EuropaWorld 19/1/2001 Small Arms, Light Weapons, Heavy Responsibilities

In New York this week a group of diplomats are debating preparations for a major conference that will take place in July. EuropaWorld editor Peter Sain ley Berry looks at a modern scourge of our time: the proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons.

The forthcoming United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects will seek to put an effective brake on the flood of weapons, many of them illegally held, which are causing untold misery in many parts of the developing world.

The term Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) includes virtually any weapon that is remotely portable. Not just pistols, or even Kalashnikovs, anything that can be carried by a small team is covered - with, of course, its ammunition. It is amazing just what this comprises: howitzers and mortars up to 100mm (3.9 inch) calibre, anti-tank weapons, even some missiles for shooting down aircraft and their associated air defence systems. Bullets and cannon shells, explosives, landmines, grenades, mortar bombs, all fall into the category of SALW.

While countries spend enormous sums of money on sophisticated military hardware such as jet fighters, cruise missiles, tanks or nuclear submarines it is, says the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the innocuous sounding 'Small Arms and Light Weapons' that have killed the greatest number of people since the end of the Cold War.

To illustrate this point, the FCO have just published a paper 'Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW): A Global Problem' which highlights the importance of the issue and the initiatives that are being taken around the world to tackle it.

One problem is that SALW weapons are just so durable. With only the most minimal maintenance a rifle or machine gun can be made to last 100 years; nor are they easy to destroy. Mass produced and sold by the hundreds of thousands whenever new conflicts erupt, these weapons simply accumulate in armouries that are often illegitimate. Millions more find themselves stored under the bed or in the attic. It is impossible to say how many such weapons are in circulation, the FCO estimates 500 million. Whatever the figure, it is a lot.

The effect of such a surplus is to make these weapons cheap and, of course, plentiful. Half of the world trade in small arms is illicit, say the FCO. And this is what makes it relatively easy for war lords and rebel leaders to start the conflicts that so disfigure the developing world. As the document points out 'the accumulation and uncontrolled proliferation of SALW is closely related to the increased incidence of internal conflicts and high levels of crime and violence. In many cases, the victims of SALW are non-combatants: children, women and elderly people.'

The European Union - and in particular Britain and the Netherlands - have been in the forefront of moves to stem the illicit trade and proliferation of these types of weapons. In June 1997, the Union adopted a Dutch initiative for a framework Programme for Preventing and Combating Illicit Trafficking in Conventional Arms. This was developed during the British Presidency in 1998, which resulted in the EU Joint Action on SALW, adopted in December of that year. Its objectives are to combat and contribute to ending the destabilising accumulation and spread of SALW; it also enables the EU to offer assistance for preventing or lessening excessive accumulations. These occur mostly in areas where there has recently been widespread conflict; the EU has agreed to give assistance to Albania, Cambodia and to Mozambique.

But it is in Africa where accumulations of arms have triggered the greatest number of conflicts - a fact recognised by Africa's leaders themselves. Various African initiatives culminated eighteen months ago in a decision by the Organisation of African Unity to evolve an African Common Approach to the problem of illicit proliferation, circulation and trafficking of SALW. Working with great speed the Secretariat first produced a set of draft principles, which were then adopted at a special Ministerial conference last month.

The town chosen to host the adoption Conference, Bamako, in Mali, was deliberate. In March 1996, the Malian authorities had demonstrated their abhorrence of the misery caused by SALW by holding a public ceremony of weapons destruction, called the Flame of Peace. Two years later Mali was successful in persuading its partners in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to declare a renewable moratorium on the import, export and manufacture of SALW.

Britain is contributing funds and expertise towards the implementing of this moratorium, as is the United Nations Development programme (UNDP). In addition it is financing seminars to spread 'the Mali message' throughout West Africa and has donated £150,000 to the UN Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) to run a number of projects aimed at peace building and conflict prevention in Africa.

But moratoria on importing and exporting are just one dimension of a complex problem. A secondary, but equally difficult, task is to persuade populations to surrender weapons once a conflict is over. For instance during disturbances in Albania in the summer of 1997 half a million weapons fell into civilian hands following the looting of army barracks. UNDP's response was a 'weapons for development' programme. UNDP would repair utilities, bridges, roads - if civilians surrendered their weapons. Twelve months later UNDP had acquired 6,000 illegally held weapons and 140 tons of ammunition; a further 3,500 weapons were surrendered last year A very small fraction of the looted arsenals but undoubtedly those weapons would have killed had they been left in civilian hands. Again Britain contributed to the costs of this operation.

There is clearly much work for the Preparatory Committee to do. This will be the first major UN disarmament conference since 1987. We all hope that what will emerge will make a real impact on international efforts to tackle the scourge of small arms proliferation. More information can be obtained from the FCO website at www.fco.gov.uk