Posted on 07/03/2006 5:33:17 PM PDT by ncountylee
WASHINGTON, July 3 (UPI) -- New Zealand is sending a delegation to New York this week to "strongly support" an arms trade treaty under discussion at the United Nations.
Newire.co.nz reported on June 27 that Phil Alpers was leading the New Zealand contingent -- which will assist in presenting the "Million Faces" petition to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan -- to the discussions, which opened Monday. Alpers helped found the 700-member International Action Network for Small Arms.
The petition includes one million photos of people around the world calling for a halt to small arms proliferation, including 12,000 New Zealanders.
Alpers said that proliferation meant that worldwide there was enough ammunition to kill every person twice. More than 1,000 people were killed daily by weapons from the global stockpile of 640 million small arms, he said.
While Alpers has the support of Disarmament Minister Phil Goff to lobby for an international arms treaty at the conference, the New Zealand government has yet to sign or ratify the existing U.N. Firearms Protocol. Other countries that have declined to sign or ratify the agreement include the United States, Afghanistan, Colombia, Egypt, France, Iraq and Zimbabwe. A total of 112 U.N. members have yet to sign or ratify the protocol.
A total of 49 countries, including Belgium, Cambodia, Croatia, Mexico and South Africa have signed and ratified the protocol, which requires signatory countries to regulate the manufacture, export, import and sale of small arms.
The U.S. National Rifle Association lobby group has denounced the conference, listing Alpers on its Web site it as one of the "conspirators" in its "Who's Who of the power brokers behind the U.N. Global Gun Ban Treaty."
The former television presenter, now Sydney University adjunct associate professor in Public Health, said several reports would be released over the course of the week in New York.
They included a summary of the worldwide impact of the AK47, a case study of women affected by gun violence, and a review of progress by U.N. member states since the last conference in 2001.
We need a ban on the trade and smuggling of Korans and Arabs
"UPI Intelligence Watch"
LoL. That's a good one.
ROTFLMAO
Wierd humor, but there's a message in there somewhere. :>
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