16 July 2001

U.N. Small Arms Action Plan Still Unacceptable to U.S.

United Nations -- A revised draft of the international Program of Action currently being considered by the United Nations conference on small arms is not acceptable to the United States, says U.S. Representative Bob Barr.

Ambassador Camillo Reyes, president of the conference, presented a new proposal to delegations July 16. The U.N. Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects is aimed at curbing and eliminating the illicit trafficking in small arms and light weapons.

Since the U.S. position was laid out by Under Secretary of State John Bolton July 9, Barr, who is an official observer and part of the U.S. delegation, said he has been "hopeful that the draft Program of Action, which last week we deemed unacceptable, would be changed substantially so that it could form the basis for a consensus position from the U.S. standpoint."

"Unfortunately that has not occurred," he said.

Barr, a Georgia Republican, is optimistic that there is room for negotiation. "Even though I'm very disappointed that the last week has not resulted in a document that more broadly reflects the views ... of Mr. Bolton," he said, "hopefully, these next four days we'll see a turn around in that, and we will see something more productive come out."

Barr said he hopes that in the remaining days of negotiations, the conference refocuses its efforts on those areas involving the illicit transfer and stockpiling of small arms and light weapons in areas of conflict "where people's lives truly are at stake."

The new draft of the Program of Action "crosses several of the red lines" of the U.S. position and "does not provide the basis for a consensus position," he said. It would allow for a "substantial" increase in record keeping on lawful transfers of and possession of legal firearms. It would "tie the hands" of some member states which might find it necessary to lawfully and licitly transfer weapons to a non-state or "freedom" groups fighting a terrorist or genocidal regime, he said.

One of the biggest problems for delegations and the 176 non-governmental organizations (NGO's) present at the conference has been the lack of a formal definition of small arms and light weapons.

Because of this lack of a definition for small arms, the document could infringe on Americans' Second Amendment Rights, which the United States will not support, Barr said. Lastly, he said, some language in the document calls for the United States to commit itself to specific further mandatory review meetings, which the U.S. is not opposed to but does not want to support at this time.

What is necessary for a consensus, he said, is that members drafting the action plan read "carefully" Bolton's words setting forth the U.S. position.

Barr said he is operating from the presumption that the United Nations is trying to achieve consensus. And considering how the United States clearly stated its position last week, he added, "this document today makes no sense. I can't explain it."

Speaking as a member of the U.S. Congress, Barr said Congress is concerned when an international body moves in the direction "of interfering and disrespecting the domestic policies, laws and regulations of a member nation."

If the United Nations moves forward in the absence of U.S. support, Barr said, it would not result in a more productive appropriations process, and it would not lend itself to the United Nations achieving a smoother process of garnering support in the U. S. Congress for future work.

"We believe, and I continue to believe, this is an ill-advised course and a counterproductive one for the United Nations," Barr said.

"I think they tried to make it appear as if they were making some substantive changes just by changing some of the words" in the new document, he said, "but the fact of the matter is that they didn't. This is at least as bad a document as the one from last week and possibly in some ways even steps backward."

On the issue of the document calling for no sales to non-state groups, Barr said, "The United States of America was founded on the notion of freedom and we still believe that is the preferable course of action, not just for our country but for other countries as well. And if you have a regime that is a despotic, tyrannical regime possibly engaged in genocide, why would you not want to assist groups in opposition to that sort of regime?"

He said that whatever document is arrived at should not limit transfers only to government entities.

Barr reiterated that the Secretary of State, the Undersecretary of State and the Department of Defense have clearly stated their opposition to regimes, international groups, and individuals that illicitly traffic in military arms. The United States supports the need for an international politically-binding agreement designed to help eliminate such practices.

On the issue of legal small arms ownership, Thomas Mason of the National Rifle Association spoke to the conference on the morning of July 16. Mason was one of 42 NGO representatives from around the world who addressed the conference. Of the 42 groups represented, 12 were from firearms community groups and included gun owners groups from Canada, Britain, Germany, the United States, Australia and South Africa.

These sporting, hunting and collectors groups said that the definition of small arms and light weapons is vague, and that their interests could suffer under the current description should it be included in the final Program of Action.

Mason said his group views efforts to curtail the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons as legitimate. "But we would be totally remiss not to express the extreme concern our membership has over potential outcomes of this conference," he said.

"We have received conflicting signals from significant participants," he said. Some assure the end result will have no impact on lawful, civilian ownership; others propose that "it should, could, must and will" affect the legal right to own firearms, he said.

"We cannot ignore aspects of the Program of Action that would affect civilian firearms ownership in the United States and, in fact, worldwide," Mason said. He asked that as the United Nations conference begins negotiations this week on a final document that it "acknowledge our concerns as legitimate."

Other interest groups spoke at the conference on behalf of people injured by small arms, vulnerable populations, and humanitarian and human rights activists.

"The process has produced fairly clear-cut parameters; there obviously remain differences among delegations and we will have to overcome them," Reyes told reporters during another briefing July 16.

Reyes thinks the conference will produce a document that gains consensus by the July 20 deadline. "There are reasons to be optimistic, good reasons to be optimistic, and we are looking at a very good chance of arriving at a final document," Reyes said.