Guiding Questions:

1. What motivated those who advocated for the treaty?
2. What is the history of the treaty’s negotiation?
3. What does the ATT seek to achieve?
4. How does the ATT work to achieve those aims?

Resources:

1. Arms Trade Treaty, 2013.
2. Control Arms, “About the ATT,” 2018.
3. Arms Control Association, “Factsheet: The Arms Trade Treaty at a Glance,” 2016.
4. Neil MacFarquhar, “Arms Trade Treaty Approved at the U.N.,” The New York Times, 2 April 2013.

1. What export prohibitions bind exporting states under Article 6? What is the standard for denying exports based on those prohibitions?
2. What export risk assessment must states conduct under Article 7? What is the standard for denying exports based on that risk assessment?
3. How have states in Southern Africa conceived of the Articles 6 and 7 export restrictions? How does it apply in Southern Africa?
4. How do Articles 6 and 7 relate to importing states?
5. How do Articles 6 and 7 related to transit and transshipment states?

Resources:

1. “Article 6” and “Article 7,” Arms Trade Treaty, 2013.
2. ICRC, “Section 3.2: The Treaty’s core obligations,” Understanding the Arms Trade Treaty from a Humanitarian Perspective.

Guiding Questions:

The ATT and International Law

1. What is “humanitarian disarmament”? How does it relate to the ATT?
2. How does the ATT address other relevant international legal frameworks, especially ones about arms control/disarmament?
3. How does humanitarian disarmament relate to international humanitarian law?
4. How does humanitarian disarmament relate to international human rights law?
5. How do the ATT and its risk assessment, in particular, fit within the humanitarian disarmament movement as a whole?
6. How does the ATT interact with IHL and IHRL?
7. How does the ATT interact with international obligations regarding terrorism and transnational organized crime?
8. How does the ATT relate to regional-level obligations, such as the SADC Protocol?
9. Within each of these questions, how does that seem likely to apply in the context of Southern Africa?

Resources:

1. International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), “Section 2.1,” Understanding the Arms Trade Treaty from a Humanitarian Perspective, 2017.
2. ICRC, “What is International Humanitarian Law?” 2004.
3. United Nations, “Human Rights,” 2018.
4. “The Arms Trade Treaty’s Obligations on Counterterrorism and Transnational Organized Crime” (Internal memo, International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School).
5. Southern Africa Development Community, “Protocol on the Control of Firearms, Ammunition and Other Related Materials in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Region,” 2001.
6. UN Office on Drugs and Crime, “Chapter 2” and “Chapter 3,” Comparative Analysis of Global Instruments on Firearms and other Conventional Arms: Synergies for Implementation, 2016.

Guiding Questions:

1. What harms can be caused by irresponsible and/or illicit arms transfers?
2. How do the ATT’s provisions speak to those consequences?
3. What particular arms-related harms may be most relevant in southern Africa?

Resources:

1. United Nations Coordinating Action on Small Arms, “The Impact of Poorly Regulated Arms Transfers on the Work of the United Nations,” United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, 2013.
2. Reaching Critical Will, “Executive Summary,” Preventing Gender-based Violence through Arms Control, 2016.
3. “Section 1” and “Section 2,” How to Use the Arms Trade Treaty to Address Wildlife Crime, Pace University, 2016.

1. What conventional weapons does the Arms Trade Treaty cover?
2. What ammunition and munition does the Arms Trade Treaty cover?
3. How does the ATT address the parts and components of conventional weapons?
4. What kinds of transfers do the obligations around conventional weapons, ammunition/munitions, and parts and components apply to?
5. How do the weapons, ammunition, and parts and components under the treaty contribute to the various harms the treaty aims to prevent?
6. How do the weapons, ammunition, and parts and components under the treaty contribute to harms specifically concerning in Southern Africa, such as gender-based violence and wildlife poaching?

Resources:

1. “Article 2,” “Article 3,” and “Article 4,” Arms Trade Treaty, 2013.
2. Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and Development, “Executive Summary,” Global Burden of Armed Violence 2015: Every Body Counts, 2015.
3. Control Arms Secretariat, “Chapter 3.2: Arms within the Scope of the ATT,” ATT Monitor, 2016.
4. Small Arms Survey, “Chapter One: Identifying weapons and analysing arms flows: an overview,”An Introductory Guide to the Identification of Small Arms, Light Weapons, and Associated Ammunition, 2018.
5. Small Arms Survey, “Firearms and Violent Deaths,” 2016.

Guiding Questions:

1. What are the obligations of importing and transit states under the ATT?

2. Does the ATT achieve the goals envisioned at the drafting, in terms of defining common state responsibilities for exercising control over the different stages of the arms transfer process?

3. How does the ATT regulate transit and trans-shipment?

Resources:

1. UN Office for Disarmament Affairs, “Module 7,” Arms Trade Treaty Implementation Toolkit, 2015.

2. Control Arms Secretariat, “Chapter 1.3,” ATT Monitor, 2015.

3. Andrew Clapham, et al, “Art.9 Transit or Trans-Shipment,” The Arms Trade Treaty: A Commentary, 2016.

Guiding Questions:

Principles and Purpose of the ATT

1. What principles underwrite the ATT?
2. What is the object of the ATT?
3. What is the purpose of the ATT?
4. Why do treaties contain statements of principles, object, and purpose? How do these components serve States Parties in implementing the treaty?
5. How can these components help States Parties resolve disputes that arise under the treaty?

