PRESS BRIEFING BY UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR DISARMAMENT AFFAIRS

Press Briefing

PRESS BRIEFING BY UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR DISARMAMENT AFFAIRS

The issue of small arms was rapidly becoming a very important item on the disarmament agenda, the Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs, Jayantha Dhanapala, told a Headquarters press briefing this afternoon. A group of 21 countries would be meeting in Oslo today and tomorrow to discuss issues connected with the subject of small arms and light weapons, he added.

In particular, those countries would be addressing the question of having a conference on combating the illicit traffic of small arms, he continued. That subject was one of the recommendations made in the study of the Group on Small Arms, which was presented at the last General Assembly session and which was the subject of resolution 52/38 J.

Mr. Dhanapala said his Department's solidly based mandate to undertake work on small arms and light weapons was a task that by no means crowded out the Department's substantive mandate to address issues on weapons of mass destruction, particularly nuclear issues. That remained the focus of the Department's activity, but given the realities of the contemporary situation, the mandate regarding small arms had to be addressed.

In that context, the Department had submitted to the Senior Management Group on 24 June a paper on the subject of Coordinating Action on Small Arms, he went on to say. The Department intended that there should be a focal point to coordinate all action on small arms on a United Nations system-wide basis, in recognition of the fact that there were humanitarian, human rights, developmental and security concerns in the use of small arms in conflicts.

He said the Department intended to have the first meeting on small arms action coordination, involving many United Nations departments and agencies, on 4 August. The Secretary-General had approved the Department's role as a focal point and a clearing house for all relevant ideas and initiatives.

Turning to his recent mission to Albania, Mr. Dhanapala said that the Government of that country had asked the Secretary-General for the assistance of the Secretariat in devising a programme of weapons collection from the civilian population. While realizing that the Kosovo conflict had an impact on that exercise, it was clear to the mission that there was a widespread commitment to the policy of weapons collection, notwithstanding the Kosovo situation.

It was also clear to the mission that a national consensus needed to be built, Mr. Dhanapala added. For that purpose, it was absolutely necessary to launch a public awareness campaign using the media, teachers and non- governmental organizations (NGOs). The mission was able to meet with a wide

cross-section of Albanian society, including members of the opposition, NGOs and members of diplomatic missions.

He said that a weapons buy-back programme was not feasible mainly for economic reasons, as it would be highly inflationary to send so much money into the Albanian economy in buying back weapons taken from government depots. There was also a sense that such a programme would be seen as rewarding unauthorized possession of weapons, and there was no guarantee that such a measure would not perpetuate the problem.

The Under-Secretary-General said it was, therefore, decided to link the weapons collection programme with development incentives, in view of the level of development in Albania and the high percentage of youth unemployment. That interface of disarmament and development would be of practical benefit to villagers and communities and also to job training programmes that would equip the country's youth for productive enterprises in the future.

He said the mission's proposal met with widespread encouragement, both from Albania's leadership, as well as from the people. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) stood ready to begin a pilot project. The Government was also committed not only to a weapons collection programme, but also to ensuring that weapons collected were destroyed as a symbolic action on its part to de-weaponize Albanian society, as happened in Mali some years ago.

At the same time, the Government appreciated that the entire exercise should be within a larger legal framework, Mr. Dhanapala said. While unauthorized weapons possession was ended, the legal right of civilians to own arms should be considered, as happened in many countries. The law would permit existing arms to be retained by the people, while unauthorized weapons would be collected.

Another problem broached to the mission was that of the depots, he said. A historical feature of Albania was the spread of about 1,500 depots containing arms and ammunition. As a reaction to the incidents of the previous year, the Government had mined the depots in various parts of the country. They were unapproachable and, in the summer heat, they ran the risk of exploding. The issue was outside the immediate terms of the mission's reference, but bilateral negotiations were ongoing to solve the problem, and the mission would support that.

By and large, the recommendation contained in the report was for a nationwide programme, he said. It should be one lifted above adversarial politics, seen as a process of consolidating democracy in Albania, an attempt to de-politicize and de-weaponize the Albanian society.

