09 July 2001

U.S. Urges Conference to Focus on Illicit Small Arms in Zones of Conflict

By Judy Aita and Kiersten McCutchan
Washington File Staff Writers

United Nations -- The two-week UN Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons opened July 9 amid concerns that consensus may not be achieved on a final program of action outlining ways to curb the trafficking in the weapons that are contributing to continued violence and suffering in regions of conflict around the world.

The conference is trying to find ways to curb and eliminate the illicit trafficking in small arms and light weapons. The ministerial level conference is negotiating a "Program of Action" that could be a politically binding declaration that contains measures nations can take at the national, regional, and international levels.

The United Nations has defined small arms as those that can be fired, maintained, and transported by one person; light weapons are ones used by a small crew and transported on a light vehicle or pack animal. The UN estimates that there are more than 500 million small arms and light weapons around the world, and between 40 and 60 percent of those are illicit. Of the 49 major conflicts fought during the 1990s, small arms were used in 46 of them, causing 4 million deaths -- about 90 percent of them civilians and 80 percent women and children, it says.

In his remarks at the opening session, U.S. Under Secretary of State John Bolton said the conference is an "important initiative which the international community should, indeed must, address because of its wide ranging effects" on civilian populations, peacekeeping forces, humanitarian aid workers and the economic and political life of war-torn societies. "Alleviating these problems is in all of our interest," he said.

But Bolton, who is heading the U.S. delegation, also set out clearly what proposals in the document the United States "cannot and will not" support, including any provisions that would impinge on Americans' Constitutional right to keep and bear arms. The U.S. does not begin with the presumption that all small arms and light weapons are the same or that they are all problematic, he said.

The under secretary emphasized that nations must do more to strictly control the export of legally manufactured small arms and light weapons to ensure that they do not wind up in the wrong hands and therefore contribute to regional instability, arms races, terrorism, or violations of human rights.

"Through its national practices, laws, and assistance programs, through its diplomatic engagement in all regions of the world, the United States has demonstrated its commitment to countering the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons," Bolton said. "During the next two weeks, we will work cooperatively with all member states to develop a final document which is legitimate, practical, effective, and which can be accepted by all nations."

"As we work toward this goal ... we must keep in mind those suffering in the regions of the world where help is most desperately needed and for whom the success of this conference is most crucial," he said.

At a press conference later in the day, Bolton said the U.S. delegation strongly hopes that a consensus can be reached on a program of action. "We do see room for important international concerted action to deal with a very serious problem," he said. The United States hopes that other governments can focus on the illicit flow to areas of conflict and not move into areas that would infringe on domestic issues and rights, he added.

"I don't want to understate the importance we attach to the conference, and we've come to the conference wanting to do something constructive and not engage in political rhetoric," he said.

"If the conference can concentrate on the central issue of the flow of illicit weapons into areas of conflict, there is broad room for agreement," Bolton said.

Opening the conference, Undersecretary General Louise Frechette said that the international community can do more to curb the illicit trafficking in small arms through laws and regulations, greater international cooperation, and undertaking practical disarmament measures.

"In convening this conference, member states have given the devastation wrought by small arms the high profile it deserves. But this conference is only a beginning. The effort to crack down on illegal arms trade raises many complex issues."

"You must distinguish between the licit and illicit trade. You must take account of national sovereignty, the responsibilities of states to provide security, and the right of states to self-defense enshrined in the (UN) Charter," the undersecretary general said.

Frechette said that small arms are "linked to bigger issues, such as peace and security, human rights, drug trafficking, and money laundering. Their availability can sustain and exacerbate conflict. Their illicit proliferation erodes the authority of legitimate but weak governments."

Small arms also undermine respect for international humanitarian law and the rule of law and have contributed to the displacement of innocent civilians and make peacekeeping that much more difficult, she said. "The result, all too often, is a vicious circle, in which insecurity leads to a higher demand for weapons -- which itself breeds still greater insecurity, and so on."

The conference elected Colombian Ambassador Camillo Reyes as president. Reyes is Colombia's representative to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva. At a press conference July 9 he called the illegal trade of small arms and light weapons "a scourge" with "awful, devastating effects" in countries all over the world.

While negotiators have established the groundwork for the "concepts and language" needed to help design a final document to combat the illegal trade in small arms and light weapons, there are still difficulties facing adoption of the final action plan, Reyes acknowledged.

In his first briefing as president, Reyes discussed the roadblocks that face the plan that will be adopted at the end of the two-week session. He said while there is "a very clear map for the road that we want to build towards the future," there are likely to be differing opinions and those differing opinions have surfaced from the start.

In the beginning of negotiations in January 2001, there was a divide between countries that wanted to see a broad scope of issues addressed and countries that wanted to see a more focused plan, Reyes said. However, the delegations had begun to come together on the range of issues as the conference opened.

"I think that we are moving now in the right direction," he said. "We are finding the right language so that we can address those other issues."

Some of problems Reyes cited dealt with the issue of humanitarian and human rights and how they can be taken into account without weakening the main focus of the program of action. Another issue, he said, will be how to define what is understood as the damaging surplus or accumulation of arms.

Reyes believes there is enough "goodwill for all of us to look for solutions to the different problems that different delegations have ... to find consensus."

One of the most important results of the conference, he said, is to focus international attention on the problem.

Additional information on the UN Small Arms Conference is available on the Web at http://www.usinfo.state.gov/topical/pol/arms/smllarm/smarmcnf.htm and further information about U.S. policy on small arms may viewed at http://www.usinfo.state.gov/topical/pol/arms/smllarm/