Mexico wins support for suit against gunmakers

Four Caribbean countries have joined Mexico in taking legal action against gun sellers in the United States, whose weapons are flooding the region's black market and leaving a trail of blood in many countries.

"The lawsuits are truly relevant for Latin America and the Caribbean because that region is home to 9 percent of the world's population, but it is where 27 percent of all homicides worldwide are recorded," said Leon Castellanos-Jankiewicz, a researcher and international law specialist at the T.M.C Asser Instituut in the Netherlands.

Of the killings in Latin America, "between 70 and 90 percent are caused by firearms", Castellanos-Jankiewicz said.

"A large percentage of the homicides, especially in Central America, (involve) firearms; many of these are illegally coming from the northern border with the US, and some also from Europe."

Over the past two years Mexico has filed lawsuits against gunmakers in Massachusetts and gun vendors in Arizona. The lawsuit against the manufacturers was dismissed by a court in Boston, but Mexico is now taking further legal action, and it has the support of the Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda, Trinidad and Tobago, and San Vicente and the Grenadines in its crusade against American guns ending up in their countries. The four Caribbean countries filed an amicus curiae brief in support of an appeal by Mexico at the end of last month.

"The joining of the lawsuit by four Caribbean governments and the increasing number of mass murders in the US may impact the chances of a successful appeal," said Bruce Zagaris, a partner at Berliner Corcoran &Rowe LLP, a law firm in Washington.

In the Boston ruling, a federal judge determined that an immunity law protects US gun manufacturers even when their conduct causes harm abroad.

Unlawful outflow

"Caribbean nations are rightfully frustrated with the unlawful and devastating outflow of guns from the United States," said Nicholas Shadowen, a lawyer with the law firm Hilliard Shadowen LLP in Austin, Texas.

The Prime Minister of the Bahamas, Philip Edward Davis, has said that while he respects the right of US people to bear arms, they have no right to traffic those arms to countries such as the Bahamas.

"I am proud to announce that the Bahamas has joined a lawsuit against US gun manufacturers. Teaming up with regional partners, we are confronting the issue of illegal firearms and working toward accountability."

The Human Security Network for Latin America and the Caribbean in Buenos Aires says several studies over the years indicate that many weapons recovered in criminal acts come from the US.

The global arms trade is a multimillion-dollar business, "in which the US accounts for 37 percent, and it is no coincidence that the largest arms producers are American", said Maria Pia Devoto of the network.

Castellanos-Jankiewicz said the Caribbean countries' move to join the legal fight is positive and will increase awareness and create an avenue to have a conversation in those countries about what is happening with gun trafficking in the region.

Beyond the lawsuits, Mexico has also triggered a consultative mechanism at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in Washington in which 11 regional countries can take part.

"Mexico asked the IACHR last year for an advisory opinion on the obligations of arms manufacturers with respect to human rights," Castellanos-Jankiewicz said. "It is also asking the court what the obligations of states are to regulate arms manufacturers so that the activities of these companies do not harm the rights of individuals."

The writer is a freelance journalist for China Daily.