Gun death father launches campaign

Published on Friday 12 September 2008 20:17

THE FATHER of a toddler shot dead in Turkey on a family holiday, is today set to launch a week of action backing the Control Arms campaign.

The launch will be marked by an Edinburgh screening of the film Ezra, which tells the story of a child soldier in Sierra Leone.

David Grimason, who has campaigned for tighter controls on the arms trade since his son Alistair, two, was shot dead in a Turkish cafe in July 2003, will speak about his experiences and backing for the Control Arms campaign, which is seeking an international arms trade treaty.

In 2006, 153 governments voted to develop a treaty against weapon exports to regimes or groups that would use them to break humanitarian law.

Campaigners are working to ensure that the treaty passes the next stage of the UN process. It is to be considered by the General Assembly in the next few weeks.

Mr Grimason said: "We know the impact illegal arms are having on the lives of thousands of people but a fictional story such as Ezra's, dramatising the effect of war on a child's life, sends a very powerful message."

The screening of Ezra, as part of the Take One: Action! Film Festival at the Edinburgh Filmhouse, is one of more than 60 Control Arms events around the world.