Human rights groups are criticizing the United States and other countries for acting to weaken a draft of what could be the first-ever global arms treaty. Negotiations began at the United Nations in New York City last week for a treaty to regulate the $70 billion trade. Earlier talks collapsed last year when the United States — which leads the world in global arms exports — as well as Russia and China said they needed more time. On Monday, Anna MacDonald, head of arms control for Oxfam, said the new draft is too weak.

Anna MacDonald: “This treaty is not good enough. This is not the treaty that we have been campaigning for, for 10 years. This is not the treaty that’s going to save lives and protect people. The loopholes must be closed, and the president of the conference must listen to the voices of the majority, who have been saying repeatedly during this first week of negotiations — and indeed in informal sessions continuing discussions over the weekend — what they want to see in the treaty and why this must be a treaty with a very comprehensive scope of weapons covered and very tough and clear rules by which governments assess whether or not to authorize an arms transfer.”