Email Alastair McKay (IANSA Communications Officer) for the contact details for the organisers of these events.
Austria
* Letter-writers urge US support for ATT
Amnesty International Austria organised a letter-writing campaign to the United States embassy in Vienna throughout June. The campaign urged the US administration to openly support an effective Arms Trade Treaty (ATT).
Azerbaijan
* Link between gun violence and displacement
Women and Modern World Centre organised a round-table discussion on 20 June in Refugee City (in the suburbs of Baku) to mark the Week of Action and World Refugee Day. The link between gun violence and displacement was highlighted by government officials, journalists, representatives from parliament and local NGOs. A meeting with refugees followed.
Belarus
* Students rock against gun violence
A rock concert – ‘Youth Against Violence’ – was held on 16 June, involving Blagy Mat and Volk, groups associated with the support group SCAF. Presentations on gun violence were given during the concert. During the week, students interviewed parliamentarians and local government representatives on their attitudes towards gun violence prevention. The questionnaire was developed by SCAF.
* Officials and prisoners discuss approaches to violence
The National Civil Society Advisory Council met with prisoners awaiting the death penalty in Prison #8, Zhodino on 17 June. They discussed ways to break the cycle of violence, including reducing access to guns and abolishing the death penalty. IANSA member SCAF is part of the Advisory Council, which is chaired by the Head of Presidential Administration. The Head of the OSCE Office in Minsk participated. The discussion received widespread media coverage.
Belgium
*Advocacy for an ATT
Amnesty International Belgium Have written to the Minister of Foreign Affairs requesting that Belgium adopt a strongly supportive position during the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) discussions at the UN next month.
Cyprus
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Destruction of MANPADS
Over 300 surplus military MANPADS (shoulder-launched missiles) were destroyed on 12 June at the Kalo Chorio range in Cyprus. The Organisation for Security & Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) supported the disposal of the weapons, which is part of a policy of destroying surplus MANPADS to prevent them being diverted for use in terrorist acts. Ilia Giorgadze of Georgia, who chairs OSCE’s Forum for Security Co-operation, said the shoulder-launched missiles required special attention “in the light of the potential for devastating loss of life, and the potential effect on the civil aviation industry”.
France
* ATT T-Shirt design competition
Amnesty International and ethical T-shirt company Monsieur Poulet organised a “Draw your own T-Shirt” competition in support of the Arms Trade Treaty. The contest runs until 24 June. Visitors to the website can vote for their favourite design.
* DDV campaign supported
AP Peace Fellow Rebecca Gerome and fellow activists organised an event on 20 June to publicise the Disarm Domestic Violence campaign in Paris.
* Mafia crime discussed
Terra del Fuoco and FLARE (Freedom, Legality And Rights in Europe) ran an information stand in Place D’Italie, highlighting their fight against transnational organised crime. They handed out IANSA badges, FLARE materials, and Global Crisis folders. Three days of meetings followed, culminating in a round-table discussion on the influence of the mafia on society.
Kosovo
* Strategy for collecting illegal weapons
The Minister of Internal Affairs, Zenun Pajaziti, chaired a meeting on 18 June to plan Kosovo’s strategy for collecting illegal weapons currently possessed by civilians. UNDP Kosovo has developed the outline of the strategy. Other participants came from the National Commission on small arms, the Ministry of Interior, the parliament and the EU. The meeting received extensive coverage in the media.
Macedonia
* Workshop with survivors
On 15 June, Journalists for Children and Women Rights and Protection of Environment (JCWE) held a press conference at the Deputies Club in Skopje. The main theme was the ATT and the need for a government response. Also launched was a report on armed violence and women based on data collected as part of the Disarming Domestic Violence campaign. More than 20 journalists attended.
* National helpline launched
On 16 June, JCWE launched a national SOS helpline for victims of armed violence. The helpline number is 141700. The launch was attended by 15 NGOs working on women's rights.
* ATT and domestic violence discussed in Skopje
JCWE in Macedonia held a workshop with women survivors of armed violence called 'How to recognise violence and an abuser'. Participants included over 25 women from 3 shelters in Skopje.
