The Threat of Conventional Weapons - Small Arms Sales And The Role Of Igos And Ngos

Small arms are highly desirable to guerilla and other sub-national groups because they tend to be cheap, easy to conceal, and easy to transport. Though definitions vary, examples of small arms include revolvers and self-loading pistols, rifles and carbines, light machine guns, sub-machine guns, and assault rifles. Examples of light weapons include heavy machine guns, portable anti-aircraft guns, portable antitank guns and recoilless rifles, portable launchers of antitank missile and rocket systems, portable launchers of anti-aircraft missile systems, and mortars of calibers less than 100 millimeters. Such weapons are of grave concern to individual states and the international community, but the issue has not been addressed multilaterally (by more than two nations) until quite recently. The definition of terms and concerns about sovereignty, among other things, have impeded a global consensus on small arms proliferation.

Organizations Battle Small Arms Proliferation

International government organizations (IGOs)—organizations made up of various countries, typically represented by government officials of these individual countries—and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)—organizations set up to study particular areas of focus and are typically not made up of any government officials—have been very strong proponents of halting small arms proliferation.

THE UNITED NATIONS (UN). The UN organized a platform for debate on conventional small arms sales. After its initial proposition in 1997 and subsequent reiteration in 1999 by a panel of experts, the UN Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons was held July 9–20, 2001. Representatives from the governments of more than 150 countries attended. The conference adopted a program of action, described in the DDA 2001 Update (UN Department for Disarmament Affairs, June-July, 2001) as "a comprehensive document, containing unprecedented political commitments and concrete measures at the national, regional and global levels to tackle the illegal trade in small arms."

The United States, in particular, had reservations regarding rules and regulations proposed at the conference because of domestic considerations. The National Rifle Association (NRA), a powerful American gun owners' lobbying group, among others, maintained that the UN's recommendations violate the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The Second Amendment deals with individual citizens' "right to bear arms" and therefore affects measures that might constrain the legal manufacture of small arms and prohibit civilians from possessing them. As a matter of sovereignty (a nation's right to make its own laws and policies), the United States would not accept any language that would infringe on Americans' national right to bear arms.

The end result of the conference was an eighty-six paragraph report (the "Programme of Action") dealing with illegal trade in small arms and assistance to affected states. The Programme of Action called for implementing an arms embargo, improving interstate cooperation, and encouraging cooperation among civil society organizations (another label for NGOs).

The future of the UN conference and the Programme of Action is questionable. Although various international groups strongly support it, states remain hesitant about endorsing the agreement. Furthermore, ambiguous language and the conference's inability to agree on definitions leave it susceptible to violations. Verification of states' compliance would also be difficult. However, the conference is still viewed by many gun-control activists as a step in the right direction. A follow-up series of meetings was held in New York in July 2003 to discuss progress toward full implementation of the Programme of Action. According to a summary report issued at the conclusion of the meetings by Kuniko Inoguchi of Japan, who served as the meetings' chairperson, "Barely two years after the adoption of the Programme of Action, progress has been made across the world in public disclosures about the origins, destinations, modus operandi and profiling of groups engaged in illicit arms trade." A review conference will be held to assess the broader success of the program no later than 2006.

THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO). The WHO is another IGO that confronts the problem of arms sales. The WHO believes it has a direct stake in the issue, since thousands of people are killed or injured by violent armed attacks annually. In October 2002 it issued the World Report on Violence and Health, a study that included seeking "practical, internationally agreed responses to the global drug trade and the global arms trade" among its key recommendations.

THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL POLICE ORGANIZATION (INTERPOL). The International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) tackles arms trafficking by creating a platform where countries agree to share information to help eliminate it. Interpol has 181 member nations and runs a database to collect information on illegal firearms and track stolen and recovered weapons.

THE ORGANIZATION FOR SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE (OSCE). Small arms trafficking is one of many issues related to international security and stability dealt with by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). In April 2000 the OSCE Forum for Security and Cooperation held a seminar on small arms proliferation and conventional weapons trafficking. A product of this seminar was the OSCE Document on Small Arms and Light Weapons, which aimed to help the UN combat illicit weapons trafficking. The OSCE document pledges that member states will take extreme precautions when it comes to arms transfers (which are to be undertaken only for legitimate purposes) as well as develop confidence-building and transparency measures. (Confidence building implies unilateral or joint efforts to boost trust between member parties, while transparency implies openness. Generally, these are achieved by holding joint exercises as well as on-site inspections and data exchanges.) It is important to note that the document does not call for the creation of a new authority to combat small arms trafficking. Rather, it relies on the voluntary declaration of participating states to stand by the principles of the document.

THE INTERNATIONAL ACTION NETWORK ON SMALL ARMS (IANSA). The International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) is an umbrella organization representing more than 340 NGOs dedicated to combating arms proliferation. IANSA encourages coordination among human rights groups, development agencies, gun control lobby groups, public health organizations, and religious groups. These groups also focus on ways to rein corporate former combatants, including child soldiers, into everyday life.

AFRICAN AND LATIN AMERICAN NGOS. Not all NGOs believe that loose coordination among international groups is the best method for eliminating the arms trade. Some NGOs in Africa and Latin America, such as the Vivario—a Brazilian organization that fights to abolish arms and educate the public about their dangers—are proponents of establishing a strong, centrally organized, international body to fight conventional arms proliferation.