Control de Armas en Tiempos de Covid-19
A medida que el mundo siente el impacto del brote de coronavirus en la primera mitad del 2020, la comunidad global está siendo forzada a reconocer las consecuencias de privilegiar, por décadas, ganancias a corto plazo sobre inversiones a largo plazo en áreas como servicios de salud y educación. Por años, los gobiernos alrededor del mundo han priorizado la militarización en nombre de la seguridad nacional y se han beneficiado económicamente con el negocio billonario de tráfico de armas global. La seguridad humana –uno de los pilares fundamentales de una sociedad sana y funcional- ha sido negligentemente relegada, a pesar de las advertencias expresadas por los diferentes cuerpos de la ONU, organizaciones sin fines de lucro e institutos de investigación, acerca del cambio en la naturaleza de los retos y amenazas internacionales. Las consecuencias negativas de esta desviación de prioridades quedan ahora al descubierto, cuando las naciones altamente militarizadas que continúan midiendo su seguridad por el tamaño de su suministro de armas tienen ahora problemas para responder adecuadamente a la crisis de salud mundial provocada por el Covid-19.
Vea recursos adicionales sobre este tema aquí:
Artículos y Recursos Sobre el Desarmamiento y Control de Armas
- Oxfam International, With Coronavirus Spreading, Time to Repurpose the Arms Industry to Meet Human Need, 30 April 2020
- The Economist, Global arms spending is rising, but COVID-19 will trim budgets, 26 April 2020
- Ray Acheson (WILPF), COVID-19: The Risks of Relying on Technology to “Save Us” from the Coronavirus, 15 April 2020
- Ray Acheson (WILPF), COVID-19: From Ceasefire to Divestment and Disarmament, 26 March 2020
- Verity Coyle (Stimson), Multilateralism in the Era of COVID-19, 08 April 2020
- Christopher A. Preble (Cato at Liberty), Comparing Military Spending and COVID-19 Related Medical Costs, 07 April 2020
- Izumi Nakamitsu, “The UN Office for Disarmament Affairs Remains Active and Committed: How the Covid-19 Pandemic is Affecting the Work of Disarmament,” UN Office of Disarmament Affairs, 03 April 2020
- Marc Finaud (GCSP), Five reasons why the COVID-19 crisis is related to arms control, 03 April 2020
- Cesar Jaramillo (Project Ploughshares), Arms control diplomacy a worrying casualty of COVID-19, 01 April 2020
- Bonnie Docherty, “From Weapons Bans to Travel Bans: Humanitarian Disarmament Stays Strong During the Pandemic,” Disarmament Dialogue, 27 March 2020
- Peace Science Digest, When Countries Increase Their Military Budgets, They Decrease Public Health Spending, 05 June 2019
- SOAS University of London, The Vatican endorses CISD’s Strategic Concept for the Removal of Arms and Proliferation and its Freeze initiative, 19 May 2020
Organizaciones sin fines de lucro, institutos de investigación, políticos, celebridades, la ONU e innumerables personas más, han levantado sus voces haciendo un llamado a los gobiernos del mundo a reconsiderar las prolongadas prácticas de llenar depósitos de armamento a costa de la seguridad humana y a re-priorizar el gasto de acuerdo a los actuales y futuros retos de seguridad y amenazas a la salud y el bienestar. Sin embargo, la situación continúa como de costumbre, con un gran número de gobiernos declarando a la industria de las armas como sector esencial:
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- El gobierno indio decidió proceder con una transacción de armamento con Israel, con un valor de $116 millones, a pesar de las protestas de los profesionales médicos por falta de mascarillas y equipo de protección personal.
- Canadá anunció el 9 de abril que reanudaría un acuerdo de exportación de armas con Arabia Saudita por $10 billones que había pasado a revisión después de la muerte del periodista Jamal Khashoggi.
- Alemania anunció un incremento de €43.5 millones por venta de armas durante el primer trimestre de 2020, comparado con el mismo periodo del año anterior. Este incremento se debió a una transacción de armas con Egipto, miembro de la coalición lidereada por Arabia Saudita en Yemen, con un valor de €290 millones.