Norway
* UN Deputy Secretary-General at conference on domestic violence
Asha-Rose Migiro addressed the Council of Europe's Conference for Ministers of Justice, held in Tromso, Norway on 18 June. The conference theme was on Breaking the Silence of Domestic Violence. IANSA members were heartened by her inclusion of gun violence in the home when talking about the multiple dimensions of domestic violence and its impact upon women. “They lose their lives to gunshots, beatings, burns and other horrendous forms of abuse” she stated. “This violence is pervasive and its effects are widespread. Not only are individual women victimised, but whole societies suffer major setbacks.” In line with the objectives of the Disarm Domestic Violence campaign, Ms Migiro acknowledged the need for a legal framework to help prevent such violence including the development of new laws, the review and better implementation of existing ones, and the need to change attitudes and behaviour.
Portugal
On 29 June the Observatory on Gender and Armed Violence (OGAV) based at the Centre for Social Studies, University of Coimbra, launched the Disarm Domestic Violence campaign and screen the premiere of the documentary 'Luto como Mãe' [Right to Mourn] directed by Luis Carlos Nascimento.
On 26 June Tatiana Moura from OGAV, Luis Carlos Nascimento and Elizabeth Paulino were interviewed on RTP (national television) and Antena 1 (national radio) for the regional news programme about the campaign and the documentary. Tatiana said it is important to recognise the gender dimension in armed violence (public and private), highlighting the link between guns and domestic violence.
Russia
* Arms flows to Sudan in special issue of security journal
The latest issue of Security Index Journal focuses on Russian arms control and was published on 20 June by PIR Centre in Moscow. PIR Centre researcher Vadim Kozulin analyses arms flows to Sudan, in particular from Ukraine and Russia.
Serbia
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* Anti-militarisation protest
Military helmets filled with food were displayed by Women in Black, Belgrade in Republic Square on 15 June. The helmets included information on how much food and other essentials could be purchased with the money the country spends on arms each year. Young activists from Croatia and US joined the protest.
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* TV interview for Victimology Society
Jasmina Nikolic of the Victimology Society of Serbia support group was interviewed on Belgrade-based television network TV Pink on the morning news programme on 15 June. In her interview, Jasmina highlighted the group’s current anti-violence campaign by stressing the correlation between the possession of small arms and the rates of domestic violence abuse.
* Serbia: DDV campaign launched
The Victimology Society of Serbia launched the Disarm Domestic Violence campaign on 18 June at the Belgrade Media Centre. Speakers included: Dr Mirjana Dokmanovic, an international lawyer, journalist, researcher and lecturer on human rights and women’s rights; President of the Women’s Center for Democracy and Human Rights in Serbia & Montenegro; Professor Dr Zelko Nikac, a policeman and professor, and Professor Dr Vesna Nikolic Ristanovic, and Jasmina Nikolic both from the Victimology Society of Serbia.
More than 30 people attended from organisations including CPD, the Centre for Children's Rights; UNDP, the Office of the Municipal Public Prosecutors of Belgrade; SOS TELEFON hotline for children and women; UDMIZEM TOGOMHA, Organization of War Prisoners; ACMEP, the Faculty for Special Education and Rehabilitation; AZC, women's centre; FPN, Faculty for Political Sciences; and the NUNS, the Trade Union of Journalists.
The press conference attracted widescale media interest from agencies and broadcasters including FONET, FOX TV, RTRS (National TV from Sprska Republic, in Bosnia and Herzegovina), RADIO BELGRADE 202, RTS national TV, RTV PINK, B-PRO-SOLUTIONS, NIN weekly newspaper, BETA press agency, B92 and RADIO SLOBODNA EUROPA. Fox TV, Radio Belgrade 202, RTV and Radio Serbia reported the conference.
Spain
* ATT campaign hits Barcelona
Fundacio per la Pau contacted several media outlets in Barcelona including the daily newspaper Periodico de Cataluña to highlight the importance of Spain playing a leading role in support of ATT during the working group at the UN in July. Amnesty International Spain is asking people to sign a letter which will be sent to the US Embassy in Madrid asking President Obama to support the ATT.
