United Nations Small Arms Action Program

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The UN Small Arms Program of Action (full English name: Program of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects ) deals with all aspects of the illegal trade of small arms and light weapons . It is intended to implement the guidelines of the Firearms Protocol and was adopted in July 2001 as part of the United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects .

aims

The action program contains statements and recommendations on almost all aspects of small arms control and is the starting point for a large number of global and regional initiatives. The aim is to help states implement the program of action and to find the broadest possible consensus on the most important elements:

  • prevent illegal arms transfers
  • Destroy excess small arms and their ammunition ( surplus )
  • prevent massive and destabilizing accumulation of such weapons
  • Gain control of public arms and ammunition stocks
  • Reduce the demand for small arms.

backgrounds

On the one hand, small arms are necessary to enforce the state monopoly of force. On the other hand, they claim more casualties each year than any other type of weapon and are considered in some government circles to be the “real weapons of mass destruction” . Since small arms such as submachine guns and assault rifles are widespread and cheap and easy to transport, child soldiers are equipped with them in many war zones . According to the German Society for Technical Cooperation, the widespread use of small arms, especially after internal conflicts and wars, contributes to destabilization and endangers the success of technical and financial cooperation, especially in developing countries. Small arms can rekindle conflicts long after a conflict has ended. One of the “most popular” small arms is the AK-47 , of which up to 100 million are said to be in circulation worldwide.

Their misuse in the event of criminal and politically motivated violence harbors a considerable risk in peace regions too. The illegal possession of shoulder-based air defense systems ( MANPADS ), which are classed as light weapons, endanger civil and military aviation . Many states, especially developing countries, have no controls or regulation over the arms trade. They lack a well-developed state apparatus, laws, control mechanisms and money for the training of state employees, as well as for their personnel costs. These countries must be supported by the partner countries, both in terms of advice and training measures, and financially. Combating poverty and promoting the rule of law would also significantly reduce the demand for small arms.

history

In 1995, as part of his Agenda for Peace , UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali called on the international community to find effective solutions to the following problem: preventing the proliferation and misuse of small arms . In the same year, UN resolution 50 / 70B was passed. It required the Secretary General to prepare a report on Small Arms and Light Weapons ( SALW ) for the 1st Small Arms Conference in 2001.

In 1997 the Council of Ministers of the EU passed a Program for Preventing and Combating Illicit Trafficking in Conventional Arms, which, among other things, provides for an improved exchange of data between the member states on arms deals and support for third countries in combating the illegal arms trade. In 1997, the Organization of American States passed a multilateral treaty calling on member states to strengthen border controls, label weapons and exchange information about arms dealers and manufacturers.

In May 1998 the EU passed the EU Code of Conduct for Arms Exports, which for the first time provides for coordination between the member states on arms exports, for example by automatically forwarding rejected export applications to the other member states. On December 17, 1998, the Council of Ministers adopted a Joint Action to Combat Small Arms. In the same year, the "Group of Interested States in Practical Disarmament Measures, GIS" was established with the venue in New York. She worked on the United Nations Small Arms Action Program implementation project and helps implement disarmament measures. This group is open to non-governmental organizations such as B. IANSA and WFSA . In the same year, the CASA working group was founded, whose area of ​​responsibility is described by UNICEF as follows: Within the UN, the CASA working group (Co-ordinating Action on Small Arms) coordinates activities against small arms.

As early as November 2000, the OSCE had adopted the “Document on Small Arms and Light Weapons”. This document establishes common export and surplus criteria, creates regional transparency for small arms transfers and forms the basis for a comprehensive exchange of information. It is the most extensive politically binding document on military small arms at the regional level and had the character of a pilot for the implementation and further development of the United Nations Small Arms Action Program.

In 2001 the United Nations Small Arms Action Program was adopted under pressure from civil society.

