Doubtful Impact: New UN Treaty Fails To Halt US Arms Trade

The new U.N. arms trade treaty will not limit U.S. weapons exports because a breach of the treaty has to be brought before the International Criminal Court. The U.S. is not a member of the court and has explicitly said it will not abide by its verdicts.

Therefore, it was a decision without any repercussions when, earlier this week, the U.S. voted for the new U.N. treaty, which will regulate the weapons trade to avert genocide and breaches of the human rights conventions.

Observers predict the U.S. Congress will not adopt the treaty and, therefore, it will not apply to the country, which is the biggest arms exporter in the world. Even though it would not affect weapons trade within the country’s borders, the powerful gun lobby is opposed to the treaty. Nonetheless, the lobby has a great deal of influence in Congress.

If Washington and an additional 50 countries adopt the treaty, it will go into effect and will, at least in principle, apply to the U.S.

If a breach of the treaty occurs, the case is to be brought before the International Criminal Court. However, the U.S. is not a member of the court and has explicitly said it will not accept its verdicts. The treaty was adopted after seven years of negotiations with a final push of 10 days of meetings in the General Assembly.

Ultimately, 154 countries voted for the resolution, three were against it, 23 abstained and 13 were absent. In Denmark, Foreign Minister Villy Søvndal welcomes the adoption of the treaty, as does the Red-Green Alliance’s member of parliament Christian Juhl and the Danish United Nations Association. Yet, both Juhl and Maj Rørdam Nielsen of UNA Denmark regret that, among other things, the treaty does not cover drones and high-tech weapons.

According to the U.N., the treaty regulates the tanks trade, in addition to other armed vehicles, artillery systems, fighter jets, attack helicopters, warships, missiles, missile launch pads and smaller weapons, including small arms and ammunition.

Nicaragua and Cuba were among the countries that abstained from voting, arguing that the treaty does not prohibit weapon sales to non-state actors. Between 1979 and 1989, counter-revolutionary rebels that the U.S. supplied with weapons fought against the Sandinista National Liberation Front government in Nicaragua.

Russia abstained from voting because the treaty that is supposed to prevent genocide does not specify exactly what genocide entails.