PRESS CONFERENCE ON SMALL ARMS

"Africa is bleeding from the humanitarian toll inflicted by small arms", a representative of Nigeria to the Preparatory Committee for the United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects told correspondents this afternoon at a press conference organized by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and sponsored by the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA).

Dr. Sola Ogunbanwo, Nigeria's delegate to the second preparatory committee meeting and a member of the Eminent Persons Group on Small Arms, was joined by Lieutenant Colonel Jan Kamenju of the Security, Research and Information Centre in Kenya; Mayda de Leon Wantland of the Institute of Education for Sustainable Development in Guatemala; Kathi Austin of the Fund for Peace; and the Director of IANSA, Sally Joss.

Of some 7.8 million people killed by small arms and light weapons in Africa's regional conflicts, 2 million were children, Dr. Ogunbanwo continued.  Also, as a result of the use of small arms in African conflicts, some 4 to

5 million children had been disabled; 12 million left homeless; and 1 million orphaned or separated from their families.  According to UNICEF estimates, in 30 recent conflicts alone, some 250,000 children had ended up as child combatants, he added.

"A whole generation of African children is being inducted into a culture of violence marked by violent death and injury, with dire psychological consequences", Dr. Ogunbanwo said.  Good governance, human rights, economic development, political stability, social justice and peace were being undermined by an overabundance of small arms and light weapons.

Dr. Ogunbanwo was pleased to note that the second session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2001 Conference on illicit small arms had advanced a plan of action for the Conference and its aftermath.  Ensuring the success of the Conference would require close collaboration, he added.

Understanding of the magnitude of small arms in Africa, particularly in Eastern Africa, was nascent, Dr. Kamenju, of the Security, Research and Information Centre in Kenya, told correspondents.  Yet, while research on the use of small arms was limited, the problem of small arms was mammoth. 

In Africa, the proliferation of small arms posed serious threats to daily life, he said.  Domestic thieves were often armed with small arms.  In Nairobi, car-jacking had become the "order of the day", he added.  Last year, 14 car-jackings had taken place in one day alone.  Cattle rustling, the practice of stealing domestic animals using firearms had become rampant in pastoral communities in Africa.  Afraid of armed robbery, businesses in Nairobi closed at dusk.  As a result, robberies were now happening in broad daylight, he added. 

Individual freedom of movement had also been curtailed because of personal security concerns, Mr. Kamenju continued.  Development could not take place in Africa unless the dangers posed by small arms were addressed.

Weapons left over from Guatemala's civil war continued to take lives, the representative of the Guatemalan non-governmental organization, Institute of Education for Sustainable Development, Mayda de Leon Wantland, told journalists.  A strong link existed between the proliferation of these weapons and violence.  There was urgent need to collect the some 2 million weapons illegally circulating in Guatemala.  "Legislation in that regard was weak and was not very well respected", she added.  Therefore, legislation must be reformed, weapons collected and destroyed and public information programmes undertaken.  International cooperation was essential to those efforts.

The current crisis surrounding the transition to power after the death of the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Laurent Kabila, illustrated the urgency with which the 2001 Conference must address the issue of small arms, Kathi Austin of the Fund for Peace said.  Having studied small arms networks and arms flows to Central Africa for the past six years, she added that the crisis was due in part to the saturation of weapons in that part of Africa.  She first came across Mr. Kabila in 1996, who was at that time a local arms trafficker.  Once he assumed power, Mr. Kabila turned his back on those who had provided him with weapons and backed him militarily.  Much insecurity resulted in the Great Lakes region of Africa, and Mr. Kabila continued to arm elements that threatened neighbouring countries.  Those countries, in turn, backed elements in the Congo and the Great Lakes region.  "What we see today is that one of the major political figure in the region -- Kabila -- was a man who came to power by the gun, and died by the gun", she said.

On the collection and destruction of weapons, did the Preparatory Committee's draft programme of action adequately address concerns? a correspondent asked.

Many things were not yet clear about what would be in the revised version of the document submitted by the Chairman of the Preparatory Committee, Dr. Ogunbanwo said.  While he did not wish to speak for the Chairman, he thought that he would include measures on weapons collection and destruction.  He believed that there would be provision for weapons collection and destruction, as well as modalities for providing international cooperation and assistance for countries in need. 

Ms. Austin believed that the Chairman had tried to address two major points:  the effective implementation of United Nations arms embargoes and possibly binding mechanisms to control illicit arms brokers.  Both of those instruments would be useful.  Although many of the nuances were yet to be determined, she had seen encouraging evidence of much political will to address issues.  If there had been an effective United Nations arms embargo against Rwanda at the time of the genocide, for example, much of the current crisis in the Great Lakes today would perhaps not be as grave.  If national governments in conjunction with international law enforcement efforts had mechanisms to deal with the problem of illicit arms brokers, there would not have been as many illicit arms transfers to the Great Lakes region.

