking and teaches for and about and social and economic justice will go a long way to removing the resentment and anger so many feel by being pushed off the train.
When the UN was founded in 1945 the two principal tasks assigned to it were international security and the promotion of the development. Small wonder that much thought was given during the following decades – and much said and written by the diplomats and analyst- to the key linkage between the; a subject that came to be known as Disarmament and development. The main focus of the debate throughout the cold war was primarily on the colossal needs of the poor countries.
The Charter declared in the now neglected Article 26:
“in order to promote the establishment and maintenance of the international peace and security with the least diversion for armaments of the world’s human and economic resources, the security council shall be responsible for formulating, with the assistance of the military staff committee referred to in article 47, plan to be submitted to the members of the united nations for the establishment of a system for the regulation of armaments”.
Many ideas were put forward to reduce arms spending and to transfer the resources to the developing world. But little was actually transferred until the end of the cold war, when military budgets started dropping, and redundant weaponry was sold off. However proposals such as a UN Poverty Fund using ‘military money’ were never put in practice. Instead, the reduction in military spending led to lower interest rates and a long economic boom, led by the US. This proved to be the engine of the new wave of globalization which over the last 15 years has granted enormous benefits to a limited global elite, while millions still languish in desperate poverty. Meanwhile military spending has risen dramatically once again.
Gun violence kills more than 350,000 people a year, and severely injures more than a million. Yet the global trade that fuels the epidemic of armed violence is not subject to international regulation. If the death, injury and disability resulting from small arms were categorized as a disease, we would view it as an epidemic. The arms industry is unlike any other. It operates without regulation. There are more regulation in music and film industry than in arms.
The movement of small arms across the world is a huge threat to human security. Around 8 million new small arms are manufactured every year, but far more significant is the movement of second-hand guns from one user to another. They last - and remain lethal - for decades. At present, it is impossible to monitor or interrupt this deadly flow of weapons. This is because there are no agreed global standards for governments when authorizing exports or transfers.
Article 51 of the United Nations Charter recognizes that every state has a right to individual and collective self-defence. However, the UN Charter also requires all member states to ‘promote universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and freedoms’ in order to achieve ‘economic and social progress and development’ (Articles 1, 55 and 56) and ‘to promote the establishment and maintenance of international peace and security with the least diversion for armaments of the world’s human and economic resources’ (Article 26).
United Nations Resolution 61/89 for an Arms Trade Treaty
On 6 December 2006, work on an international Arms Trade Treaty began immediately following a historic vote in the UN General Assembly, which saw 153 governments supporting the proposed Arms Trade Treaty. The UN General Assembly vote comes just three years after the launch of the Control Arms campaign, which has seen over a million people in 170 countries calling for a Treaty.
Group of Governmental Experts for an Arms Trade Treaty
Pursuant to General Assembly Resolution 61/89, on 28 September 2007 the Secretary General appointed a Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) from the 28 countries.
The GGE have already met for two sessions in New York. The third and final meeting is scheduled from 28 July - 8 August 2008.
India’s Response to United Nations Arms Trade Treaty Process
India abstained from voting for an Arms Trade Treaty in October 2006 but it is one among the Group of Governmental Experts selected by UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon to work towards the feasibility, scope and parameters of an Arms Trade Treaty. In its submission to the United Nations Secretary General’s request for views, India wrote:
Although India’s security interests have also been affected by illicit and irresponsible transfers, Government of India is not convinced that it is the absence of common international standards on trade in conventional arms alone that results in irresponsible or illicit trade…Only by eliminating the illicit trade we can address the basic malaise. It is the lack of full and effective implementation of existing obligation of states and not the lack of common international standards for the import, export and transfer of conventional arms that is to be blamed for illicit transfers or diversion for licit transfers to illicit trade. In conclusion, India believes that it is premature to begin work on a comprehensive, legally binding instrument establishing common international standards for the import, export and transfer of conventional arms.