Vea recursos adicionales sobre este tema aquí:
Artículos y Recursos sobre Exportaciones de Armas / Industria de Armas en el Contexto de la Pandemia de Coronavirus
General:
- Aser, Décisions de Justice
- Reem Abu-Hayyeh (Medact), Responding to coronavirus – intersections with war, militarised violence and the arms industry, 21 April 2020
- Caroline Jones, Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT), Coronavirus and the Arms Trade, 3 April 2020
- War Resisters’ International, Coronavirus pandemic disrupts arms trade events around the world, 24 March 2020
- Grant Turnbull, Covid-19: Is this the end of the arms fair ?, 2 July 2020
- Lizz Dodd (in The Tablet), Arms trade has no place in post-Covid world, say campaigners, 21 July 2020
Belgium:
- Vredesactie, Belgian arms export halved due to court decision, 2019
- Conseil d’État Belge, Conseil d’État, Section du Contentieux Administratif. La XVe chambre Siégeant en Référé – Arrêt n°247.259 du 9 mars 2020, 09 March 2020
Canada:
- Cesar Jaramillo, (Ploughshares), Amid COVID crisis, Canada lifts moratorium on arms exports to Saudi Arabia, 15 April 2020
- David Ljunggren (Reuters), Canada lifting a freeze on arms exports to Saudi Arabia, opposition wants big deal scrapped, 09 April 2020
France:
- France 24, Focus on Covid-19, France tells China after Taiwan arms deal threat, 13 May 2020
Germany:
- Riham Alkousaa (Reuters), German court annuls de facto armored vehicles export ban to Saudi Arabia, December 3rd, 2019:
- DW, German arms sale approvals jump slightly in first quarter of 2020, 09 April 2020
Italy:
- Amnesty Lombardi, Armi, un affare di Stato
- Rete Italiana per il Disarmo, Italian arms exports: in 2019 licensed 5,17 billion euros of weapons, 29 May 2020
Philippines:
- Amee Chew (JacobinMag), Stop the $2 Billion Arms Sale to the Philippines, 17 May 2020
USA:
- Shannon Dick Rachel Stohl (Stimson),COVID-19 and the U.S. Defense Industry, 27 April 2020
- Jeff Abramson (Arms Control Association), U.S. Arms Deals Continue During Pandemic, June 2020
- Jodi Vittori (Carnegie), A Weapons Epidemic, 1 June 2020
- Defense News, Will US foreign military sales catch the coronavirus ?, 15 June 2020
- Esra Gürçay (Foreign Brief), House Foreign Affairs Committee expected to challenge Gulf arms sales, 16 June 2020
UK:
- Independent Catholic News (ICN), CAAT condemn continued UK military support for Saudi forces during Covid crisis, 15 May 2020
- Jack Peat (in the London Economic), Against the backdrop of a global pandemic, it is sad to see companies are still ‘profiting from murder’, 31 July 2020
Como organizaciones:
Otras iniciativas:
- Petition to invest in healthcare instead of militarization International Peace Bureau
- Global #Freezeweaponsnow- a moratorium on the production, trade and supply of weapons Scrap Weapons
- Responding to the Coronavirus Outbreak, Save the Children
Otros Recursos:
- Humanitarian Disarmament: COVID-19 and Disarmament
- Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF): COVID-19 blog series
- Forum on the Arms Trade: Coronavirus: Defense Industry Repurposing
- Project Ploughshares, COVID-19
- Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), COVID-19 Disorder Tracker (CDT)
Juntas Virtuales y Webinars
Comunicados
En las Noticias
Global Campaign on Military Spending ilustra (Figura 1) cómo los recursos gastados en militares y armamento podrían haber sido utilizados hoy para responder a la pandemia de Covid-19. La International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) comparte una investigación similar, comparando el gasto en arsenals nucleares vs la infraestructura de servicios de salud. Muchas otras organizaciones e individuos han ponderado el tema, incluyendo Project Ploughshares, miembro de Control Arms, en “Arms control diplomacy a worrying casualty of Covid-19” y la Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom (WILPF) en su contínua serie de blogs Covid-19.
Como de costumbre, las transferencias irresponsables de armas y su desviación, avivan y estimulan conflictos y violencia armada y habilitan al terrorismo y al crimen organizado. Las transacciones no reguladas de armas perpetúan los conflictos, facilitan los abusos y violaciones a los derechos humanos, exacerban las crisis de refugiados y obstaculizan los esfuerzos de desarrollo. No obstante, simultáneas a una crisis mundial de salud, las transferencias de armas sin control a zonas de conflicto y más allá, producen consecuencias aún más devastadoras.
