The Costa Rica News (TCRN) – Former President of Costa Rica and 1987 Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Oscar Arias, and Kerry Kennedy, have sent letters to various world governments to urge the ratification of the Treaty on Arms Trade that was adopted at the UN this year.
“The movement for the international control of weapons is a global effort to support the fundamental right of all human beings to live free from gun violence,” stated the letter from both entities.
The letter adds that “for the 17 years of work invested in the writing and defense of the Treaty on Arms Trade, many of us have learned that it is only through teamwork that the Treaty shall enter into force for the protection of citizens the world.”
As indicated by the Arias Foundation for Peace in a press release, the initiative has been signed by 114 states, but only eight of them have ratified it, which is still far from the 50 ratifications needed for its entry into force.
The Foundation added that worldwide 526,000 people die each year as a result of the use of firearms and 75% of these deaths occur outside the context of armed conflict.
The RFK Center said in the newsletter that is necessary to ensure that the global arms trade “is done in a responsible way to help those who are now threatened by violence.”
“Nations must protect the millions of people who are suffering due to the misuse of weapons, including women and children targeted by those who seek to cause horrific harm,” he said. (EFE)
The Costa Rica News (TCRN)
San Jose Costa Rica
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