In
Arms
Trade Treaty
Deal, 2/3
Majority on
Procedural
Matters,
Bedfellows
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
February 17 --
During the
last day of
Arms Trade
Treaty
negotiations
on the second
floor of the
UN's North
Lawn building,
a
coalition of
strange
bedfellows
pushed to
require
consensus --
that
is, in
essence, a
veto for each
country.
Syria, so much
in the news,
took this
position,
along with
Cuba and Iran.
And right
along with
them,
according to
southern
neighbor of
the United
States, was
the US
of the Obama
administration.
Some,
particularly
the Nordics,
sought to make
excuses,
saying that
the US has
grown
more flexible
since 2009.
But others
note that with
US based
companies
selling so
many weapons,
the confluence
for example
with
Syria makes
economic
sense.
The
US, sources
said, wanted
consensus to
apply to the
adoption of
any treaty.
Late
on Friday a
compromise was
reached on
decision-making:
it should be
"on the
basis on
consensus,"
but on
procedural
matters, by a
2/3
majority.
In
a bid to block
non-governmental
organizations
and civil
society from
meetings, a
line was
stricken even
in the final
reading from
Rule 57,
Paragraph
2, providing
now for
private
meetings, no
longer "unless
the
Conference
decides
otherwise."
In
these final
hours, a
so-called "big
gun" entered
the first
floor
Conference
Room: UN
Disarmament
chief Duarte.
He is a lame
duck now,
and those
vying to
succeed him
include not
only as Inner
City Press
first reported
the Permanent
Representative
of Peru
Enrique
Roman-Morey,
but also, it's
said, his
counterpart
from the
Philippines,
Libran
Cabactulan,
who in a
previous
conference
mediated
until he lost
his voice.
But
Peru has yet
to ratify the
Convention on
Cluster
Munitions. Nor
has the
Philippines.
Watch this
site.
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