Where can you buy a bulletproof car, night vision goggles and missile launchers? Photographer Andri Pol took a peek inside Europe's largest arms trade fair, the Eurosatory, held bi-annually in Paris.
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The trade and trafficking of arms and light weapons leads to 200,000 deaths every year, according to the United Nations. At present, the arms trade is largely an unregulated business with a blurry line between legal and illicit transfers. In July 2012 the international community gathered at a UN conference on the Arms Trade Treaty in order to decide on a binding legal framework. The conference and potential treaty is the result of a process initiated back in 1997, when a campaign for civil society awareness and advocacy demanded that the international community address the issue of arms trade regulation through international law. (All images by Andri Pol)
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Talks take aim at weapons trading
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The conference, being held in New York from July 2-27, will include all major producers, exporters and importers of conventional arms. It is hoped the resulting treaty would make the international arms trade more responsible, help alleviate human suffering and curb the illicit trade in arms and weapons. Crucial for the outcome of the negotiations…
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Switzerland’s arms export laws are considered among the strictest worldwide even if breaches or evasions of these rules regularly attract media attention. Erwin Bollinger, of the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) and head of the Swiss delegation at the United Nations conference, says a global effort would be very welcome, even if the accord…
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If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.