Arms Trade Treaty should Ban Arm Supplies to “terrorists” and “non-state groups”- Al-Jaafari

 NEWYORK ,(ST)_ Syria ‘s Permanent Representative to the UN Bashar al-Jaafari said  that Syria is  among the  UN  Member States, which   always seeks  legalizing arms trade, because  of the risks imposed by  illegal trade of weapons on international peace and security.

During the closing session of the UN Conference on arms trade Treaty , which was held in New York on March  18 to 28 , al-Jaafari noted the efforts made to bring differences and contradictions together  between the delegations to reach an  Arms Trade Treaty draft text  that gets everyone   consensus .

Al-Jaafari continued  that as the Syrian delegation spared no efforts  to bring views together , it finds itself  compelled to register objection to the text of the debated  treaty for the following reasons:

First , the treaty ignored the proposal made by several countries including Syria  to the inclusion of a reference in the text to peoples inalienable  right under foreign occupation to self-determination ..” As you know, Israel still occupies Arab territories in the Syrian Golan, Palestine and Lebanon.”

Second ,  selectivity in arms control measures and transparency do not represent a balanced and comprehensive input , a matter which will  hinder achieving the international community’s commitment to disarmament in an  impartial manner.

Third , In its current form the treaty constitutes  , an interference in the authorities  of the UN Security Council.

IV / The treaty is not consensual in its current form as it did not take into account the attitudes and opinions of many countries, including the delegation of Syria.

V / The text does not include an  explicit clause referring to the categorical prohibition of supplying weapons to “terrorists” and “non-state groups.”  The omission of this serious issue which my country suffers from  as  some countries are  supplying terrorist groups with weapons can not be acceptable to Syria, particularly in light o several  Member States  violations of the provisions of the UN Charter and the principles of international law on the  involvement of Arab , regional and western  authorities in smuggling illegal weapons to Syria in order to undermine any hope of a peaceful political solution to the crisis in Syria, according to UN Security Council resolutions 2042 and 2043.

VI / The treaty omitted the introduction of a special section on definitions to address some ambiguities about the concepts and terms stated in the text of the treaty.

VII / The treaty ignored a very important subject, which is  the  internationally compatible and identified  crime through  a resolution  at the UN General Assembly No. 3314 of 1974.

Al- Jaafari expressed the true desire of the Syrian  delegation follow-up  serious negotiations on an Arms Trade Treaty  that ensures balance, equality and justice among nations and strives to maintain international peace and security, rather than undermining in a  way or another the security and peace of many member states and ignore their fundamental  national interests .

T. Fateh