Vea recursos adicionales sobre este tema aquí:
Artículos y Recursos sobre Conflictos en el Contexto de la Pandemia de Coronavirus
Publications:
- Save the Children (Fairfield Conn.), Save the Children Statement: Global Ceasefire Could Help Protect the Lives of 415 Million Children, 23 March 2020
- Norwegian Refugee Council, Armed conflict displaces 660,000 since UN call for global ceasefire, 22 May 2020
- Oxfam International, Conflict in the Time of Coronavirus: Why a global ceasefire could offer a window of opportunity for inclusive, locally-led peace, May 2020
- Humanitarian Disarmament, A Principled and Inclusive Response to COVID-19, Focused on the Most At-Risk Groups, July 2020
- Katariina Mustasilta, EU Institute for Security Studies, From Bad to Worse? The Impact(s) of COVID-19 on Conflict Dynamics, June 11 2020
- World Health Organization, Conflict, climate crisis and COVID-19 pose great threats to the health of women and children, September 25 2020
General News and Blogs:
- The Economist, How covid-19 gave peace a chance, and nobody took it, 05 May 2020
- Al Jazeera News, Oxfam says coronavirus ceasefire efforts ‘catastrophic failure‘, 12 May 2020
- Georgia Hinds (ASPI), What happens when the laws of war meet a pandemic? 22 April 2020
- Gerardo Noto (UNDP), How to soften the impact of coronavirus during conflict, 20 April 2020
- Frances Z. Brown & Jarrett Blanc (Carnegie), Coronavirus in Conflict Zones: A Sobering Landscape, 14 April 2020
- Anthony Pahnke (Al Jazeera), Coronavirus should make leaders reconsider the risks of conflict, 02 April 2020
- GCR2P (in ReliefWeb), Atrocity Alert No. 205: UN Global Ceasefire, South Sudan and Myanmar (Burma), 27 May 2020
- Anne Gulland (Telegraph), Conflict and crisis set to increase in wake of coronavirus pandemic, 10 June 2020
Afghanistan:
- Ben Francis (The Diplomat), COVID-19 in Afghanistan: Going Beyond a Ceasefire, 18 May 2020
- AFP (France 24), Afghan security forces killed in first ‘Taliban attack’ since end of ceasefire, 28 May 2020
- Hamid Shalizi & Abdul Qadir Sediqi (Reuters), Afghan government says ceasefire still in place even as skirmishes with Taliban resume, 28 May 2020
Cameroon:
- Ewelina U. Ochab (Forbes), Is The Cameroon Ceasefire Talk Nearing Amid Covid-19 Pandemic ?, 5 July 2020
Libya:
- ReliefWeb, Despite Calls for Ceasefire amid COVID-19 Pandemic, Unabated Fighting Could Push Libya to New Depths of Violence, Acting Special Representative Warns Security Council, 20 May 2020
- Hanan Salah (OpenDemocracy), Despite Covid-19, Libya war rages with civilians at risk, 07 May 2020
- François d’Alançon (La Croix), En Libye, la guerre à l’ombre du coronavirus, 26 April 2020
- Anelise Borges (Euronews), Libya: Caught between bombs, bullets and now COVID-19, 16 April 2020
- ICRC, Libya: People caught between bullets, bombs and now COVID-19, 12 April 2020
- ICRC, Libye : le Covid-19 vient pénaliser un système de santé déjà saturé par le conflit, 12 April 2020
- Edward P. Joseph & Wolfgang Pusztai (Foreign Policy), The Coronavirus Could Heal Libya, 07 April 2020
- UNHCR, UN agencies warn conflict and the COVID-19 pandemic present a significant threat to life in Libya, 13 May 2020
- Gulsen Topcu, Libyan warlord Haftar agrees to talks on ceasefire: UN, 02 June 2020
- ICRC (Relief Web), IRC welcomes news that Libya ceasefire talks will resume, 2 June 2020
- France 24, Warring parties resume ceasefire talks in Libya, UN says, 3 June 2020
Middle East and North Africa:
- UN, As pandemic encroaches on Abyei, tensions rise over disputed territory straddling Sudan, South Sudan, 28 April 2020
- ICRC, COVID-19: The Middle East is facing health crisis and socio-economic earthquake, 16 April 2020
- ICRC, Eric Goldstein & Amy Braunschweiger (HRW), When Health Care Is Decimated By War: COVID-19 in the Middle East and North Africa, 16 April 2020
- Caline Malek (Arabnews), Will coronavirus pandemic intensify or defuse Middle East conflicts ?, 9 June 2020
- Paola Canale (in Modern Diplomacy), Palestinians between COVID-19 pandemic and unilateral Israeli plan of annexation, July 8, 2020
Myanmar:
- AFP (in Bangkok Post), UN Security Council to discuss violence, coronavirus in Myanmar, 12 May 2020
- Leah Carter (DW), Myanmar: Armed conflict puts brakes on COVID-19 response, 07 May 2020
- Kyaw San Wai (The Diplomat), Myanmar and COVID-19, 01 May 2020
