As
Arms
Trade Treaty
Goes
Half-Secret,
Syria on
Non-State
Actors
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
July 9 -- Amid
doubts
if the Arms
Trade Treaty
talks could
arrive at
meaningful
regulation,
now procedure
and
transparency
are
in question
too.
Monday
even
proponents of
the ATT, among
them Norway,
Mexico,
Canada,
Sweden, New
Zealand,
Japan,
Australia and
others, agreed
to make half
of the
meetings for
the next two
weeks
"closed."
Mexico,
for example,
has civil
society inside
its
delegation, it
says, so
things will
not
be so bad.
They also
article that
the "half
secret" deal
is
"adopted
without
prejudice to
the status and
ongoing
application
of the Rules
of Procedure
for this
Conference" to
the final
week. We'll
see.
Among
those
seeking
secrecy was
Syria, which
notably took a
"pro-ATT"
position in
opposing
proliferation
of weapons to
non-state
actors
like the Free
Syrian Army
and so-called
Third
Force.
"This
may
all end up
anyway in the
First
Committee," a
stated
opponent
of secrecy
told Inner
City Press,
asking in the
wake
of the Press'
exclusive
story of Sri
Lanka and
Palitha Kohona
being in line
to take
over the Fifth
(Budget)
Committee
who will get
the First.
There
are
also rumblings
of problems
with the
ECOSOC
Ministerial
Declaration,
long labored
over by an
energetic
Venezuelan
diplomat.
After the "fracaso"
of Rio+20,
there is
backsliding.
Where is Jan
Eliasson now?
As
Inner
City Press
noted,
Eliasson was "presente"
at
Venezuela's
event on
Friday night.
There, another
ATT secrecy
opponent
predicted to
Inner City
Press that no
meaningful
treaty will
be reached.
"A weak treaty
would be worse
than none at
all,"
he said,
because by
only
condemning the
absolute worst
of arms sales
it would
legitimize the
rest. Watch
this site.
, 
