Ending the scourge of small arms, light weapons
April 13, 2010
African Synod Proposition 23, arms’ trade:
“Because of the prevalence of armaments and land mines on the Continent and its Islands, the Church in Africa, gathered in Synod, associates itself with the Holy See and gladly welcomes UN initiatives, African Union and regional intergovernmental organizations like ECOWAS - Small-Arms Embargo, to stop illegal arms-trafficking and to make transparent all legal trading in arms. The Synod recommends that the Pontifical Council ‘Justice and Peace’ update its document on the arms’ trade.
“The Synod Fathers encourage national governments to support the on-going study and preparation of an Arms’ Trade Treaty (ATT) within the UN, with binding universal standards for the global commerce of conventional weapons, which would respect human rights and humanitarian international law.
“The Synod Fathers, making their own the call of the prophet Isaiah, for love of God and neighbour, ‘they shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks’ (Is 2:4), propose that the design and production of all kinds of arms be drastically reduced for the sake of education and agricultural development which respects the environment.
“Moreover, the Synod Fathers absolutely condemn the production of nuclear arms, biological arms, anti-personnel and every sort of weapons of mass destruction. They demand that these be banned from the face of the earth.
“The Episcopal Conferences in arms-producing countries are encouraged to advocate that their governments pass legislation restraining the production and distribution of arms to the detriment of African peoples and nations.”
Efforts to stop the proliferation of small arms and light weapons in specific countries and on the African continent as a whole are connecting through the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) during the Global Week of Action Against Gun Violence (May 10-16). Much of the following information comes from IANSA’s website:
Illegal firearms pose a major threat to public safety throughout Central and East Africa, encouraging crime and fuelling and prolonging conflict. Small arms and light weapons such as assault rifles are especially suited to the irregular warfare that is still widespread in the region because they are cheap, easy to use, widely available and durable. Bladed weapons like machetes have also been widely used in conflicts in Rwanda and Burundi.
Millions of lives have already been lost in the region, and the supply of arms to both governments and rebel groups continues to grow.
In 2000, ten countries signed the Nairobi Declaration on Small Arms and Light Weapons and in 2002 the East Africa Police Chiefs Committee was formed. The Committee has set up a program to register and classify firearms. However, ongoing instability presents major challenges for these and other initiatives.
Small arms and light weapons are also widely available in Southern Africa. Many were transferred there during the Cold War, but others originate from within the region. Civil and inter-state conflicts drive demand for small arms and create a pool of weapons which can be used to commit violent crime as well as fuelling conflict. South Africa in particular also has a sizeable arms production industry.
Recognition of the problem is growing, and many countries are involved in coordinated action, mainly within the framework of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Protocol on Firearms, Ammunition and Related Materials.
With an estimated eight million firearms in the region, West Africa is also struggling to survive ongoing conflicts in which small arms play a central and destabilizing role.
Firearms have particularly fuelled overlapping and uncontained conflicts in Sierra Leone, Liberia and most recently Cote D’Ivoire, as well as non-conflict related crime and violence. Small arms remain the primary weapons of intra- and inter-communal feuds, local wars, armed insurrections, armed rebel activities and terrorism throughout the region.
As a result of the armed conflict in the region, hundreds if not thousands have already been killed, hundreds of thousands displaced or made refugees, and an immeasurable amount of property destroyed. In addition, small arms have been used to grossly violate human rights, to facilitate the practice of bad governance, to subvert constitutions, to carry out coup d’états and to create and maintain a general state of fear, insecurity and instability.
In December 2009, 153 states voted in the UN General Assembly for a resolution that establishes a 2012 UN Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), where it is intended the treaty text will be negotiated and finalized.
The Global Week of Action Against Gun Violence is a perfect opportunity to demonstrate global civil society’s support for a strong and ethically principled Arms Trade Treaty.
Read more about efforts to curb the trade of small arms and light weapons on IANSA’s website.