For 75 years, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights has anchored global efforts to achieve and preserve the unalienable rights to “life, liberty, and security of person,” shepherding decades of important progress for mankind. But this moment of commemoration comes at a worrisome time, where proliferating armed conflict and violent crises are driving unimaginable suffering and creating new threats to human rights across the globe. In many contexts, unconstrained or poorly regulated arms markets are contributing to grave abuses of human rights, underscoring the inextricable link between a responsible and transparent arms trade and the aims of the Declaration.
Whether the vast flow of American small arms into Latin America that underwrite both state and criminal violence, the provision of defense equipment to predatory and abusive governments, or the lack of sufficient risk mitigation measures for weapons transfers to parties engaged in armed conflict, the arms trade plays a direct role in shaping human rights environments globally. As the world’s largest weapons exporter, the United States has an especially important responsibility to ensure the highest standards of oversight, regulation, and transparency for its defense trade. And while there have been important improvements in policy and practice over the past several years, all too often U.S. weapons continue to be used in ways that violate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, its spirit, and its purpose.
Accordingly, as we commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Declaration, the United States should take the opportunity to adopt new measures and operationalize existing commitments to improve the human rights standards of its arms transfers. These efforts should include:
Applying a clear process for implementing human rights criteria in the February 2023 Conventional Arms Transfer Policy, which prioritizes human rights and operationalizes a policy of restraint. The policy says the United States will consider humanitarian and human rights concerns as part of a case-by-case decision process for arms transfers, but how that process is undertaken is not yet fully clear.
Improving the transparency of U.S. security cooperation and assistance efforts, including public reporting on direct commercial arms sales notifications; disaggregated public reporting on military assistance efforts, especially for Department of Defense Authorities; and improved public disclosure of firearms sales licensed through the Department of Commerce.
Strengthening implementation of the Child Soldiers Prevention Act. The law aims to end the recruitment and use of child soldiers worldwide by restricting U.S. arms sales and military assistance to complicit governments, but it has been repeatedly undercut by presidents that have tended to waive most of its prohibitions on national security grounds. The United States can, and should, significantly enhance its child soldier prevention efforts by reigning in the use of CSPA waivers and leveraging the law’s full potential.
Recommitting to the to the Arms Trade Treaty, the first legally binding global treaty to regulate the international trade in conventional arms. This should include a fulfillment of Biden administration’s campaign pledge to reaffirm the United States’s signature of the treaty and to follow the object and purpose of the instrument.
The 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is an important reminder of the important progress that has been made as well as the essential work that is yet to be done. Given the outsized role arms and the defense trade play in shaping human rights environments around the world, the United States, and others, should use the opportunity to ensure its approach to the arms trade does not undermine its obligations under this foundational human rights instrument.
Commemorating 75 Years of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by Committing to a More Responsible Arms Trade
By Elias Yousif • Ryan Fletcher • Rachel Stohl
Conventional Arms
For 75 years, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights has anchored global efforts to achieve and preserve the unalienable rights to “life, liberty, and security of person,” shepherding decades of important progress for mankind. But this moment of commemoration comes at a worrisome time, where proliferating armed conflict and violent crises are driving unimaginable suffering and creating new threats to human rights across the globe. In many contexts, unconstrained or poorly regulated arms markets are contributing to grave abuses of human rights, underscoring the inextricable link between a responsible and transparent arms trade and the aims of the Declaration.
Whether the vast flow of American small arms into Latin America that underwrite both state and criminal violence, the provision of defense equipment to predatory and abusive governments, or the lack of sufficient risk mitigation measures for weapons transfers to parties engaged in armed conflict, the arms trade plays a direct role in shaping human rights environments globally. As the world’s largest weapons exporter, the United States has an especially important responsibility to ensure the highest standards of oversight, regulation, and transparency for its defense trade. And while there have been important improvements in policy and practice over the past several years, all too often U.S. weapons continue to be used in ways that violate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, its spirit, and its purpose.
Accordingly, as we commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Declaration, the United States should take the opportunity to adopt new measures and operationalize existing commitments to improve the human rights standards of its arms transfers. These efforts should include:
The 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is an important reminder of the important progress that has been made as well as the essential work that is yet to be done. Given the outsized role arms and the defense trade play in shaping human rights environments around the world, the United States, and others, should use the opportunity to ensure its approach to the arms trade does not undermine its obligations under this foundational human rights instrument.
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