One of the big issues in eastern Africa was the availability of information on confiscation of weapons from criminals, Mr. Kamenju added.  The Governments of Kenya and Rwanda had indicated to him that they were willing to list the collection of weapons and possibly ask for the technical and financial resources to facilitate the destruction of those weapons.

Responding to a question on how the law in Guatemala should be amended,

Ms. Wantland said that there should be firmer restrictions on how to obtain licenses to carry and own weapons.  The law should also establish what would be done with the seized weapons.  In terms of Central America, while Guatemala's law was relatively broad, it was not well respected.

Had the Preparatory Committee put the Conference on the right track? a correspondent asked.

Dr. Ogunbanwo said that although preparations for the Conference had started out slowly, they had now picked up pace.  The Chairman would be presenting a document, reflecting the views of Member States, including inputs from civil society.  He congratulated the Chairman for making the revised document available by 9 February.  The Chairman had also asked Member States and regions to begin consultation on that document so that by the time of the third preparatory committee, their comments would be available.  The Chairman had already put the Conference on the right track.

It was good that non-governmental organizations (NGOs) had been able to address the preparatory committee, Mr. Kamenju added.  NGOs were looking forward to taking part in decisions, and they had much to contribute.

Responding to a question on the current situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ms. Austin said many foreign governments had been reluctant to address the issue while the crisis was still unfolding.  There was still concern about what the actual transition of leadership would look like.  There were still some questions as to whether Mr. Kabila's inner circle would continue along military lines or whether it would take the opportunity to explore better initiatives towards a more peaceful and democratic transition.  While many foreign governments were hoping that it might create an opportunity for a better way forward, the crisis needed to be addressed in the Security Council because of the role of the internationally brokered Lusaka peace agreement and the United Nations peacekeeping operation.

Dr. Ogunbanwo said that the situation of conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and many other conflicts had shown the link between small arms and conflict.  The conference was, therefore, well suited to pronounce on some aspects of the crisis.  He would like to see underscored in the Conference's political declaration the point that governments should not send arms to regions in conflict.  The programme of action should also refer to the issue of conflict resolution.  Resolving conflicts reduced demand for arms.  The link between security and development must also be addressed.

In response to a question on licit and illicit trade, Dr. Ogunbanwo said the issue of linkage between the two was sensitive and should be dealt with carefully.  The Bamako Declaration on Small Arms, adopted by the Organization of African

Unity (OAU) in December 2000, was a good example of the fact that although illicit arms might be the dominant agenda, there were also ways to bring in the issue of legal arms.  A section in the political declaration saying that arms should not be sent to areas of conflict should not pose a problem for any delegation.  The issue of licit trade could be dealt with in an innocent language.  Prevention of the diversion of licit arms to illicit activity was, in his view, an innocent expression. 

From the NGO perspective, Mr. Kamenju said that most of illicit arms come from licit arms acquired by those entitled to them.  The line between licit and illicit was very thin.  In the case of some African conflicts, where governments could

change overnight, the military, police and security agents were suddenly no longer parts of that government.  What was licit yesterday might become illicit today.  Moreover, new governments came in with their own weapons.  In his view, if illicit arms were looked at, licit arms must also be included.

Ms. Austin said that many NGOS saw the preparatory committee as an important step forward.  The committee provided an opportunity for negotiation of issues.  While some were nervous about possible outcomes, NGOs had been pleased that they had been granted access to delegates.  Some delegations had come well prepared, and others were still in the learning process.  Preparatory committees were used to bring some delegations up to speed.  In the NGO community, it was be imperative that the lowest common denominator did not surface from both the preparatory committee and the final conference.  NGOs would like to push for binding principles, norms and mechanisms for key issues, including strengthening United Nations arms embargoes.  NGO participation would remain steadfast in achieving the best possible outcome from the Conference.

Ms. Wantland said that it was extremely important that the Conference focus both on illegal and legal aspects of the arms trade.  She hoped that those two aspects would not be divided.

How would the change in the United States administration affect the third preparatory committee meeting and the Conference? a correspondent asked.

Ms. Austin replied that she was nervous about the current change, as the National Rifle Association had remarked that they intended to have an office at the White House.  That sent a certain amount of fear throughout the NGO community.  In her view, many United States NGOs put more pressure on the United States Government to adhere to many of the efforts in the run up to the preparatory committee where the United States had taken good steps to address some key issues around illicit arms trade.  She was hoping that the United States did not go back on its positions and the gains it had already made. 

Concluding the press conference, Sally Joss said that there was no time to waste.  Urgent action was needed to curb the flow of small arms.  IANSA placed great importance on international efforts and supported the 2001 United Nations Conference.

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