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Disarmament Diplomacy

Issue No. 67, October - November 2002

News Review

UN Report on Small Arms

On September 20, the UN Security Council received a report on efforts to combat the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons. The report, submitted by Secretary-General Kofi Annan, was requested by the Council in August 2001 (Presidential Statement S/PRST/2002/21). Reflecting consultations with 22 states, including all five Permanent Members of the Security Council, the study makes twelve recommendations:

1. "The Security Council may wish to call upon member states to support efforts aimed at developing an international instrument to enable states to identify and trace, in a timely and reliable manner, illicit small arms and light weapons."

2. "Member states should be called upon to use as required, and to provide technical and financial support to, the Interpol Weapons and Explosives Tracking System."

3. "Member states that are in a position to assist the Secretariat in establishing the small arms advisory service, on the basis of extrabudgetary resources, should be encouraged to do so."

4. "The Council may wish to consider means by which its interaction with the General Assembly on issues relating to small arms might be enhanced, so as to promote the further development of long-term strategies to halt the scourge of the illicit proliferation of small arms within the framework of international efforts aimed at conflict prevention and peace-building, and in the context of the Programme of Action adopted at the July 2001 United Nations Conference on small arms."

5. "Member states should be called upon enforce all Council resolutions on sanctions, including those imposing arms embargoes, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, and to bring their own national legislation into compliance with the Council's measures on sanctions. The Council may also wish to call upon all member states to continue to make available to the appropriate United Nations bodies all pertinent information on any alleged violations of arms embargoes and to take appropriate measures to investigate such allegations."

6. "The Council is strongly encouraged to continue its efforts aimed at identifying the links between the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons and the illicit exploitation of natural and other resources, as well as the trade in illegal drugs, and to develop innovative strategies to address this phenomenon. In this connection, careful consideration should be given to the findings and recommendations of the bodies established to investigate such links, including the Panel of Experts on the Illegal Exploitation of Natural Resources and Other Forms of Wealth of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Panel of Experts on Liberia and the Monitoring Mechanism on Sanctions against UNITA [in Angola]."

7. "The Council is encouraged to call upon relevant parties to conflicts under its consideration to recognize the importance of activities related to

disarmament, demobilization and reintegration in post-conflict situations, and of including such measures in the text of negotiated agreements. The Council is also urged to include in the mandate of peacekeeping operations clear provisions regarding the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of former combatants, as well as specific measures for the collection and disposal of illicit and/or surplus small arms and light weapons."

8. "The Council is further encouraged to consider strengthening the financing of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programmes through the expansion of measures covered under the budget for peacekeeping operations, thus ensuring that such activities are not entirely dependent upon voluntary contributions from member states."

9. "The Council should encourage states that have not already done so to establish the necessary legislative or other measures, including the use of authenticated end-user certificates, to ensure effective control over the export and transit of small arms and light weapons."

10. "The Council is called upon to pursue more vigorously and expeditiously the use of arms embargoes, under Article 41 of the Charter of the United Nations, to countries or regions threatened by, engaged in or emerging from armed conflict, and to promote their effective implementation. The Council is also called upon to give particular attention to the restriction of the supply of ammunition suitable for weapons already extensively available in such countries and regions."

11. "The Council may wish to consider coercive measures against member states that deliberately violate arms embargoes declared in respect of specific conflict areas. In this regard, the Council is encouraged to establish monitoring mechanisms, under each relevant Council resolution, to oversee their rigorous and comprehensive enforcement."

12. "Member states should be called upon to enhance transparency in armaments, including through universal and consistent participation in the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms and the United Nations standardized instrument for reporting military expenditures, and to undertake other confidence-building measures in defence and security matters."

Reports: Small Arms, report of the UN Secretary-General, S/2002/1053, September 20; Annan recommends measures to curb global scourge of small arms, UN News Service, September 25.

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