TWO-DAY INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON ILLICIT TRAFFICKING IN SMALL ARMS IN AFRICA BEGINS TODAY IN LOM+, TOGO
Press Release
DC/2655
TWO-DAY INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON ILLICIT TRAFFICKING IN SMALL ARMS IN AFRICA BEGINS TODAY IN LOMÉ, TOGO
19990802 NEW YORK, 30 July (Department for Disarmament Affairs) -- Delegates from all African countries and representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and research institutions will begin three days of deliberations Monday, 2 August, at the Hôtel 2 Février in Lomé on "Illicit Trafficking in Small Arms in Africa". This conference, organized by the Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa of the Department for Disarmament Affairs, is being convened pursuant to United Nations General Assembly resolution 53/77 T of 4 December 1998, which calls on the United Nations Secretary-General to carry out broad-based consultations on the issue of illicit trafficking in small arms.The Lomé meeting has a threefold objective, as follows:
1. Broaden understanding of the phenomenon of illicit trade in small arms in terms of its scope and magnitude in Africa;
2. Invite African States, human rights groupings, NGOs and other civil society organizations to propose comprehensive mechanisms for the putting in place of a coordinated policy of restraint; and
3. Invite African States to define and delimit the role of the United Nations in dealing with the problem posed by illicit trade in small arms.
For three days, participants to the Lomé conference are expected to:
-- Elaborate concrete and practical guidelines for stemming the influx of small arms to Africa; and
-- Propose strategies for collecting and destroying surplus guns, where possible.
About 40 per cent of the worldwide flow of small arms (semi-automatic guns, machine guns, light mortars, landmines, grenades and light missiles, etc.) is attributed to illicit trafficking, often in contravention of existing embargoes, serving warlords, drug traffickers, terrorists and other criminals. They are the weapons with which armed conflict, war, massacres and all forms of ethnic cleansing and human rights violations have been perpetrated since
the end of the cold war and, consequently, pose a major threat to peace and harmony in Africa. In West Africa alone, it is estimated that over 2 million people have been killed by small arms since 1990 (90 per cent of them civilians and 80 per cent of that lot being either women or children).
Five hundred million light weapons, of which 55 million are Kalashnikovs, are currently in circulation in the world. Seven million of them are in circulation in West Africa alone, coming from the over 70 countries that are officially listed as manufacturers of light weapons at this moment.
Background Information
Light weapons have become the instruments of choice for the mayhem and violence wrought by armed gangs, terrorists, cross-border criminals and warlords in Africa given that they need little training to use, are easily available and are very cheap. One study found that an AK-47 sells on the illicit or black market in Uganda for less than $10, the price of a chicken.
Largely as a result of the illicit trade in small arms, Africa remains at war with itself. Of the 25 major conflicts (one which has incurred the battle-related deaths of 1,000 people) identified worldwide in 1997, all new ones were located in Africa. Four of these conflicts (in Burundi, Congo- Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Senegal, in connection with the protracted conflict over the territory of Casamance, started in 1982) reached the threshold of 1,000 death in 1997.
Besides the loss in human life, a direct consequence of the dozen conflicts currently under way in Africa is that scarce resources have been diverted away from more pressing socio-economic development needs into military expenditure. Though falling, defence spending for Africa still stood at a staggering $760 billion in 1997, according to the authoritative Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Some African countries at war spend as much as 50 per cent of their national budgets on war equipment.
The Lomé conference on "Illicit Trafficking in Small Arms" is part of growing momentum in Africa in favour of peace, conflict prevention, surplus arms destruction, and disarmament. Preceding events include, but are not limited to:
-- The decision taken in mid-July at the thirty-fifth Summit of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) holding in Algiers, to convene a regional conference in the year 2000 on small arms, whose objective would be to make recommendations on steps to solve problems related to the use, transfer and illegal manufacturing of small arms in Africa;
-- The destruction in Monrovia, Liberia, on 26 July, of a stockpile of 31,000 arms and over 2 million ammunition, burned in a "Flame of Hope" and
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followed the next day by a "Liberian Peace Forum" during which a Peace Education Curriculum for schools and colleges of the country was launched;
-- The signing in Lomé, Togo, in early July, of a peace accord between the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) of Foday Sankoh and the Government of Sierra Leone under the auspices of President Eyadema in his capacity as current Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Authority of Heads of State and Government; the accord provides, among other measures, for power-sharing and a special status for Mr. Sankoh, besides the destruction of weapons surrendered by ex-combatants and on other issues relating to civil administration, constitutional arrangements, electoral process, humanitarian assistance and the reform of the security forces; and
-- The declaration, effective since 1 November 1998, of a three-year renewable Moratorium on Light Weapons by ECOWAS Member States.
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