Holy See calls for transparency, regulation in arms trade

(February 17, 2012) According to the Holy See, unregulated arms trade creates violence and poverty. Hence “the international community requires a strong, effective and credible legal instrument that is capable of regulating and improving transparency in the trade of conventional arms and munitions, including the trading and licensing of technologies for their production.” This was voiced on Monday by the Holy See’s Permanent Observer to the United Nations in New York, Archbishop Francis Chullikatt, during a preparatory meeting ahead of the UN Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) scheduled for July. The Indian archbishop noted that “an unregulated and non-transparent arms trade due to the absence on the international level of effective monitoring systems causes a series of humanitarian consequences: integral human development is retarded, the risk of instability and conflict is heightened, the process of peace is placed at risk and the spread of a culture of violence and criminality is facilitated.” “The quest for a world more respectful of the dignity of human person and the value of human life must be the founding principle of the ATT,” Archbishop Chullikatt stressed. The criteria for application of the Treaty must maintain reference to human rights, humanitarian law and development, he said, adding these are the three areas where the impact of the illicit market in arms is particularly pernicious.