Resources:

1. “Principles,” “Article 1,” and “Article 19,” Arms Trade Treaty, 2013.
2. Jan Klabbers, “Treaties, Object and Purpose,” Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law, 2006.

Guiding Questions:

1. What are the treaty recommendations for information sharing?
2. What measures and systems are in place in your country at the moment for the purposes of international cooperation and information exchange?
3. Under what circumstances should information be shared with other state parties?

Resources:

1. Christina Arabia and Mark Bromley, “ATT-Related Outreach and Assistance Activities in Sub-Saharan Africa,” Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), 2016.
2. UN Office for Disarmament Affairs, “Module 4,” Arms Trade Treaty Implementation Toolkit, 2015.

Guiding Questions:

1. What measures should states parties have in place to implement the ATT?
2. What are some best practices that can help with implementation?
3. How can countries learn from other to implement the ATT?

Resources:

1. Small Arms Survey, “Section 3” and “Section 4,” The Arms Trade Treaty: A Practical Guide to National Implementation, 2016.
2. UN Office on Drugs and Crime, “Chapter 5” and “Chapter 6,” Comparative Analysis of Global Instruments on Firearms and other Conventional Arms: Synergies for Implementation, 2016.

Guiding Questions:

1. What are some of the developments in illegal wildlife poaching with respect to the arms trade?
2. What are some of the treaty ATT obligations triggered by the diversion of arms to poaching groups?
3. How can the ATT be used to address wildlife poaching? Are there creative solutions available through the treaty and broader arms control?

Resources:

1. Kathi Lynn Austin, “Introduction” and “Conclusion,” Special Report: Follow The Guns: An overlooked key to combat rhino poaching and wildlife crime, 22 April 2019.
2. Matthew Bolton, Using the Arms Trade Treaty to Address Wildlife Poaching in East Africa: A Human Security Approach, Control Arms, 2015.
3. Khristopher Carlson, In the Line of Fire: Elephant and Rhino Poaching in Africa, 2015.

Guiding Questions:

1. What is meant by “diversion” under the Arms Trade Treaty cover?
2. What states have obligations related to diversion under the ATT? When do obligations arise?
3. What kinds of obligations are in place?
4. Who carries out these obligations?
5. How can states and officials institutionalize knowledge and best practices regarding diversion? Why is this important?
6. What other mitigation methods are recommended in the treaty?
7. How does diversion contribute to harms specifically concerning in Southern Africa, such as gender-based violence and wildlife poaching?

Resources:

1. Small Arms Survey, “Chapter 2,” An Introductory Guide to the Identification of Small Arms, Light Weapons, and Associated Ammunition, Small Arms Survey, 2018.
2. ICRC, “Section 3.4,” Understanding the Arms Trade Treaty from a Humanitarian Perspective, 2017.
3. UNIDIR, “Meeting Summary: Strengthen End Use/r Control Systems to Prevent Arms Diversion: Examining Common Regional Understandings,” Consultative Meeting Nairobi, Kenya, 2017.
4. ATT Secretariat, “Annex D,” ATT Working Groups on Effective Treaty Implementation: Chair’s Draft Report to CSP4, 20 July 2018.

Guiding Questions:

1. What is “gender”?
2. What is “gender-based violence”?
3. What does the ATT require regarding GBV?
4. How are arms, the arms trade, and GBV interconnected?

Resources:

1. “What is the difference between sex assigned at birth and gender identity? (video),” Stanford University, 2017. Available at this link.
2. Small Arms Survey, “Chapter 1” and “Chapter 2,” Gender-Responsive Small Arms Control: A Practical Guide, 2019.
3. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, “Section 2,” and “Section 4,”15 Years of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, Its Causes and Consequences, 2009.
4. “How to use the Arms Trade Treaty to address Gender-Based Violence: A Practical Guide for Risk Assessment,” Control Arms. [Provided separately in print. Document can be accessed online at this link.]
5. Executive Summary, “Preventing Gender-based Violence through Arms Control,” Reaching Critical Will. [Appears in an earlier session: “ATT and International Law.”]
6. “Interpreting the Arms Trade Treaty: International Human Rights Law and Gender-Based Violence in Article 7 Risk Assessments,” Harvard Law School International Human Rights Clinic. [Provided separately in print. Document can be accessed online at this link.]

Guiding Questions:

1. What are states’ reporting obligations under the Arms Trade Treaty?
2. What best practices exist regarding collecting information and reporting under the ATT?
3. What resources are available to states as they work to comply with their reporting obligations?
4. What is the value of transparency, and why is it central to the proper functioning of the ATT?

Resources:

1. “Article 12” and “Article 13,” Arms Trade Treaty, 2013.
2. Control Arms Secretariat, “Chapter 1,” ATT Monitor, 2017.
3. “Annual Reporting Template,” Arms Trade Treaty.

Guiding Questions:

1. What is the Conference of States Parties and why does it matter?
2. What will the 2020 Conference of States Parties focus on?
3. What is the role of the ATT Secretariat?
4. What kind of support can the ATT Secretariat provide, especially to new states parties?

Resources:

1. ‘Welcome Pack’ for New States Parties to the Arms Trade Treaty,” Arms Trade Treaty.
2. “Rules of Procedure,” Arms Trade Treaty.
3. “Financial Rules,” Arms Trade Treaty.