- Rebecca Wright & Ivan Watson (CNN), Coronavirus is ‘emboldening’ Myanmar military to carry out ‘war crimes’ says UN human rights expert, 30 April 2020
- Michael Hart (in WPR), COVID-19 Is Just the Latest Setback in Myanmar’s Troubled Peace Process, 8 June 2020
- International Rescue Committee, GBV Trends Among Rohingya Refugees in Cox’s Bazar: COVID-19 update, January 22 2021
South Sudan
- The New Humanitarian, Return pressure builds as COVID-19 hits South Sudan displacement camps, 01 June 2020
- ACLED (ReliefWeb), CDT Spotlight: Growing Pressure in South Sudan, 6 June 2020
- Francesca Mold (UNMISS), COVID-19 and conflict threaten health system and ceasefire in South Sudan, 23 June 2020
- Relief Web, Child malnutrition worsens as Coronavirus adds to South Sudan’s complex crisis, 23 June 2020
Somalia:
- Saferworld, Somali Women Development Centre and Gender Action for Peace and Security (GAPS),Now and the future: gender equality, peace and security in a COVID-19 world – Somalia, January 2020
Syria:
- UN, Syria: As coronavirus threat intensifies, ceasefire more urgent than ever, 29 April 2020
- Peace Insight, COVID-19 has drastically hit civilians and civil society in Syria, 18 August 2020
- Auke Lootsma (in UNDP), COVID-19 ravages an already desperate Yemen, 19 August 2020
Thailand:
- Caleb Quinley, In Thailand’s deep south conflict, a ‘glimpse of hope’, but no momentum to sustain a COVID-19 ceasefire, 3 August 2020
Ukraine:
- ICRC, Ukraine : les civils et les structures de soins face à la double menace d’une recrudescence des hostilités et du Covid-19, 17 April 2020
West Africa:
- UNHCR, Across West Africa dual challenge of conflict and coronavirus threatens millions of people, 17 April 2020
- John Campbell, Council on Foreign Relations, Beyond the Pandemic, Boko Haram Looms Large in Nigeria, June 11 2020
Yemen:
- Jelena Golubović (Ottawa Citizen), Arms trade, pandemic combine to reveal the human costs of war in Yemen, 04 May 2020
- France 24, UN reports ‘significant progress’ on Yemen ceasefire amid rising COVID-19 cases, 15 May 2020
- UN News (ReliefWeb), Yemen aid lifeline near ‘breaking point’: UN food agency, 26 May 2020
- Richard Stone (ScienceMag), Yemen was facing the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Then the coronavirus hit, 28 May 2020
- Edith M. Lederer (Houston Chronicles), UN urges $2.4 billion to help Yemen cope with war and virus, 29 May 2020
- UN News, FROM THE FIELD: COVID-19-related ‘tragedy’ unfolding in Yemen, 1 June 2020
- Al Jazeera, Yemen: UN makes urgent funding plea as vital operations end, 1 June 2020
- Bethan McKernan (The Guardian), Yemen’s hidden migrants risk conflict and coronavirus in fight for survival, 2 June 2020
- Rebecca Barber (in The Interpreter), In Yemen, a deadly concoction of arms sales, conflict and Covid-19, 10 June 2020
- Amjad Tadros, As war and COVID-19 ravage Yemen, $1.35 billion in international aid isn’t nearly enough. Here’s why., 17 June 2020
- Al Jazeera, In Yemen, battling coronavirus during civil war, 17 June 2020
- Gov.uk, UK calls for drastic action in Yemen as coronavirus infections reach one million, 18 June 2020
- Al Jazeera, Yemen government, southern separatists agree to ceasefire, 22 June 2020
- Arab News, UN envoy Griffiths meets Yemen president, calls for ceasefire, 30 June 2020
- Saeed Al-Batati, Iran’s arms shipments to Houthis fuel war in Yemen, experts say, 30 June 2020
- Foreign & Commonwealth Office & The Rt Hon Dominic Raab MP (Gov.uk), Yemen needs international help to escape tragedy, 1 July 2020
- Moosa Elayah, Al Jazeera, COVID-19: The Lingering Conflict and the Regional Balance of Power in Yemen, 26 July 2020
Coronavirus and Human Rights:
- Cordula Droege (ICRC), COVID-19 response in conflict zones hinges on respect for international humanitarian law, 16 April 2020
En Yemen por ejemplo, los ataques aéreos perpetrados por la coalición lidereada por Arabia Saudita y el uso de hospitales para propósitos militares por las fuerzas Houthi, resultaron en un número limitado de instalaciones de cuidados de salud y una escasez severa de suministros médicos. Adicionalmente, los altos niveles de desnutrición y bajos niveles de inmunidad debidos al brotes de cólera y difteria, aunado al hecho de que cerca de 18 millones de personas no tiene acceso a agua limpia, son sólo algunos indicadores de que un brote de COVID-19 tendría un efecto particularmente devastador en la población civil de Yemen.
