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Session One - Plenary
Welcome and introduction
Virginia Gamba, Head, Arms Management Programme, Institute for Security Studies
Africa has come a long way in terms of small arms control, especially in the last seven months. It is one of the few regions of the world where eight-year old children who cannot read and write, know how to kill with guns.
It has taken years for the Southern African community to focus on this issue. But as Southern Africa has taken control of its own destiny in the 1990s, the impact of small arms on this destiny has become clear. There are millions of small arms left over from conflicts in the region that fuel a cycle of crime, violence and insecurity.
This is finally being acknowledged. The Organisation of African Unity (OAU) summit in Algiers in July 1999 called for an African conference on small arms in 2000, in preparation for the United Nations conference on the illicit trafficking of small arms in all its aspects in 2001. The Southern African Regional Police Chiefs Co-operation Organisation (SARPCCO) issued a declaration on small arms in July, and the Council of Ministers of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) established a working group on small arms at its summit in Maputo in August.
These initiatives provide a platform for the region from which to act. The challenge is to ensure that they are further developed and effectively implemented. Southern Africa is responsible for its own future and tackling the proliferation of small arms is central to this.
Paul Eavis, Director, Saferworld
This seminar marks the increasing level of co-operation between the European Union (EU) and Southern Africa to tackle the spread of small arms. In May 1998, Saferworld and the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) hosted the first meeting at which government officials from both regions gathered to discuss the issue. At the time, the EU had just agreed on a programme to prevent and combat illicit arms trafficking, and the co-operation with Southern Africa was the first attempt to put flesh on the programme’s bones. Southern Africa had been identified as a region with which the EU could co-operate on this issue, because governments in the region had already acknowledged the problem of small arms and were taking steps to address it.
The seminar in May 1998 developed a Southern Africa Regional Action Programme on Light Arms and Illicit Arms Trafficking. This framework for co-operation identifies the need for action in four areas:
- combating illicit trafficking;
- strengthening the regulation of and controls over the accumulation and transfer of arms;
- promoting the removal of arms from society and the destruction of surplus arms; and
- enhancing transparency, information exchange and consultation on arms in Southern Africa.
The Action Programme was subsequently endorsed by Ministers at the EU-SADC summit in Vienna in November 1998 and has been referred to by the OAU and the UN. The challenge now facing the region is to implement the programme successfully. This requires identifying practical projects, and this seminar is the starting point of this process.
Opening remarks
Mr Malate, SADC contact point, Department of Foreign Affairs, Mozambique
There is widespread consensus that the problems of illicit arms trafficking and illegal arms possession encourage criminality, fuel conflict and inhibit investment, consequently preventing sustainable development.
The causes of arms proliferation are complex. Proliferation is exacerbated by widespread poverty in the region, there is a strong correlation between unemployment and crime, and vulnerability results in recourse to arms as a means of survival.
Yet, small arms can also have a legitimate use, for example, by the police in combating crime. Tackling the issue is thus a delicate task.
SADC countries have launched many recent initiatives to address the small arms issue, the latest being the establishment of a small arms working group, and SARPCCO has also taken important steps. These measures show that the region is serious about the task of addressing small arms proliferation, and that it acknowledges that co-operation with countries from other regions, both as arms manufacturers and donors, is essential.
This seminar provides an important opportunity to focus on the priorities of the region and develop practical steps to implement the Southern Africa Regional Action Programme. It will undoubtedly reinforce EU-SADC co-operation on this vital issue. Hopefully, concrete initiatives with which to fight the problem of the uncontrolled proliferation of small arms will follow from this event.
Anu Saarela, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Finland
The EU acknowledges and appreciates the activities, creativity and valuable efforts of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) with regard to the issue of small arms proliferation.
There is no doubt about the urgency of the small arms problem. But the attention now needs to be on the search for remedies. Within the EU, there is a general commitment to find solutions to the problem in different parts of the world. It is recognised that a multifaceted approach is necessary that takes cognisance of the broader context. In this, the dimensions of arms control, law enforcement and development should be addressed.
The EU wants to be at the forefront of action towards effective measures to address the small arms problem in a comprehensive manner. The key instrument in this regard is the EU Joint Action, which was adopted in December 1998, aimed at contributing to efforts in combating the destabilising accumulation and spread of small arms and light weapons. In this regard, the EU seeks Africa’s support for the principles underlying the Joint Action and the welcome these principles have received in recent statements at the OAU summit and the annual general meeting of SARPCCO represents important steps towards greater co-operation.
The problem of the destabilising accumulation and spread of small arms and light weapons has to be addressed on different levels. The main focal point of the global effort is the international UN conference on the illicit arms trade in all its aspects scheduled for 2001, which will hopefully achieve tangible and substantive results.