Sustainable Development & Arms Issue
Sustainable development is recognized as a combination of economic growth and social progress that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It can be influenced by international arms transfers in several ways. Armed violence costs states millions of dollars every day in medical expenses, absent workforces, destruction of infrastructure, care for disabled people, lost investment, and more. Communities abused by state actors with armed force are often unable to demand their rights, hold their governments to account, or ensure their sustainable development.
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) agreed in September 2000 by all 189 UN member states will not be achieved if resources are diverted from this vital task by inappropriate arms transfers. The countries of Africa, Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East hold 51 per cent of the world’s heavy weapons. In 2002, arms deliveries to Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and Africa constituted 66.7 per cent of the value of all arms deliveries worldwide, with a monetary value of nearly US$17bn;the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council accounted or 90 per cent of those deliveries. Meanwhile, across these regions:
- more than a billion people struggled to survive on less than a dollar a day;
- one child in five did not complete primary school;
- nearly 800 million people suffered from chronic hunger;
- half a million women died in pregnancy or childbirth.
Both arms importers and exporters must ensure that arms transfers do not undermine sustainable development – a combination of economic growth and social progress that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
However, it is shocking how few governments make a serious attempt to consider the impact on development of their arms transfers. Paying lip service to such a commitment means that scarce resources are being diverted from the fight against poverty, and millions are suffering as a result. To protect the social and economic rights of people, it is imperative that governments apply an effective and systematic methodology to assess whether proposed arms transfers will affect sustainable development.
Aero India, Bangalore, February 2009 & Role of Civil Society:
Nearly 600 armament companies from home and abroad are expected to take part in the 7th Edition of the Biennial International Aerospace Exposition, popularly known as Aero India – 2009 to be held at the Air Force Station Yelahanka in Bangalore from 11th to 15th February 2009. It is being organized by the Ministry of Defence, Government of India in association with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
The show aims at bringing under one roof, exhibitors from all around the globe to showcase the best in aviation. Aero India 2009 will showcase the latest international technologies in the field of Military and Civil aircrafts, vital components for aircraft engines, avionics systems & sub systems, airfield radars, etc in the defence & aerospace sector.
With the international companies eyeing on identifying Indian companies to fulfill their offset obligations and with the Indian companies looking for tie-ups and Joint Venture with the foreign companies to enhance their technological capability, almost all the major aerospace industry players are expected to be available during Aero India. Nearly, 330 companies from 50 countries abroad and 230 from India will set up their exhibits. In addition there will be 60 chalets. Nearly 100 different types of aircraft – both civil and military, will be on display.
With the Aero India 2009 being held in Bangalore, there is a need for creating awareness among the public. The needs that civil society can question and raise at such a crucial meeting. Such questions are those of issues which affect the common man. The devastating impact of armed violence around the world is well known. Conflict and armed violence close schools, paralyze societies, burden health-care services, discourage investment, and make lives less secure. Spending on arms or arms races can divert vital funds from public services such as education and healthcare, and when such spending takes place without transparency it can aggravate corruption. When people are dying of poverty, of not getting even a basic square meal, can security and arms provide that?
Disarmament for Peace and Development is the central theme of the meeting planned by Control Arms Foundation of India (CAFI), New Delhi, together with Foundation of Educational Innovation in Asia (FEDINA) and Christ College, Bangalore. It will be held parallel to the Aero India 2009.
Hence, this civil society workshop has come at a time when terrorism has put lives at stake and installed virtual fear of constant insecurity, though the irony is that the tax payer’s money is being invested more and more by the nation-states on securing its citizens. In a world awash with uncontrolled weapons of death and destruction it is time to find solutions. CAFI and Fedina has joined hands to make this civil society workshop successful which aims at bringing together policy makers, government officials, lawyers, military people, journalists etc and provide a platform to put all points of view across .
This conference is dedicated to provide and distribute information on why development will depend on disarmament, or a reallocation of the funds presently being misused for military purposes. It is dedicated to mobilizing informed public opinion and to inspire non-violent action that will be a major contribution to the growth of a culture of peace.
