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Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

2010

SelectedWorks

International Law

David B Kopel

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Law

The Arms Trade Treaty: Zimbabwe, The Democratic Republic Of The Congo, And The Prospects For Arms Embargoes On Human Rights Violators., David B. Kopel, Paul Gallant, J0anne D. Eisen Jan 2010

The Arms Trade Treaty: Zimbabwe, The Democratic Republic Of The Congo, And The Prospects For Arms Embargoes On Human Rights Violators., David B. Kopel, Paul Gallant, J0anne D. Eisen

David B Kopel

Advocates of the proposed United Nations Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) promise that it will prevent the flow of arms to human rights violators. This paper first examines the ATT, and observes that the ATT, if implemented as promised, would require dozens of additional arms embargoes, including embargoes on much of Africa. The paper then provides case studies of the current supply of arms to the dictatorship in Zimbabwe and to the warlords in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The paper argues that the ATT would do nothing to remediate the conditions which have allowed so many arms …


How Many Global Deaths From Arms? Reasons To Question The 740,000 Factoid Being Used To Promote The Arms Trade Treaty, David B. Kopel, Paul Gallant, Joanne D. Eisen Jan 2010

How Many Global Deaths From Arms? Reasons To Question The 740,000 Factoid Being Used To Promote The Arms Trade Treaty, David B. Kopel, Paul Gallant, Joanne D. Eisen

David B Kopel

Currently, the United Nations is drafting an Arms Trade Treaty to impose strict controls on firearms and other weapons. In support of hasty adoption of the Treaty, a UN-related organization of Treaty supporters is has produced a report claiming that armed violence is responsible for 740,000 deaths annually. This Article carefully examines the claim. We find that the claim is based on dubious assumptions, cherry-picking data, and mathematical legerdemain which is inexplicably being withheld from the public. The refusal to disclose the mathematical calculations used to create the 740,000 factoid is itself cause for serious suspicion; our own calculations indicate …