The UN approval for a global treaty against arms sales to war zones is a welcome first step in curbing the illegal industry, which results in over 1000 deaths every day worldwide.
The UN Security Council voted last week in an overwhelming 139-1 majority to back the plans, with only the US voting against the resolution. There were 24 abstentions, among them the biggest arms suppliers Russia, China, Pakistan and India.
Some observers see the UN-brokered resolution as a milestone in breaking the cycle of war. In countries like Sudan, Algeria and Chad, imported weapons have been used to commit large-scale atrocities, fuel conflicts and derail economic development.
"This massive vote to develop a global small-arms treaty is an historic opportunity for governments to tackle the scourge of irresponsible and immoral arms transfers," Kate Gilmore, of Amnesty International, said in a statement reported by the Globe and Mail.
Furthermore, reports from weapons sale watchdog Arms Without Borders have revealed that the majority of the weapon supplies originate in developed Western countries.
The research group Saferworld found that in the past year, the United Kingdom provided weapons to 19 of 20 nations that had been singled out by its own government as "major countries of concern" for human rights abuses.
The Control Arms campaign has found Russian, Greek, Chinese and US-origin bullets in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which is engaged in one of Africa's deadliest civil wars.
"Rebel groups in the Eastern DRC have an appalling track record of rape, torture and killing of civilians, as well as a history of using children as soldiers. That bullets from so many countries have fuelled these abuses is yet another indication that an Arms Trade Treaty must become a reality," said Irene Khan, Secretary General of Amnesty International, in a Control Arms press release.
A recent report by Arms Without Borders has also revealed disturbing links between armed violence and major corporations like Mercedes-Benz, Land Rover and Boeing.
For example, in Algeria the commonly used Fahd armoured personnel carriers are essentially Mercedes trucks with an armoured body. Although now manufactured in Egypt, many parts continue to flow from Europe.
A further instance of unethical arms trade concerns the UK's giant four-wheel-drive manufacturer Land Rover. In May 2005 hundreds of men, women and children were shot from armoured vehicles in Uzbekistan's city of Andijan during an anti-Government demonstration. Two months later, the UK Government confirmed that the trucks originated from Turkey, but 70 per cent of the components are shipped from the UK.
At the same time, several corporations have assisted China in manufacturing the Z10 helicopter, including the UK, Italian, Canadian and US companies. China has previously exported at least 50 attack helicopters to Sudan. Although it is not known if those particular machines were used to kill civilians, there have been numerous reports of attack helicopters being utilised in mass killings.
Between one-third and three-quarters of all grave human rights violations and 85 per cent of killings reported by Amnesty International over the past decade have involved the use of small arms and light weapons.
The US Congressional Research Service estimated that collectively, countries in Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and Africa spent $US22.5bn ($A29.3 bn) on arms during 2004; eight per cent more than they did in 2003. This sum would have enabled those countries to put every child in school and reduce child mortality by two-thirds by 2015, fulfilling two of the Millennium Development Goals.
According to Control Arms, by 2020, the number of deaths and injuries from war and violence will overtake the number of deaths caused by killer diseases such as malaria and measles.
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