Global endeavours have to be complemented by regional efforts. The EU has entered into dialogue with different regions of the world, especially with those most severely afflicted by the small arms problem. One of its priorities is deepening the co-operation with the SADC region. The Union is ready for an open, frank and constructive dialogue that will result in co-operation to identify and develop concrete ways to approach the problem.
As the will to work together already exists, there will also undoubtedly be a way to do so.
Update on recent developments
Mr C N C Mangwana, SADC National Contact Point, Department of Foreign Affairs, Zimbabwe
The Council of Ministers of SADC, at its meeting in Maputo on 14 August 1999, decided on the way forward to tackle the small arms issue in the region. SARPCCO was identified as the implementation agency for any programmes and projects in this area. A working group was appointed to deal with small arms matters, which consists of SARPCCO, the SADC secretariat, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe, with Swaziland as chair. The latter was only logical, as Swaziland already acts as chair of SARPCCO.
The committee has been tasked to develop a SADC policy on the proliferation of small arms. The terms of reference therefore have to be defined and preliminary studies must be carried out as necessary first steps in the formulation of such a policy.
The Council of Ministers has recognised that SADC cannot handle the issue of small arms on its own. The international community is therefore invited to assist the region in making this policy, which should be a practical, realisable framework to address these concerns.
The issue is on the agenda for the meeting of senior officials of SADC and the EU in Harare early in November 1999. It will also be discussed during the annual EU-SADC consultative conference on 14 and 15 February 2000.
The region is concerned with tackling all aspects of small arms proliferation, including manufacturing and distribution, imports and exports. These issues concern everybody – Europe, Southern Africa, Africa and the Americas. And they are not only the domain of governments, but also of civil society – NGOs, labour unions, teachers, schools and more.
Small arms proliferation needs urgent, well thought out solutions and the right policies that are required in order to address this very important and indeed, very serious issue.
Andreas Berg, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Germany
The most significant recent development in the EU has been the agreement in December 1998 on an EU Joint Action with three objectives:
- to combat and contribute to ending the destabilising accumulation and spread of small arms;
- to contribute to the reduction of current accumulations of these weapons to levels consistent with countries’ legitimate security needs; and
- to help solve the problems caused by such accumulations.
Article 4 of the Joint Action pledges that assistance and material support are to be given to countries eager to establish more effective control over, or to eliminate their surplus small arms. Where a crisis is looming, this is particularly important. It is vital that surplus supplies should be detected at the source and provision made for their safe storage and rapid destruction.
In the context of demobilisation, measures to reintegrate former combatants and incentives for the voluntary surrendering of weapons are called for. Weapons collection in a post-conflict situation will only succeed if a secure environment can be created (the ‘security first’ concept), preferably on the basis of a peace treaty, and incentives are provided for sustainable economic and social development. Where the parties to the conflict are unable to reach a settlement themselves, the UN should act within the context of its peacemaking or peacekeeping operations to ensure the demobilisation of former combatants and the elimination of surplus weapons.
The EU is committed to the provision of concrete financial and technical support for programmes and projects to tackle the problem of small arms. Common Foreign and Security Policy funds are being used to support a weapons for development programme in Gramsh in Albania. If successful, this pilot project will be followed by further projects in other provinces of Albania. Other EU projects in Cambodia and Ossetia are currently being evaluated.
The EU Council of Ministers responsible for development affairs agreed in May to support development projects that provide incentives for the voluntary surrender of surplus or illegally held small arms, the destruction of weapons and ordnance, the demobilisation of combatants and their rehabilitation and reintegration into society, as well as measures to restore and maintain law and order.
But support will only go to countries that respect human rights, international law and good governance, and that are committed to stopping the proliferation and new destabilising accumulations of small arms.
Article 3 of the Joint Action – prevention – considers ways to devise effective measures to counteract destabilising accumulations of small arms, in excess of a country’s legitimate security needs. Legitimate arms holdings are defined as arms held at the level required to ensure a country’s external defence, maintain law and order and support international efforts to resolve conflicts.
Initially, countries should decide for themselves what these requirements are. But the Joint Action also proposes the adoption of confidence-building measures – regional registers and sharing of information on small arms exports, imports, production and holdings – that could result in increased transparency among the countries in a region and encourage them to consult on the shared data and the scale of their small arms holdings. It is hoped that countries in a region will seek to establish through dialogue what their respective small arms needs are.
Furthermore, countries should supply small arms only to governments, which should consequently commit themselves to acquire these only for their legitimate security needs. In essence, private individuals would be banned from possessing military specification small arms.
The EU Associate countries in Central and Eastern Europe, the countries of the European Economic Area, Canada and South Africa have all added their support for the Joint Action. Through this Joint Action, Europe simply wishes to offer assistance in dealing with a situation that is unacceptable, not to tell others what to do. Any suggestions and improvements are welcomed.
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