一议救万命: 本周联合国将举行“武器贸易条约”投票决议

IT WOULD be a good question for the quiz game Trivial Pursuit. What has the National Rifle Association (NRA), America’s powerful pro-gun lobbying outfit, got in common with Syria, Iran and North Korea? The answer: all are opposed to the global Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) which was overwhelmingly approved by 154 countries on April 2nd by the General Assembly of the United Nations.

对于“打破砂锅问到底”这个竞猜游戏，这将是一个很好的问题。一个美国强大的亲枪游说机构，美国步枪协会（NRA），与叙利亚、伊朗和朝鲜有何相似之处？答案是：在4月2日的联合国大会上，由154个国家参与并以压倒性优势通过了反对“全球武器贸易条约“（ATT）的决定。

The next stage is for those countries which voted for the treaty to begin formally signing up to it in early June. Each signatory country will then have to ratify it at home. The treaty will come into legal force 90 days after the 50th country has ratified it—perhaps as soon as the end of this year. For some, ratification will be a simple process; for others it could prove harder.

下一个阶段是在六月初那些投票支持该条约的国家将正式开始签署这一协议。届时各签字国将在国内批准实行这一协议。该协议将在第50个国家批准后的90后具有法律效力——也许只要今年年底该协议就会生效。对一些国家来说，批准该协议会很简单；然而对于其他国家却未必简单。

The Obama administration is a strong supporter and likely to sign up soon. But getting the two-thirds majority in the Senate needed for ratification will be a struggle, even though the American Bar Association has confirmed the treaty does not infringe any constitutional right to bear arms (as the NRA claims). America’s defence industry also supports it, hoping to bring other countries’ arms exporters closer to the high standards it operates under.

奥巴马政府是一个强有力的支持者并且很快会签署。但在参议院要想获得大多数的认可将是一场斗争，尽管美国律师协会（依据NRA的主张）已经证实了该条约不违反宪法中的枪支保有制。美国的国防工业也支持它，希望它能使其他国家的武器出口商在更高的标准下运作。

Whatever difficulties may lie ahead, supporters of the treaty to regulate the $70-billion-a-year trade in arms are jubilant. It is the climax of a campaign that began a decade ago. It had especially strong support from African and Caribbean countries where society has been torn apart by civil war or transnational crime, both stoked by the illicit trade in small arms. The deal involved compromises: for example, a weaker section on munitions. But what a senior diplomat close to the negotiations describes as “the heart” of the treaty—the prohibitions section—is alive and beating.

无论前方遇到什么困难，该条约的支持者都因控制着每年$70亿的军火贸易而雀跃。这是十年前开始一项运动的高潮。该协议受到非洲和加勒比国家的大力支持，因为这些国家的社会已经因内战和跨国犯罪而四分五裂，小型武器的非法贸易更是使社会问题火上浇油。协议的商定采用折中的办法：例如，淡化了军需品的规定。但是，正如高级外交官所述协议的“心脏”部分——那些禁止的条约——仍就砰砰的跳动着。

The ATT requires states to establish regulations for arms imports and exports in eight main categories: battle tanks, armoured combat vehicles, large-calibre artillery, combat aircraft, attack helicopters, warships, missiles and missile launchers, and small arms and light weapons. They must assess whether their transfer could lead to serious violations of international humanitarian law, terrorism or organised crime. They must take into account the risk of serious acts of violence against civilians, particularly women and children. An overriding risk of any of these consequences means states must block the deal.

ATT要求各国在8大武器类别上建立进出口管理机制，它们分别是：主战坦克，装甲战车，大口径火炮，作战飞机，攻击直升机，军舰，导弹和导弹发射器，小武器和轻武器。各进出口国必须评估其转让是否会严重违反国际人道主义法，和导致恐怖主义或有组织犯罪。他们必须考虑到严重的暴力行为，对平民，特别是妇女和儿童的影像。国家必须制裁任何凌驾于这些风险之上的贸易。

States must also report annually on all their arms transfers to a UN-run “implementation support unit”. The aim is to shine a light on a previously murky business and make governments accountable under the terms of the treaty. The main sanction is embarrassment. That may seem feeble, but previous treaties on landmines and cluster bombs have set a new global norm which makes it shameful to use such weapons indiscriminately.

各国还必须每年向联合国运行“实施支持单位”报告他们所有的武器交易。目的是让今日光明的交易形式照耀往日黑暗的交易形式，并且就协议让政府负责。的主要制裁是尴尬。这可能显得苍白无力，但之前有关地雷和集束炸弹条约已经设置了新的全球规范，这使得种武器的滥用变得可耻。

The abstainers include big arms exporters (China and Russia) and importers (India, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Indonesia). But they may sign up later. Russia says it needs more time, while China (surprising some) played a constructive role, apparently influenced by the African countries with which it has forged close commercial ties. Both may find they pay an economic price if their arms industries are increasingly excluded from global supply chains. It will take time for new standards of behaviour to establish themselves, but the push has begun and the treaty can be further strengthened over time. For the moment, says a diplomat involved with the treaty over many years, what has been achieved is “pretty damn good”.

会上的弃权者包括大武器出口国（中国和俄罗斯）和进口商（印度，沙特阿拉伯，埃及和印度尼西亚）。但是，不久他们就会签字的。俄罗斯说，它需要更多的时间，而中国（不足为奇了），显然受到与它有密切商业关系的非洲国家的影响而发挥了建设性作用。如果他们的军工行业渐渐淡出全球供应链中，那么他们发觉自己将付出经济上的代价。这将需要一段时间来建立自己新的行为标准，但压力开始慢慢显现，并随着时间的推移，该协议可以进一步加压。一名多年参与该协议制定的外交官说，就目前的成就而言已是“相当的不错”。