News Review Special Edition

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International Developments, February 1 - April 1, 2003

Meetings Consider Regional Small Arms Crises

The period under review saw three regional meetings convened to discuss the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons (SALW).

In Brdo pri Kranju, Slovenia, on March 11, a 'Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects in South-Eastern Europe' was attended by 100 participants from 40 states. The meeting was organised by the UN Department of Disarmament Affairs (DDA) and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). According to a UN Press Release (March 17): "South-Eastern Europe has been heavily affected by excessive flows and accumulations of small arms as a result of past conflicts. For that reason, the subregion is actively committed to implementing the Programme of Action adopted by the 2001 United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms, as well as the OSCE Document on Small Arms and Light Weapons of November 2, 2000. Member states of the subregion are taking national measures, adopting relevant laws and regulations, and contributing to regional and subregional discussions at the political and technical or expert level. ... Participants, including civil society, shared experiences and lessons... An important theme of the Conference was that regional and subregional instruments dealing with the illicit trade in small arms complement each other, and their implementation supports the overall efforts of the United Nations on the subject."

Addressing the Conference on March 11, Jayantha Dhanapala, UN Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs, set the meeting in its grim, global context: "While the pursuit of such arms may well reflect conflicts that are deeply rooted in the social and political fabric of states, this illicit market does have its own independent effects upon the scope, duration and human impact of such conflicts. ... Over the years, both supply and demand pressures have caused legal arms exports to grow and burgeoning stockpiles have made it difficult for many states to prevent the diversion of arms to illicit markets. While an estimated 639 million small arms are in circulation, over 40 percent of the companies producing small arms are in Europe. There is also a thriving illicit international trade in small arms and light weapons that has had the effect of perpetuating intra-state wars, increasing the risk of terrorism, setting back economic development, and contributing to the deaths of thousands upon thousands of civilians."

On March 18, the UN Security Council met to discuss the theme of "Proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons and the Phenomenon of Mercenaries: Threats to Peace and Security in West Africa". Opening the meeting, Secretary-General Kofi Annan commented: "I would like to thank the Security Council for focusing its attention - even at this critical moment when all of our minds are on Iraq - on a subject which is of great important to the welfare and well-being of millions of people in another region of the world". Annan continued: "The easy availability of small arms and light weapons is strongly linked with the dramatic rise in the victimization of women and children and with the phenomenon of child soldiers. Light automatic weapons can be carried and fired by children as young as nine or 10. This link is particularly evident in West Africa, where the conflicts in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and now in Côte d'Ivoire, have been fuelled in no small part by unregulated trade in small arms - often paid for with the proceeds from the illicit exploitation of natural resources."

The Council unanimously adopted resolution 1467, calling, inter alia, on states in the region to "consider" acting on six recommendations designed to "contribute to the more effective implementation" of the Moratorium on Small Arms first declared by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in October 1998. The six recommendations are: 1) "broadening of the Moratorium to include an information exchange mechanism for all types of small arms procured by ECOWAS member states as well as for arms transfers by supplier countries"; 2) "enhancement of transparency in armaments, including through the establishment of an ECOWAS register that would record national inventories of small arms and light weapons"; 3) "strengthening of national Commissions set up to oversee implementation of the Moratorium"; 4) building "the capacity of the ECOWAS Secretariat"; 5) "computerization of aircraft registration lists to ensure better monitoring of airspace"; 6) "introduction of a standardized end-user certificate for imported weapons".

A UN Regional Seminar on Small Arms and Light Weapons was held in Bali, Indonesia, on February 10-11. The meeting, attended by 30 Asia-Pacific countries, was opened by Sudjadnan Parnohadiningrat, a senior Indonesian Foreign Ministry official, who told delegates: "For us, the link between small arms and terrorism has become self-evident... Furthermore, the illicit flow of these weapons has enabled armed separatist and insurgent groups in our region to challenge the authority of legitimate governments and thereby disrupt law and order".

Reports: Indonesia urges action as UN seminar on illegal weapons opens, Associated Press, February 10; Conference on illicit small arms trade in south-eastern Europe concludes, UN Press Release DC/2857, March 17; UN-OSCE Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects in South Eastern Europe, opening remarks by Jayantha Dhanapala, UN Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs, March 11, UN website, http://disarmament.un.org; Unless adequately addressed, proliferation of small arms, mercenaries will continue to pose severe threat to West Africa, Secretary-General says, UN Press Release SG/SM/8641, March 18; Security Council calls for strengthened cooperation in West Africa to counter small arms trafficking, UN Press Release SC/7694, March 18.

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