United Nations Headquarters in Geneva (Switzerland)

Fifteen principles for preventing human rights abuses with guns were endorsed by the UN Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in Geneva (Switzerland) on 24 August. This is the highest level acknowledgement to date of the link between small arms control and human rights.

The principles were presented as part of the final report of Professor Barbara Frey, the UN Special Rapporteur on small arms and human rights violations. The Sub-commission passed a resolution endorsing the principles and recommending their adoption by the new UN Human Rights Council.

'Gun violence is a human rights issue,' said Rebecca Peters, director of IANSA. 'Around the world people are suffering because the legal gun market is poorly regulated, allowing these deadly weapons to be misused, whether by police, criminals, terrorists, or in the home. Governments must now implement these global principles in order to protect their citizens from the flood of guns.'

The principles set out basic standards for regulating the use of small arms by police and private owners, to prevent weapons being misused. In addition, they prohibit international transfers where the arms are likely to be used in serious human rights violations. This is also the focus of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) proposed by the Control Arms campaign.

Governments will vote during the UN General Assembly in October on whether to start negotiations on an ATT. Click here to join the Million Faces petition in support of an Arms Trade Treaty.