PRESS CONFERENCE BY FOREIGN MINISTER OF NETHERLANDS

Press Briefing

PRESS CONFERENCE BY FOREIGN MINISTER OF NETHERLANDS

Small arms posed big challenges to everyone, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, Jozias Van Aartsen, told correspondents this afternoon at a Headquarters press conference.

The Foreign Minister was joined by the Under-Secretary General for Disarmament Affairs, Jayantha Dhanapala, as well as by Loretta Bondi and Eugenia Piza-Lopez of the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA).

Mr. Van Aartsen outlined four main reasons that had compelled his Government, along with civil groups such as IANSA, to seek placement of small arms on the agenda of the Security Council. The first was the enormous challenge that small arms posed to disarmament, peace-building, crime prevention and development. Second, there was a need for voluntary moratoriums on arms exports to tension zones and regions in conflict. The European Union countries had already agreed to refrain from such exports, but the Council's role in encouraging other countries to do so was vital.

Furthermore, to prevent small arms from causing additional suffering after a conflict had ended, the Netherlands would press for the inclusion of provisions dealing with disarmament, demobilization and the reintegration of former combatants in the mandates of United Nations peacekeeping operations, the Foreign Minister explained.

He said the fourth reason to bring the issue before the Security Council was to strengthen the implementation of Council arms embargoes. One way to do that was to reform the Sanctions Committees currently in force and to centralize them by establishing a single organ responsible for the day-to-day supervision of all embargoes. Although tomorrow's debate in the Council would have provided an excellent opportunity to draw the United Nations attention to the valuable contribution of civil society in general, and IANSA in particular, to efforts to control small arms, IANSA would not be able to participate. The Netherlands, however, would ensure that IANSA's voice was heard.

The Under-Secretary General for Disarmament Affairs, Jayantha Dhanapala, said that although the Council had referred to the small arms problem in various resolutions, the meeting tomorrow was the first ministerial session exclusively devoted to the subject. That was recognition of the impact of small arms on international peace and security. The Department for Disarmament Affairs had a very fruitful relationship with IANSA, which had produced many useful studies. IANSA had also briefed members of the Coordinating Action on Small Arms (CASA), the mechanism the Secretary-General set up last year to ensure a coherence of action in support of the Organization's work in the area of small arms.

In addition, he said, the General Assembly was currently considering a number of reports on small arms, and it was likely that a preparatory committee would be established for the 2001 conference on the illicit trafficking of small arms in all its aspects.

Small Arms Press Conference - 2 - 23 September 1999

Mr. Dhanapala also said that the United Nations was already engaged in a number of weapon collection and destruction programs. One in Albania had been extremely successful. Michael Douglas, the Messenger of Peace appointed by the Secretary- General in the area of disarmament, would be visiting Albania in October to continue his advocacy in the area of small arms. The use of small arms was a serious impediment to development work in a number of countries, and the link between disarmament and development, which had been dramatized by the Albanian experiment, must be borne in mind.

Ms. Bondi of IANSA drew attention to the horrors of the proliferation and misuse of small arms. From Rwanda to East Timor, atrocities had been committed against civilians at “small gunpoint”. But for far too long, small arms had been the "Cinderella" of debates on how to reduce weapons proliferation. Non- governmental organizations (NGOs) around the world had recognized that omission. IANSA's aim was to curb the proliferation of the availability and use of small arms. The complexity of the problem had brought together a variety of NGO participants from North and South, whose concerns ranged from human rights to humanitarian relief, from development to victims' assistance.

She said that the task ahead was daunting, but IANSA was part of the answer. The other part was the role of governments and other organizations such as the United Nations. Governments were ultimately responsible for both the arms transferred by them or transacted commercially. They were responsible, therefore, for putting into place controls that precluded abusers from receiving small arms, as well as for those arms transmitted through their territories. Around the world, arms export controls were very patchwork -- some were very strict, others were quite lax. The 2001 conference was an excellent opportunity for binding governments to their own responsibility.

The NGO community had been advocating the exercise of such responsibility for a long time, and would continue to do so, she said. Recently, a United Nations Panel of Experts on Small Arms had also exhorted Member States to exercise maximum restraint in arms transfers. The members of the Security Council accounted for 85 per cent of arms exports in the world. The Council debate, therefore, would offer an excellent opportunity to test the political will of the world's most important body to address the scourge of small arms abuse. Moreover, that body should take the lead in ensuring that the small arms conference would give the participants the "go-ahead" to negotiate agreements that would bind governments to act responsibly in arms transfers. Such agreements would give notice to arms abusers that the pipelines are drying up.

Asked about violations of arms embargoes, Mr. Van Aartsen agreed that the implementation of embargoes should be strengthened and made more effective. A centralizing of embargo committees currently operating within the framework of the United Nations could greatly help.

To a question concerning the issue of surplus stocks of small arms being "dumped" into conflict zones, Mr. Van Aartsen clarified that the Dutch Defence Ministry had recently embarked on a programme of destroying its surplus arms and planned to export that idea.

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Asked about the credibility of Michael Douglas -- an actor who often played roles which glorified violence -- as a Messenger of Peace, Mr. Dhanapala said that such appointments were the prerogative of the Secretary-General, and that what an actor did in the world of fiction might be quite apart from personal conviction.

A final question addressed the United Nations lack of an intelligence- gathering system. Mr. Van Aartsen agreed that the question of knowledge and information was key in arms control, and that every method to improve the situation of small arms was a good idea for discussion at the 2001 conference.

In conclusion, Mr. Van Aartsen stressed his hope that the conference would result in a legally binding convention.

Ms. Bondi added that great progress had already been made; three years ago, small arms had been on nobody's radar screen. Now, a partnership was emerging between like-minded governments, international organizations and NGOs.

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