| EMINENT PERSONS GROUP “Small arms kill most people in most wars. These weapons must be brought under the control of States, with States being made accountable for their transfer.” Kofi Annan, UN-Secretary-General ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SMALL ARMS VIOLENCE: WILL GOVERNMENTS ACT? Meeting of the EPG with NGOs In support of a successful UN Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons Naval & Military Club, London, June 18, 2001 Chairs’ Report A meeting of international non-governmental organizations (NGOs), diplomats and former states-persons met in London on 18 June 2001 to review the Draft Programme of Action for the UN Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects. The meeting convened under the auspices of the Eminent Persons Group and was co-hosted by Lord David Owen, former UK Foreign Secretary and Member of the House of Lords, and Kate Gilmore, Interim Secretary-General of Amnesty International. The participants at the meeting urged that consideration be given by governments not to waste the historic opportunity at the UN Conference in New York from 9 to 20 July and to agree to a range of stronger concerted measures to stem the proliferation and misuse of small arms. The meeting heard that: ? New research shows the number of companies supplying small arms and related equipment had increased six-fold since the 1960s and the number of countries had doubled. Now, over 600 companies in 95 countries supply small arms and related equipment, mostly in the industrialized North, but significant production was also found in the South. ? Small arms were the primary choice of weapons in 47 of 49 post-Cold War conflicts where civilians have been the overwhelming majority of casualties. This situation is aggravated, in part, by the irresponsible supply of small arms from developed to developing countries, which are in conflict, especially transfers to non-state actors, such as criminals and terrorists. Small arms are also persistently used for repressive purposes in several countries not affected by war. Either way, most victims of small arms abuse are in the developing world. ? The excessive supply of inexpensive small arms heightens interstate conflict and organized violent crime. Increased availability of such weapons propels internal instabilities into regional conflicts, putting the nation-state system in jeopardy. This is compounded by the use of precious natural resources, such as diamonds, oil and precious metals to fuel the engines of war and annihilation to enrich the few. As a result, democracy, socio-economic development and human rights safeguards are put at long-term risk. Meeting participants welcomed the provisions in the Draft UN Programme of Action (United Nations document L.4/Rev.1) insofar as they encourage states to improve their effective control of small arms and light weapons. Meeting participants also welcomed the UN Secretary-General’s expressed commitment to achieving an effective outcome of the Conference. However, common concern was expressed that many of the provisions in the Draft Programme of Action still lack precision and conformity to existing international law. Thus, meeting participants called for the following improvements: ? Explicit recognition in the UN Programme of the need for government action to prevent the abuse of small arms by state agents, such as effective implementation of the existing UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials. Failure to do so only drives up demand for such weapons by non-state actors. ? Acknowledgement of the fact that automatic firearms (machinegun, assault rifle, sub-machinegun) do not have an accepted civilian role. Outside the military, these weapons are only used by certain police forces and a small number of specialized collectors and experts. The UN Conference should establish a minimum international standard that civilians should not be licenced to possess or hold such weapons. It is recognized that regulating civilian possession of small arms and light weapons is a matter of sovereign decision by states in accordance with international law. However, all states should ensure that regulations for civilian possession for hunting, sporting and other legitimate purposes need to be strict enough to prevent small arms proliferation and persistent abuse. Such regulations should not contradict or undermine the purpose or provisions of the UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials. ? Inclusion of normative language on State responsibility in the UN Programme to help ensure that small arms transfers and small arms use do not violate existing legal obligations and norms, especially under existing international law. The latter should expressly include international humanitarian and human rights law and UN Charter obligations to enforce UN arms embargoes. Provision should be made for the United Nations to establish a permanent structure, staffed with independent experts, to monitor the implementation of all UN arms embargoes. All states should be requested to impose criminal sanctions for anyone who acts in violation of any internationally agreed arms embargo. ? The UN Programme should include provisions to ensure the establishment without delay of international programs and standards for effective safeguards on authorized stocks of small arms and light weapons, and concrete measures to promote the responsible disposal and destruction of surplus and confiscated small arms and light weapons. ? The UN Programme should consolidate the existing calls for action contained in the Bamako Declaration of OAU; the Brasilia Declaration of Latin American and Caribbean States; the EU Code of Conduct, Programme for Action and European Parliament Resolution on the UN Conference, and the OSCE Document on