PRESS CONFERENCE BY SMALL ARMS PANEL

Press Briefing

PRESS CONFERENCE BY SMALL ARMS PANEL

At a Headquarters press conference this morning, Mitsuro Donowaki, Chairman of the Panel of Governmental Experts on Small Arms and Special Assistant to the Foreign Minister of Japan, presented the Panel's report to correspondents. It had been presented to the Secretary-General earlier in the day.

The report was adopted by consensus by the 16-member Panel on 18 July, Mr. Donowaki said. In drawing it up, the Panel had benefited greatly from three regional workshops held in Africa, Central America and South Asia, as those were the regions with an excessive accumulation and circulation of small arms. Further, a total of 70 experts from around the world had provided input to the Panel for the report.

The Panel had decided not to deal with the question of anti-personnel land-mines in its report, he said. While those mines definitely constituted a part of small arms, questions relating to them were being dealt with in other forums. Further, the Panel had decided to concentrate on military-type weapons only. That decision had been influenced by the fact that the Economic and Social Council's Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice was focusing on arms for civilian use.

Mr. Donowaki said military-type small arms had led to crimes in post-conflict areas. When 12 years of internal war ended in El Salvador in 1992, a total of 75,000 people had been killed. Today, 8,000 people were being killed each year in that country by small arms and light weapons used in criminal activities. At that rate, a total of 100,000 people would be killed in 12 years. The question of small arms and light weapons was closely related to that of illicit trafficking.

Touching on some of the salient aspects of the report, Mr. Donowaki said most of the small arms and light weapons in question were old weapons which had been supplied by cold war parties to their clients. The number of assault rifles alone produced between the years 1945 and 1990 was estimated at between 55 million to 72 million.

The report also dealt with the nature and causes of the accumulation of small arms, he said. Some Panel members were of the view that such accumulations were the result of internal conflicts. Other members believed they were due to the easy availability of such arms, which often exacerbated conflicts. The report, which balanced those two views, contained a set of recommendations on measures to reduce the excessive accumulation and transfer of small arms and light weapons in specific regions of the world where such accumulations and transfers had already taken place.

Small Arms Briefing - 2 - 7 August 1997

During Panel discussions, it had been suggested that a regional register of small arms should be set up, Mr. Donowaki said. The United Nations weapons register covered only major weapons. Further, it was difficult to register small arms because they numbered in the millions. In Central America alone there were 2 million such arms. In Afghanistan, there were 10 million, while in West Africa, there were 7 million. Therefore, the Panel had recommended the establishment of a regional network for information sharing.

The report also recommended that all States exercise restraint in the transfer of surplus of small arms and light weapons manufactured solely for use by military and police forces, Mr. Donowaki said. It recommended that all States consider the possibility of destroying all surplus of such weapons. Although many countries which had surplus were tempted to sell, the Panel's recommendation was to exercise restraint.

The need to safeguard storage facilities was also underlined, he said. It was recommended that the United Nations consider the possibility of holding an international conference on illicit arms trade in all its aspects. Also, the United Nations was asked to initiate studies, particularly on the establishment of a database of authorized manufacturers and dealers.

Asked about the Panel's recommendation on surplus arms, Mr. Donowaki said the term "surplus of small arms and light weapons" indicated those serviceable and unserviceable small arms and light weapons held in stockpile by military and police forces. The definition of "surplus weapons" included illicit weapons seized by the forces for which they no longer had a need.

Did the Panel advocate curtailing the production of small arms? a correspondent asked. Mr. Donowaki said the production of small arms had been decreasing since the end of the cold war. As a result, the question of surplus arms had acquired importance.

Was the Panel concerned, about specific nations which were producing small arms? a correspondent asked. Mr. Donowaki said the Panel was not only concerned about traditional producers but also about the increasing numbers of licensed producers located near or within conflict areas. The major countries in south Asia, India and Pakistan, were producers. Afghanistan was continuously supplied with weapons from such surpluses.

Had the question of encouraging arms manufacturers to convert to other areas of production been addressed by the Panel? a correspondent asked. Mr. Donowaki said the question had come up but had not been included in the report.

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