The Arms Trade & War

The Arms Trade Treaty was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 2 April 2013 and entered into force on 24 December 2014 - https://thearmstradetreaty.org/treaty-text.html?templateId=209884  One of the principles is "The responsibility of all States, in accordance with their respective international obligations, to effectively regulate the international trade in conventional arms"

To my simple mind, selling arms to counties who either invade other countries illegally, or to countries run by despots & dictators, who wantonly wage war on their own people, is immoral & should not be allowed to happen. Selling arms to intermediaries who then pass on arms to those countries & people should also be stopped. What is the point of a principle if it is not enforced?

To be clear, the countries in the arms trade should be supplying Ukraine with the arms it desperately needs, in a timely way, in order to defeat an aggressor, Russia, who invaded the country with no reason other than enlargement. If Russia wins it will directly negatively impact Europe, because Russia will not stop at Ukraine. Conversely, countries in the arms trade should not be supplying arms to Israel because of the illegal way they are behaving in Gaza. The ready availability of weapons and ammunition leads to human suffering, political repression, crime and terror among civilian populations.

 Joint Enterprise is secondary liability, a legal doctrine that applies where persons assist or encourage another to commit a crime. I fail to see why the worlds arms traders are not committing joint enterprise by supplying arms to countries breaking international law or committing civil war, as Syria has been since March 2011, when popular discontent with the rule of Bashar al-Assad triggered large-scale protests and pro-democracy rallies across Syria, as part of the wider Arab Spring protests in the region.

The global arms market, was valued USD 308 billion in 2015. In 2022, the UK Government issued 13,200 SIELs, ( SIEL to make shipments of specified military or dual-use items to a named consignee and/or end user) of which 11,100 (84%) were for permanent exports. The total value of UK SIELs issued was £70.6 billion in real terms (at 2023 prices). Since 2015, the UK has licensed at least £474 million worth of military exports to Israel. The UK provides approximately 15% of the components in the F-35 stealth bomber aircraft currently being used in Gaza. In May 2023 the UK still deemed it acceptable to sell weapons and arms to the Government of Russia - despite Human Rights abuses.

If we do not control the arms trade effectively we are complicit in the death, maiming & destruction of human lives & infrastructure. If we put profit & jobs above the devastation caused by war we are condeming other people to unimaginable horror.