Small Arms. The Draft Programme should also encourage international cooperation to support future regional initiatives. ? An international treaty for illicit small arms to be made traceable through marking and an agreed-upon information exchange mechanism. An effective tracing regime requires coherent international standards and procedures by states for marking, record-keeping and cooperation in tracing. The UN Programme should commit states at least to implement for small arms and light weapons the marking and record keeping provisions already agreed to in the UN Firearms Protocol in relation to firearms. It should further commit states to cooperate in tracing illicit and suspect small arms and light weapons, and to negiotiate a detailed international agreement on marking, record keeping and tracing of such arms which at least includes the following: 1. All small arms to be marked at time of manufacture. At a minimum, marking should be easily understandable and should include year and country of manufacture, the manufacturer’s name and a unique serial number. All marking should be done in a manner, which is recoverable. 2. All manufacturers to establish control procedures to avoid duplicate (identical) marks on firearms. 3. All manufacturers to establish procedures whereby records of what markings were applied to what firearms are kept for at least ten years. 4. All manufacturers to establish procedures whereby any request for tracing information from an appropriate law enforcement agency is responded to as soon as possible, but no later than 72 hours within receipt of the request. 5. All manufacturers to conduct an information exchange by (date) on their marking systems used in the manufacture and/ or import of small arms. 6. All manufacturers to make available for public scrutiny information on the manufacture, the marking of weapons, transfers and procurement of small arms. 7. All manufacturers to be subject to criminal prosecution and substantial fines for violations of this agreement. ? A provision in the UN Programme to negotiate an international treaty to help ensure the authorized trade in small arms is limited to governments and traders and brokers. Manufacturers should deal exclusively with traders and brokers authorized by competent national authority. ? International normative criteria for authorizing international transfers of small arms so that such transfers do not violate states’ existing obligations under international law. These shall include: a. Obligations arising under decisions of the UN Security Council; b. Obligations arising under international treaties by which the Contracting Parties are bound; c. Transfers of small arms the use of which is prohibited by international humanitarian law because they are incapable of distinguishing between combatants and civilians or are of a nature to cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering; and d. Obligations arising under customary international law. ? Methods to halt international transfers of small arms in circumstances in which there is a strong likelihood that the arms would: a. Be used in violation of the prohibition on: the threat or use of force; threat to the peace; breach of the peace or acts of aggression; unlawful interference in the internal affairs of a State; b. Be used to commit serious violations of human rights; c. Be used to commit serious violations of international humanitarian law applicable to international or non-international armed conflict; d. Be used to commit acts of genocide or crimes against humanity; e. Be diverted and used to commit any of the acts referred to in the preceding sub-paragraphs. ? Methods to halt international transfers of small arms in circumstances in which there are reasonable grounds for considering that the transfer in question would: a. Be used for or to facilitate the commission of violent crimes; b. Adversely affect political stability or regional security; c. Adversely affect sustainable development; or d. Be diverted and used in a manner contrary to the preceding sub-paragraphs. ? The UN Programme should encourage industry and commerce in small arms and light weapons to enter into self-regulation agreements on the basis of the recommendations set forth in the preceding paragraphs without precluding the essential need for strict government regulation or to assist in the drafting of such agreements. ? The UN Programme should include specific provision for concerted international assistance schemes to help governments improve law enforcement and other means of controlling small arms, including customs and aviation control. Such schemes should be designed with public awareness programmes and take full account of the societal dynamics of violent conflict and the impact that the abuse of small arms and light weapons has on human lives, community safety and sustainable development. ? The UN Programme should encourage the full and active participation of civil society organizations and the development of NGO expertise to analyze, formulate policy, monitor, plan, and implement initiatives which would prevent, reduce and curb the illicit trade and abuse of small arms and light weapons. The participants called for the full participatory inclusion of civil society organizations in the UN Conference proceedings and follow-on, especially in monitoring the implementation of the UN Programme. The participants agreed to communicate their concerns to as many governments as possible before the UN Conference. William Eteki Mboumoua Kate Gilmore Former Secretary General, Interim Secretary-General, Organization of African Unity Amnesty International David Owen, Michel Rocard House of Lords Chairman, Employment and Social Affairs Committee, European Parliament |
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