An advocacy programme clearly had to precede actual collection, Mr. Dhanapala said. As many groups as possible had to be included in supporting the programme. The recommendation was to start with a pilot

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project in the Gramshi district. There would be detailed discussions with the UNDP on implementing it.

In response to questions regarding weapons trafficking in Kosovo, Mr. Dhanapala said that even before the situation in Kosovo erupted, an estimated 650,000 weapons were said to have been taken from the government depots. About 30 per cent were estimated to have leaked to other parts, not only to Kosovo, but to Macedonia and elsewhere. There were always porous borders in Albania where the weapons were going. However, in talking to the people at the grass-roots level in Gramshi, the villagers themselves, notwithstanding the Kosovo situation, stood ready to collect the weapons and surrender them voluntarily to the authorities. Clearly, closer to Kosovo, there were difficulties because it was mountainous, and there was a closer tie to support what was happening in Kosovo. However, the situation at the border did not indicate a great amount of arms going over at present.

Was this the first time the United Nations had been asked to provide such a multifaceted programme to disarm a country from inside? a correspondent asked. There had been many weapons collections programmes in many countries, but this was the first in which civilians were involved. That was the special feature of the Albanian weapons collection programme.

Asked to elaborate on the pilot project, Mr. Dhanapala said the Gramshi district was about 200 kilometres from Tirana. It was a test case and, depending on success, a nationwide programme would be undertaken. Gramshi was chosen because the size of the district and its population of 50,000 was deemed to be a manageable size. The district accounted for roughly 8 to 10 per cent of the weapons and ammunition. The unemployment level, the level of economic development and local sentiment indicated that road-building was needed. Instead of destroying weapons in situ, it was decided to transport them to collection centres and create a road-building project that would employ people and use local material.

To accomplish those elements of the programme, a public awareness component would involve local teachers and students, he said. The public commitment to assist the eight communes in Gramshi would be fulfilled in concert with the leadership and with the UNDP. The UNDP was already actively involved in Albania, and a number of World Bank projects, especially in microcredit, were in progress. The World Bank was considered for involvement in the weapons collection programme. Asked by another correspondent to give a ballpark estimate of the cost, Mr. Dhanapala said it depended on variables, so no estimate could be made.

Mr. Dhanapala said United Nations involvement in the weapons programme had been welcomed by Dr. Sali Berisha, Chairman of the Democratic Party. He expressed his commitment in principle to the programme objective and pledged his cooperation and support. The United Nations involvement gave him confidence that the programme would be conducted in an objective and impartial

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manner. His permission was sought to go public,and a press conference was held in Tirana. He wanted to make it clear that he supported the United Nations goal in this matter.

One point Dr. Berisha had emphasized was the need to legalize the possession of weapons because there was a long tradition of weapons in the hands of civilians in Albania, Mr. Dhanapala said. Thus, the distinction was made between those weapons and the unauthorized possession that arose as a result of event last year. The law was an important element that satisfied Dr. Berisha's concern, and the Albanian authorities were encouraged to discuss their draft law with the opposition, since it involved the registration of weapons in the hands of civilians before 1997. There should be a consensus when the draft law went to Parliament.

Was it customary for a mission to accept funding from a government? a correspondent asked, referring to the funding by the Italian Government. "Yes, because the project is looked upon as a practical disarmament measure", Mr. Dhanapala said. Under a General Assembly resolution, a group of interested parties had convened and established a trust fund to finance practical disarmament measures. The Albania project was one of those, and Italy had contributed money to finance the evaluation mission itself. On the actual weapons collection programme, a great deal of financial support would be needed. Once UNDP help come up with an estimate, the intent was to go back to the international community through the group of interested States and to raise the funding to finance the programme.

The background to the weapons landing in the hands of civilians was the collapse of the pyramid savings scheme, Mr. Dhanapala said in response to a question on what kinds of civilians had the arms. The sense of panic led the people to storm the depots and take the weapons. Information indicated the weapons were largely held by civilians. Many, especially in the rural areas, were unemployed. The weapons were a means of wealth for trade or barter. Many weapons were buried in the ground or hidden in trees outside the homes themselves. It was estimated that only 10 per cent of the weapons had fallen into criminal hands.

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