By Ben Murphy
Wednesday 13-Friday 15 June
The countdown is on to July 2, when world governments begin negotiating an international Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) to prevent arms transfers to human rights abusers and repressive governments.
You can send a strong message to the world’s biggest weapons-supplying countries, the United States and Russia, that governments that supply arms for atrocities are responsible too. Now is the time for a bullet-proof ATT to close the legal loopholes currently allowing arms to end up in the wrong hands.
Join the Global Tweet-a-thon for the ATT! From Wednesday 13 June to Friday 15 June, supporters of a robust ATT will target the Twitter accounts of the US State department (.@Statedept) and Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (.@MFA_russia) for one hour each, with key messages on why they too must support a strong ATT.
Here’s the proposed schedule …
Wednesday 13 June: targeting USA (.@Statedept)
1.30-2.30pm Sydney/Canberra/Melbourne
1-2pm Adelaide
11.30am-12.30pm Perth
Possible tweets:
- .@StateDept Govts that supply arms for atrocities are responsible too. It’s time for a bullet-proof #ArmsTreaty pls RT
- .@StateDept Too often, weapons end up in the hand of human rights abusers. We can change this. Support a strong #ArmsTreaty
- .@StateDept Stop trading weapons with the world’s Mubaraks. Support a strong #ArmsTreaty with human rights rules pls RT
Thursday 14 June: targeting Russia (.@MFA_Russia)
1.30-2.30pm Sydney/Canberra/Melbourne
1-2pm Adelaide
11.30am-12.30pm Perth
Possible tweets:
- .@MFA_Russia Stop arms going to those who use them for serious #humanrights abuses. Support an #ArmsTreaty and prevent another #Syria pls RT
- .@MFA_Russia Govts that supply arms for atrocities are responsible too. It’s time for a bullet-proof #ArmsTreaty pls RT
Friday 15 June: tell Bob Carr (.@bobjcarr) and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (.@dfat) that Australia needs to stay on target for a bullet-proof ATT!
1.30-2.30pm Sydney/Canberra/Melbourne
1-2pm Adelaide
11.30am-12pm Perth
Suggested tweet:
- .@bobjcarr .@dfat Stay on target and bring us back a bullet-proof #ArmsTreaty. Keep arms out of the hands of #humanrights abusers! pls RT
Already tweeted the messages above? Here’s some other ‘killer facts’ you can tweet:
- One shot for an #ArmsTreaty in 2012. Sign up to demand a bullet-proof treaty http://bit.ly/Ly7Nyf
- 1 person dies every minute from armed violence. We need a strong #ArmsTreaty now! http://bit.ly/Ly7Nyf
- There are more global regulations on bananas than arms. We need a strong #ArmsTreaty now! http://bit.ly/Ly7Nyf
- In Burundi a grenade costs the same as a beer. Sign up to demand a bullet-proof #ArmsTreaty http://bit.ly/Ly7Nyf
- $1.6 trillion is spent every year on arms worldwide. Demand a strong #ArmsTreaty now http://bit.ly/Ly7Nyf