The Nobel Peace Laureates

"We come from different nations with varied histories, and in the past, the world has honored each of our struggles for peace and justice with the Nobel Prize for Peace. Today, we speak as one to voice our common concern regarding the destructive effects of the unregulated arms trade. Together, we have written an International Code of Conduct on Arms Transfers, which, once adopted by all arms-selling nations, will benefit all humanity, nationalities, ethnicities, and religions". (New York, May 1997)

Oscar Arias Sánchez
His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama
Ellie Wiesel
Betty Williams
Gururaj Mutalik (International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War)
José Ramos-Horta
Susan Waltz (Amnesty International)
Donald Gann (American Friends Service Committee)

The start of an initiative:

In October of 1995, Dr. Oscar Arias called upon a group of his fellow Nobel Peace Laureates to promote an international campaign to establish such an agreement. Together, they drafted the Nobel Peace Laureates International Code of Conduct on Arms Transfers. A declaratory instrument intended as a challenge to the international community, the Code of Conduct laid down a stringent set of principles that ought to condition all arms export decisions: respect for human rights, humanitarian law, sustainable development and peaceful coexistence.

The initiative was publicly launched at a ceremony in New York City in May of 1997. Based upon the Code of Conduct principles, today this initiative is known as the Arms Trade Treaty, and currently carries the endorsement of over twenty individuals and organisations honoured with the Nobel Peace Prize.

Code of conduct on arms transfers document (jpg, 246Kb)