Sweden
* Sweden: Campaigning in parliament
The halls of the Swedish parliament were the venue for campaigning activity by the Swedish Action Network on Small Arms (SANSA) and the Parliamentary Association for the Combat of the Uncontrolled Spread of Small Arms. Over 200 folders were distributed and information was displayed to encourage parliamentary involvement in the arms control movement, and in the forthcoming UN discussions of the ATT.
Turkey
* Support for DDV
The Umut Foundation, which encourages peacebuilding among Turkish youth, welcomed the Disarm Domestic Violence campaign (DDV). In a statement, the organisation stressed the importance of keeping guns out of domestic situations, citing evidence from a survey conducted by BAPAM (Bakirköy Psikiyatri Tedavi ve Arastirma Merkezi, Psychiatry Treatment and Research Center). The survey showed that of 10,000 gun licence applications, 23.6% of applicants felt that being armed “could be necessary in the house”. In Turkey, 3000 people die by firearms each year. The number of accidental firearms deaths is around 700.
UK
* Ambassador blogs on ATT
John Duncan, the UK Ambassador for Multilateral Arms Control and Disarmament has published a blog in support of an Arms Trade Treaty. “The humanitarian and moral case for regulation is unassailable,” he wrote, “with hundreds of civilians being killed every day by weapons that have found their way into the hands of criminals, terrorists, insurgents and more recently pirates.”
He also stressed the importance of economic arguments, praising responsible arms companies that have supported international regulation of the global arms industry. “As someone whose job bridges both nuclear and conventional weapons proliferation, I am acutely aware that one of the key elements of making progress towards a World Free of Nuclear Weapons is to stop the uncontrolled proliferationof conventional weapons,” he said.
* Students quiz the government on ATT
Student members of Amnesty and Oxfam visited the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office on 15 June to discuss the ATT. In a lively debate, 150 supporters of the organisations quizzed ministers and diplomats on the process of creating a strong treaty, and made pledges to continue campaigning for stronger arms control.
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Monitoring incidents of guns in domestic violence
The Gun Control Network has published a list of recent incidents in the UK in which guns are known to have been used in acts of domestic violence.
* Trafalgar Square vigil launches DDV campaign
Women in Black (London) and the IANSA Women’s Network held a vigil near Trafalgar Square on 17 June to highlight the levels of gun deaths amongst women in domestic violence incidents in the UK. Although British law now bans the sale of handguns, legally-held weapons (rifles, shotguns, airguns) are used in murders of women in the home. In England and Wales, one in three women killed by their husbands is shot with a legally-owned weapon - 64% of these murders involve shotguns. (Criminal Statistics England and Wales, 2000) Since 2004, nearly three quarters of the 39 female gun homicide victims in Britain were killed in domestic incidents.
Members of the public signed letters to Prime Minister Gordon Brown urging the British government to: systematically and centrally collect information on gun deaths in domestic violence incidents; recognise that family killings are the only category of homicide in which women outnumber men as victims; and harmonise national arms control legislation, with laws on domestic violence.
* Film screening for London students
Dr Andrew Pinto of IPPNW’s Canadian affiliate Physicians for Global Survival joined with colleagues to organise several activities at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine on 17 June, including a call for disinvestment of the school endowment fund from the arms industry. A screening of the film “Lord of War” was introduced by IANSA Secretariat staff member Bruce Millar. The activities were designed to engage students and educate them about public health approaches to violence prevention: Dr. Pinto has published numerous papers on this topic.
* Disarm Domestic Violence website launched
The IANSA Women’s Network has launched a new website with a dedicated section on the Disarm Domestic Violence campaign.
Vatican
* Pax Christi network invited to join the campaign
The Vatican News Agency featured an article by the Catholic peace movement Pax Christi on 17 June, supporting the Disarm Domestic Violence Campaign and urging all Pax Christi affiliates worldwide to join it.
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