Det danske Fredsakademi
Kronologi over fredssagen og international politik 27. Oktober 2006 / Time Line October 27, 2006
Version 3.526. Oktober 2006, 28. Oktober 2006
10/27/2006
Journalisternes Fredsdag.
Kilde: Nyhedsbrev, Journalister for fred, 1986:7 s.
1.
10/27/2006
Overwhelming majority of
world's governments vote to start work on an international Arms
Trade Treaty 
Control Arms Campaign: Oxfam International, Amnesty International
and the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA).
Today at the United Nations, the majority of the world's
governments took the first step towards a global Arms Trade Treaty
to prevent international arms transfers that fuel conflict, poverty
and serious human rights violations. The vote comes three years
after the launch of a campaign which has seen over a million people
in 170 countries calling for a Treaty.
The vote in the UN General Assembly’s First Committee is the
first time that governments have voted on the proposal to develop
an Arms Trade Treaty, and support was overwhelming: 139 voted yes,
with only the United States voting against. Support was
particularly strong in Africa, Latin America and Europe.
Work on the Treaty will begin in early 2007 when the new UN
Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, will begin to canvass the views of
all member states to establish the foundations of the Treaty.
Going into the vote, the resolution was co-sponsored by 116
governments; a huge number for such a bold initiative.15 Nobel
Peace Prize Laureates supported the call for an Arms Trade Treaty
this week in a statement issued by the Arias Foundation and the
Control Arms Campaign.
"This massive vote to develop a global Arms Trade Treaty is an
historic opportunity for governments to tackle the scourge of
irresponsible and immoral arms transfers. Any credible Treaty must
outlaw those transfers, which fuel the systematic murder, rape,
torture and expulsion of thousands of people," said Kate Gilmore,
Amnesty International’s Executive Deputy Secretary
General.
"Today, the world’s governments have voted to end the scandal
of the unregulated arms trade. Since the Control Arms campaign
began three years ago, an estimated one million people have been
killed by conventional weapons. In response, over a million
campaigners from over 170 countries have called for an Arms Trade
Treaty. Today governments answered that call," said Jeremy Hobbs,
Director of Oxfam International.
"We have come a long, long way since three years ago when we
launched the Control Arms campaign: in those days the prospect of
an Arms Trade Treaty being negotiated in the UN was viewed as
idealistic at best. But today we are in the majority. Now this
victory must be converted into a strong and effective Arms Trade
Treaty based on States’ commitments under international law,"
said Rebecca Peters, Director of IANSA.
10/27/2006
Developments in Iraq
http://www.un.org/children/conflict/english/iraq63.html The current
situation in Iraq has not allowed for the systematic collection of
child protection information regarding the effects of violence and
insurgency on children. In the current security context, it is also
very difficult to determine the number of children who have been
victims of and/or involved in the violence.
Many children have been killed and/or maimed as a result of
large-scale suicide attacks or roadside bombs by various terrorist
and criminal groups, or in military and security operations by the
Iraqi police and Special Forces acting alone or in association with
the Multinational Force in Iraq.
The recent rise in sectarian violence, exacerbated by the bombing
of the Al Askari shrine in Samarra, resulted in thousands of
civilian casualties, many of whom were children. According to
figures provided by the Ministry of Health, which include counts
from hospitals in all governorates, excluding the three northern
governorates of Kurdistan, from 1 January to 31 August 2006, 139
children were killed and 395 were wounded.
Abductions of children by Iraqi armed groups related to the
sectarian violence have increased significantly, in addition to the
number of children abducted for ransom. A survey conducted by
several local non-governmental organizations in Baghdad indicates
that approximately 20,000 people have been kidnapped throughout the
country since the beginning of 2006, 50 per cent of whom are women
and children. Recently, increasing concerns have been expressed by
international and national non-governmental organizations that
Iraqi children, both girls and boys, are being abducted and
trafficked for purposes of sexual exploitation. The rise of armed
criminal groups has contributed to this phenomenon.
The ongoing violence and exposure to violence in schools and
threats of abuse, kidnapping and/or injury by armed groups has
contributed to non-attendance in schools. The targeting of teachers
for ransom and violence has also seriously affected the delivery of
education in schools. The national primary school drop-out rate is
3.6 per cent and the attendance rate is 76 per cent.
The Government has, through the Commission of Child Care, begun to
address the challenges confronting children in Iraq. The Commission
has designated a committee, which has recommended that the
Government sign the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the
Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed
conflict. The Government of Iraq has repeatedly called upon the
international community and all relevant United Nations agencies to
offer their support and assistance in reinforcing their efforts in
securing and protecting the welfare of children in Iraq.
* Information based on the 2006 report of the Secretary General to
the Security Council (A/61/529-S/2006/826) issued on 26 October
2006
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