Art.6 Prohibitions

Subject(s):

Arms control — War crimes — Weapons — Humanitarian intervention — International peace and security

This chapter analyses Article 6 of the ATT, which prohibits each state party from authorizing the transfer of conventional arms, ammunition/munitions, or parts or components covered by the scope of the ATT under a set of defined circumstances. The article covers transfers that violate an ATT state party’s obligations under UN Security Council measures, in particular relating to arms embargoes. It also prohibits transfers that would violate obligations under treaties to which the transferring state is a party, in particular those relating to conventional arms. Lastly, the article covers transfers where the state party ‘has knowledge at the time of authorization’ that the arms or items would be used to commit genocide, crimes against humanity, or certain war crimes.