The South African Development Community (SADC) took over parts of the program in 2002. In 2006, the ECOWAS Small Arms Control Program (ECOSAP) followed in West Africa

activities

Manufacturing

In order for weapons not to be manufactured illegally, national laws are required to monitor the manufacturers. All small arms, including weapons of war, must be marked and registered in a manufacturing book during manufacture (Section II, Point 2).

trade

In order for weapons not to be handed over to criminals and not to drift into the illegal market, national laws are required to monitor the domestic handover of registered weapons (Section II, Point 3). To ensure that weapons do not end up in embargoed countries and crisis regions, common export criteria, procedures and documentation are required for import, export and transit (Paragraph II, points 11-13). In addition, there must be an exchange of information (Paragraph II, Point 23, 27), and further transparency measures must be developed to enable tracing. Border control and surveillance of the sea are required so that illegal weapons are not imported or exported via smuggling routes - and air routes by which the weapons are transported (Paragraph II, points 4, 10, 36).

Securing state warehouses

In order to prevent the theft and illegal sale of state weapons, the management and security of state warehouses must be improved. Corruption that enables sales must be prosecuted and punished. Personnel must be trained and paid (Paragraph II, Point 17, 29).

Reduction and destruction of surpluses

State ownership must be recorded and then checked to what extent the quantity and type of weapon are necessary to secure the state monopoly of force. Excess weapons and ammunition, so-called surplus, must be destroyed instead of being exported. When buying new weapons, the “new versus old” principle should be adhered to. H. controlled destruction of the old stock in the case of new imports. Civilian possession of weapons of war, particularly in crisis areas, must be reduced. This requires the rule of law, as well as incentives to sell weapons z. B. for money or food. This also requires acceptance from the civilian population. Weapons that are collected from civilians should be destroyed instead of being exported (Paragraph II, Point 19, 20).

support

The partner countries should support states with advice and financing if there are national difficulties in implementation (Paragraph II, Item 26, Paragraph III)

National implementation

The willingness to forego export contracts in crisis regions, to implement measures in one's own country or to finance measures in other nations, as well as to restrict one's own sovereignty by accepting aid differs from state to state. For this reason, important arms manufacturing countries such as China or Russia reject further restrictions on arms exports. In particular, the US rejects regulations restricting private gun ownership.

States with longstanding national arms control, such as B. the Federal Republic of Germany , do not set up the contact points National Points of Contact (NPC), National Coordination Agencies (NCA) and National Action Plan (NAP) required by the action program, but expect that the administrations already in place will be recognized. On the other hand, as a donor country, the Federal Republic finances many measures. Other states, such as B. Burundi , whose state apparatus is still being established and which are receiving financial and technical support as recipient countries, take on the administration prescribed by the action program and are therefore rated positively in some international reports.

criticism

While many states support the demands of the action program, provided they relate to illegal trade as such or to additional trade restrictions on weapons of war , there is massive criticism if these restrictions should also apply to civilian weapons.

States under the rule of law have both national arms control and regulations for arms exports . This is also confirmed by the government project Small Arms Survey in its 2009 report: 98% - 99% of civilian weapons, including revolvers and pistols, are exported with authorization. Most of the over 650 million firearms in private hands are civilian weapons. Most weapons are in the legal hands of marksmen, hunters, collectors and civilians who are allowed to purchase firearms for the purposes of self-defense.

In the illegal hands of gangs (non-state combatants - guerrillas, insurgents, militiamen and gang members) there are only two to ten million small arms, mostly fully automatic weapons of war and some short weapons. Their numbers are much fewer than that of individuals, the armed forces, or law enforcement agencies. But the humanitarian and political destruction that emanates from this small number is of unusually great importance.

Since the civil possession of fully automatic machines is already banned in many countries, but these weapons are mainly used in worldwide abuse, the WFSA has been demanding for years that the Program of Action and other international agreements that focus on illegal trade to exclude civilian firearms from the regulations.

Definition of small arms

The definition of small arms is not standardized internationally.

Definition of the German Federal Government: "Small arms and light weapons (SALW), in the following small arms, are weapons and weapon systems that are manufactured or modified according to military requirements for use as weapons of war, and military Should be reserved for use . ”This definition does not include shotguns, hunting weapons, sporting weapons and antique weapons. When it comes to export controls, the federal government distinguishes whether pistols and revolvers were designed as sporting weapons or service weapons. The Small Arms Survey also sees this distinction in its 2009 report.

