NGOs Criticize Draft For Global Arms Trade Treaty

Campaigners from the Control Arms NGO lie in fake body bags to demonstrate in front of the UN building in New York earlier this month.

UNITED NATIONS -- Nongovernmental organizations are criticizing a draft for a new global Arms Trade Treaty that is being negotiated at a United Nations conference in New York.

Amnesty International's arms control expert Brian Wood says the text would ratify the current arms trade status quo rather than changing it.

Anna MacDonald, head of arms control at Oxfam, said the draft had "more holes than a leaky bucket."

Oxfam and the International Committee of the Red Cross raised concerns about the narrow scope of weapons included and the exclusion of ammunition.

They also expressed doubts about a provision asking states to consider whether a weapons transfer could "contribute to peace and security," saying they hoped the provision was a drafting error.

The month-long negotiating conference concludes on July 27.