Call to control sale of weapons

UNITED NATIONS, JULY 9. Thousands of representatives with diverse agendas descended on the United Nations for a two-week meet aimed at banning trade in illegal small arms and light weapons which kill half a million people every year, even as negotiators tried to solve difference of opinion on vital parts of the final document.

Gun activists, anti-gun lobbyists, representatives of gun manufacturers from across the world and human rights groups are present to force their views at the conference.

Intense debate is expected on marking of weapons by manufacturers to identify them by country and manufacturer to make tracing easy, control on brokering activities, export, and civilian possession of arms and steps to stop transfer of small arms to non-state actors that leads to deadly conflicts.

The final document is expected to call for local, regional and international initiatives to stop arms falling into the hands of terrorists, separatists, rebels, mafia and other groups but allow individual states to decide what action needs to be taken.

A major point of contention is on whether the action should be taken at the level of manufacturers or at the point where legal arms become illegal. In the former case, the manufacturers and arms producing countries would be required to take vigorous initiatives.

Arms producing countries insist that the discussions and action should begin at the point where the arms become illegal. But anti-gun activists and several member states argue that unless a tab is kept right from the start, it would be impossible to stop them from becoming illegal or establishing the route through which they became illegal. The U.S. Russia and China, who are major arms producers, are among those insisting the focus should be to ensure the arms do not become illegal that is sold to undesirable groups.

Their opposition is understandable as they sell billions of dollars worth of arms every year, say analysts.

The anti-gun lobbyists want the conference to lead to national commitments to carrying forward the action plan but all indications are that the document would be nothing more than politically binding which, in effect, means the member states only generally agree to the goals set but may or may not take action. Small arms and light weapons comprise weapons which can be carried or transported easily and include from revolvers to launchers of deadly anti-aircraft missiles.

They also play a major role in making child soldiers as they are light weight, do not require much training and, in most cases, need little maintenance and support. That makes it easy for even children of five or six years of age to become combatants as these arms are easy to carry but lethal in action.

The final document is expected to call for strengthening and developing norms at global, regional and national levels that would reinforce efforts to prevent and combat the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons. The member states will agree to develop international measures to prevent arms trafficking and reduce excessive and destabilising accumulations and transfer of such weapons and to place special emphasis on areas of conflict.

It will also call for establishment of national coordinating agencies and infrastructure policy guidance, research and monitoring of efforts to prevent illicit transfer of weapons.

The document would ask for destruction of confiscated weapons expeditiously and establishment of regional and subregional groups to oversee the effort to control such weapons.

- PTI

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