HRITC calls for light-arms ban [Archives:2006/949/Local News]

SANA'A, May 24 ) On the occasion of the World Anti-Light-arms Action Week, the Human Rights Information and Training Center (HRITC) urged the Yemeni government and Parliament to issue a law for the creation of an arms control and monitoring organization. HRITC coordinates the Regional Network for Curbing the Spread of Arms in the Middle East and North Africa.

The aim is to restrict the spread and circulation of light arms, which constitute a threat to peace and order. Light-arms are often used to settle conflicts and end-up be used to take the lives of Yemenis in tribal clashes, at wedding parties, and due to general misuse.

HRITC has called on civil society organizations to pay closer attention to the dangerous local phenomenon that threatens both Yemeni and foreign citizens.

According to HRITC, international tallies reveal that nearly 1,000 people worldwide die every day due to small-arm fire. The trade in light-arms is valued at some $21 billion (USD) per year. There are approximately 639 million pieces of light-arms currently in existence, with an average of one gun for every ten people, according to the HRITC. These arms are produced in at least 98 countries.

The center invited all civil society organizations, political parties, and media organizations to lend a hand in the collection of people's signatures calling for a ban on the bearing of light-arms. It urged them to increase public awareness about the risks associated with the spread and misuse of light-arms, which constitute a threat to peaceful human relations.
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