A million faces against the arm trade

2.58.56pm BST (GMT +0100) Mon 26th Jun 2006

On the first day of the UN conference on small arms and light weapons, Liberal Democrat European justice spokeswoman Baroness Sarah Ludford MEP is backing the Control Arms Campaign, organised by Amnesty International and others, as it presents a "million faces" petition to Kofi Annan.

This calls for much tighter control on the circulation and availability of small arms like handguns and rifles, including the shockingly ubiquitous AK-47. The million faces symbolise the million people who have been killed by these weapons since the campaign began in 2003.

Sarah Ludford said:

"Regulation of trade in small arms is desperately needed not only to prevent the thousands of deaths caused weekly at the hands or warlord and criminal groups, but also to stop terrorist organisations getting hold of them."

"Liberal Democrats insist that the UK, as one of the 3 biggest arms exporters in the world, should bring in much tougher regulation of arms exporters and brokers, including close scrutiny of deals by parliament.The Labour government insistence on secrecy is deplorable."

"But the problem must also be tackled internationally, and the EU must take a leading role. This conference should be the first step towards a legally binding international arms trade treaty, which not only controls arms sales but also gives technical assistance to states wanting to develop their own national laws to control the trade."