New York, 11 July 2012
Mr. President,
Ladies and gentlemen,
I am glad to be present among you in this historic conference, in the middle of the Arab spring that started from Tunisia in particular and moved to the entire Arab region in peaceful actions aspiring to freedom, dignity, and social justice. The joy of this spring is still missing because of the clanging sound of weapons and gun machines in Thala, Kasserine, Benghazi, El Houla, Homs, Talbisesa and Gaza, which resulted in the death of innocents, among them women and children, whose blood paved the path to freedom in this land extending from sea to sea, in order to overthrow regimes that have always ignored the will of people and their longing to life.
This would have never happened had there been strong national, regional and international mechanisms aimed at putting an end to the spread of arms and regulating their trade.
The fearful shouts of international civil society a decade ago were and still are the strongest alarm calling for global awareness about arms trade control and regulation worldwide. The lack of arms trade regulation is the main reason of “excessive violence, excessive killing and excessive assault on the most basic of living conditions.”
The availability of arms and their unregulated trade is unacceptable. Even if we want these arms to resist the occupation, to protect our homeland and to defend people’s right to self-determination, we don’t want these arms if they are used to commit substantial violations of human rights, or if they are used in organized crimes, in terrorist actions, in undermining development, in increasing poverty, in entrenching corruption practices, or glorifying any type of violence.
We came here carrying the people’s suffering and pain: the suffering of a mother who lost her son in Tunisia, the suffering of the wounded in Libya, the suffering of tens of thousands of displaced, detained and kidnapped people in Syria, where the evidence of crimes committed against humanity by the Syrian government increases daily. The presence of a robust and efficient Arms Trade Treaty would help stop the transfer of arms to different parties there and prevent such crimes.
Mr. President,
Human rights are exactly the right of people to self-determination and the right of states to sovereignty and independence. What Libya has undergone since the people took the decision to overthrow the regime peacefully would have never have happened had there not been arms available for killing and destruction. Similarly would have been prevented the bloody revolutions that occurred in Yemen and Bahrain, and occur today in Syria and Sudan. Not least would have been prevented the sufferings of the Palestinian people, an endless suffering with chapters still being written today. Where were the ethical and legal regulations through all of this? We do await this treaty. We are in urgent need of this treaty. Let there be an end to this trade; let there be an Arms Trade Treaty forming the binding legal frame. Reality says not to make the treaty bear what it cannot afford to, such as considering it the only framework for solving the problems that our region is going through, for this impossible; however, it says that arms’ trade regulation and chaos control could positively affect the endeavors aimed at putting an end to armed violence, as well as reinforcing and building peace in our countries and in the whole world.
Mr. President,
We acknowledge the importance of getting rid of nuclear weapons and making the Middle East free from nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction. Although we hope that this path reaches a satisfying end in the conference dedicated to it at the end of the current year, we strongly consider this conference a historic opportunity for regulating conventional arms trade.
There is no doubt of the legitimacy of state’s right to defend themselves and of people’s right to self-determination, or of the inadmissibility of the occupation of others’ lands. Neither can be questioned the recognition of the states’ right to national sovereignty, territorial integrity, and therefore their right to produce, export, import, and transfer conventional arms are all legitimate rights. But, this treaty is expected to regulate this trade and prevent to any political, commercial or economic exploitation practiced by any party whatsoever.
We heard heard, during the present conference, the interventions of the states that shed light on the procedural steps; we urgently call you today to address the subject of the treaty, in order to defend a legal document that would really protect the people of the region and the whole world.
This global treaty that we are awaiting shall cover police and security arms, which were used to repress peaceful protests resulting in numerous deaths and injuries in several countries, among them Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt, and which are still being used in Syria and Bahrain. The report Amnesty International issued last October noted that “the main countries exporting arms to the Middle East over recent years have included Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, United Kingdom and the United States of America.”
The civil society organizations in our region confirm, along with the Control Arms Coalition, the necessity of including the legal obligations of the states in the treaty, as well as their other responsibilities.
We hope that your esteemed delegations will positively and efficiently contribute to drafting a robust and efficient global treaty that would reflect the hopes and aspirations of our populations. This is what is needed is to be up to peoples’ aspirations after all the suffering they went through. They deserve to live in dignity, not in humiliation. They deserve freedom, not slavery. They deserve life, not death.
Let’s work together, hand in hand, complementing each other as international, regional, and civil society organizations and states for a free world and safe, happy peoples.
Thank you.
Mr. Hazem KSOURI President of Free Tunisia Association
