Arms Trade Treaty meeting discusses procedure but avoids challenges

On Monday, 29 February 2016, states parties of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) held an extraordinary meeting to agree on organizational matters with regard to the Secretariat and the second conference of states parties to be held in Geneva from 22–26 August 2016. The meeting did not consider substantive items, which unfortunately means it missed an opportunity to discuss possible violations of the Treaty by states parties, including continued arms exports to Saudi Arabia, which has been found to have engaged in “widespread and systematic attacks on civilian targets” in its use of explosive weapons in populated areas in Yemen.