Es por esto que el 17 de abril, la directora ejecutiva de UNICEF, Henrietta Fore, les advirtió a los países que para los 250 millones de niños en el mundo viviendo en «la pesadilla despierta [de los conflictos] un alto el fuego podría ser la diferencia entre vida o muerte.«Hizo un llamado a las partes en conflicto para hacer y respetar acuerdos de cese al fuego, enfatizando que “un cese al fuego global serviría de modelo de cooperación y solidaridad para luchar contra el COVID-19“.
Millones de personas apoyan ahora el llamado del Secretario General de la ONU a un cese al fuego, con más de 2.2 millones de firmas en una petición en línea. De la misma manera, en su llamado a la paz, el Papa Francisco les recordó a los estados que:
“Este no es tiempo de continuar con la producción y transacciones de armas, gastando grandes cantidades de dinero que deberían utilizarse para el cuidado de otros y salvar vidas.”
Artículos y Recursos sobre los llamados a un alto el fuego en el contexto de la pandemia del coronavirus
Press Releases:
- UK Foreign Office, Saudi Arabia extends ceasefire in Yemen: Foreign Secretary statement, 25 April 2020
- UNICEF, COVID-19: Global ceasefire would be a gamechanger for 250 million children living in conflict-affected areas, 17 April 2020 (available in French)
Articles:
- Medea Benjamin & Nicolas J. S. Davies (Nation of Change), Trump must choose between a global ceasefire and America’s long lost wars, 05 May 2020
- Lesley-Ann Daniels (The Conversation), Coronavirus and conflict: truces at times of crisis do not lead to peace on their own, 15 April 2020
- Morning Star, Pope calls for end to sanctions and global arms trade in radical Easter message, 13 April 2020
- France 24, ‘Coronavirus ceasefire’ in Yemen’s long conflict begins, 09 April 2020
- Patrick Wintour (The Guardian), Coronavirus: UN says warring countries have responded to ceasefire call, 03 April 2020
- IRC (ReliefWeb), UN Security Council Fails to Support Global Ceasefire, Shows No Response to COVID-19, 19 May 2020
- M. Ashraf Haidari (The Diplomat), A Ceasefire for Eid, Peace, and Fighting COVID-19 in Afghanistan, 22 May 2020
- BBC, Taliban announce three-day Eid ceasefire with government, 24 May 2020
- The Guardian, The Observer view on the failure to secure a global ceasefire during the pandemic, 24 May 2020
- Tempo.co, Indonesia Pushing for International Ceasefire in Conflict Zones, 28 May 2020
- Arms Control Association, Security Council Fails on Global Ceasefire, 2 June 2020
- Euractiv.com & AFP, Europe calls for immediate ceasefire in Libya, 10 June 2020
- Patrick Wintour (Guardian), Donald Trump joins calls for Libya ceasefire, 10 June 2020
- Al Jazeera, Turkey, Russia continue to work together for Libya ceasefire, 15 June 2020
- Richard Gowan (International Crisis Group), What’s Happened to the UN Secretary-General’s COVID-19 Ceasefire Call?, 16 June 2020
- UN News, 170 signatories endorse UN ceasefire appeal during COVID crisis, 24 June 2020
- Al Jazeera, Arab League calls for Libya ceasefire, peace talks, 24 June 2020.
- UN News, Stalled Security Council resolution adopted, backing UN’s global humanitarian ceasefire call, 1 July 2020
- Save the Children, ‘Armed groups who ignore this ceasefire-resolution must be held to account’, 1 July 2020
- Fionna Smyth ( Inter Press Service), Security Council’s Overdue COVID-19 Ceasefire Resolution Must Put Women & Youth at Center, 7 July 202
- Linda Bordoni (in Vatican News), Pope reiterates appeal for global ceasefire, calls for peace in the Caucasus, 19 July 2020
- Jumana Khamis (in Arabnews), Did UN chief’s global ceasefire call boost the coronavirus fight ?, 21 July 2020
- United Nations, Former World War I battleground calls for ceasefire during COVID-19, 21 July 2020
- UNOCHA, ‘Heed the calls’ for ceasefire in north-western Syria – UN, 4 August 2020
Esta página web se mantendrá actualizada sobre el discurso global sobre las deficiencias expuestas por la pandemia COVID-19, principalmente el impacto de las inversiones en militarización y comercio de armas en la salud, la educación y el desarrollo sostenible.
