Site Additions: November 2007

Site Additions : November 2007

30 November

From left: Gisela Kallenbach (MEP), Arlene Mcarthy (MEP) and Günter Verheugen

(EU Commission), at the press conference following adoption of the Directive.

The European Parliament voted overwhelmingly on 29 November to strengthen the EU Firearms Directive. In a significant step towards harmonising European gun laws, the parliament agreed that all member states must require gun purchasers to hold a license and register all newly purchased weapons.

23 November

Kavira Zawadi was raped at gunpoint and then shot in DR Congo, May 2004. Her testimony is one of many in Survivors, a report from the IANSA Women's Network.

Global campaign against rape

IANSA campaigners are mobilising around the world to raise awareness of the effects of armed violence against women. The global 16 Days of Activism against gender-based violence starts on Sunday 25 November, with events by IANSA members planned in Angola, South Sudan, Columbia, Peru, DR Congo, El Salvador, South Africa, Azerbaijan and Chile throughout the week.

16 November

Image from 'We Live in Fear', a photo exhibition on human security in Brazil organised by Amnesty International UK in 2006 (c) Genna Naccache

Brazilian police critcised by UN expert

The UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Philip Alston, has criticised police in Brazil for their involvement in extra-judicial killings.

9 November

Memorial for the victims of the Jokela school shooting

Nine dead in Finland school shooting

An 18 year old student armed with a .22 calibre pistol murdered 8 people and injured 10 others at Jokela High School in Tuusula in southern Finland on Wednesday 7 November. The school’s principal and nurse were among the dead. The assailant shot himself in the head and died in hospital the following day.

2 November

Mexican-US border at Laredo (Texas)

Mexico and US unite to reduce gun smuggling

The Merida Initiative to reduce transnational crime between Central America, Mexico and the US, including gun trafficking, was announced on 22 October 2007. Under this initiative, the US will provide substantial technical and financial assistance to strengthen border controls and efforts to reduce crime. Click here for more information on the initiative.