UN definition : "Small arms are intended for use by individuals and include revolvers and self-loading pistols, rifles and carbines, submachine guns, assault rifles and light machine guns."

Web links

  1. Programs of Action official website
  2. UNODA United Nations of Disarmament Affairs Small Arms
  3. PoA International Assistance for Implementing the UN PoA UNDIR.org - accessed December 18, 2010
  4. National Implentations (PDF; 441 kB) Small Arms Survey June 2010 - accessed December 18, 2010
  5. UN Small Arms Conference 2006 Official Documents - accessed December 18, 2010
  6. Small Arms POA Inventory of International Nonproliferation Organizations and Regimes, Center for Nonproliferation Studies, December 22, 2010 - accessed September 2, 2011

literature

  • Simone Wisotzki: Small arms without borders - strategies beyond arms control required . In: Hessian Foundation for Peace and Conflict Research (Ed.): Report 2005, Vol. 15 . 2005, ISBN 3-937829-29-6 ( online [PDF]).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Small Arms Action Program of the United Nations Foreign Office of February 23, 2002 - viewed on December 18, 2010
  2. ↑ 3rd report of the federal government  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 507 kB) on the implementation of the action plan for civilian crisis prevention, conflict resolution and peacebuilding on ifa.de from June 15, 2010 - accessed on December 20, 2010@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.ifa.de  
  3. ↑ The problem of small arms in developing countries  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. German Society for Technical Cooperation on BICC.de from 2001 - viewed on December 20, 2010@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.bicc.de  
  4. ^ Spiegel: Small arms trade from June 27, 2006 - accessed on December 26, 2010
  5. ↑ Federal Foreign Office Conventional Arms Control of February 23, 2010 - viewed on December 23, 2010
  6. ↑ General Assembly Resolution 50 / 70B ( Memento of the original from February 22, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on the UN website - accessed September 17, 2010 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / daccess-dds-ny.un.org
  7. ↑ Inter-American Convention against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, and other related Materials OAS - accessed December 25, 2010
  8. ↑ The problem of small arms in developing countries  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. German Society for Technical Cooperation on BICC.de from 2001, page 26 - accessed on December 20, 2010@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.bicc.de  
  9. ↑ DGVN  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. The system of disarmament in the UN - viewed on December 23, 2010@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.dgvn.de  
  10. ^ CASA official homepage - accessed on December 23, 2010
  11. ↑ UNICEF Small Arms - A Deadly Threat ( Memento of the original dated November 24, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 947 kB) UNICEF from 2006 - accessed on December 29, 2010 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.unicef.de
  12. ↑ Document on Small Arms and Light Weapons OSZE.org - accessed December 20, 2010
  13. ^ Deutsche Welle dated January 28, 2007 - accessed December 20, 2010
  14. ↑ SADC ( Memento of the original of July 13, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Protocol on Control of Firearms, Ammunition and others - accessed December 25, 2010 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.sadc.int
  15. ↑ ECOSAP ( Memento of the original from November 3, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ECOWAS Small Arms Control Program - accessed December 25, 2010 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ecosap.ecowas.int
  16. ↑ UNICEF ( Memento of the original dated November 24, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 947 kB) Small arms - a deadly threat - viewed on December 20, 2010 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.unicef.de
  17. ↑ Country Profile Germany on PoA-Iss.org - accessed on December 26, 2010
  18. ↑ Country Profile Burundi on PoA-Iss.org - accessed on December 26, 2010
  19. ↑ Small Arms Survey (PDF; 441 kB) Report 2009 National Measures - viewed on December 20, 2010
  20. ↑ Small Arms Survey Report 2009: Authorized Small Arms Transfers PDF file (2.53 MB)
  21. ↑ Firearms owned by gangs and groups (PDF; 1.7 MB) Small Arms Survey - accessed on December 18, 2010
  22. ^ Statement by the World Forum on the Future of Sport Shooting Activities at the 2010 Biennale (PDF; 126 kB) on the PoA server - viewed on December 18, 2010
  23. ↑ Federal Foreign Office - definition of small arms viewed on 23 December 2010
  24. ↑ Small Arms Survey Report 2009: Authorized Small Arms Transfers p. 40, PDF file (2.53 MB)