Note from the Iansa Director

An exclusive article for the montlhy newsletter “En la mira – The Latin American Observer of Firearms.” Click here for subscriptions and for previous issues.

2006 was busy year for everyone involved in the global movement against gun violence – for NGOs, governments, international organisations, campaigners, parliamentarians, researchers – even movie stars! Liberia’s former dictator Charles Taylor was arrested, and his arms supplier Guus van Kouwenhoven was sent to prison in the Netherlands. West Africa adopted a legally-binding treaty on small arms. Brazil’s parliament conducted a monumental investigation on gun trafficking. And Hollywood recognised the problem with films such as Lord of War, Babel and Blood Diamond.

But small arms proliferation continued to cause misery and suffering. According to the United Nations, more than 34,000 Iraqis died violently in 2006, the majority from gunshot wounds. The arms embargo on Somalia was violated by at least 10 countries including Eritrea, Iran and Yemen. Armed violence also affected people who were not living in "conflict zones" – including children and college students killed and wounded at schools in Canada and the USA.

At the UN we saw drama, pathos, frustration, elation… The first five years of the UN small arms process culminated in the Review Conference in June-July, where diplomats and NGOs worked harder than ever before to achieve a productive outcome. Alas, we failed, and a cloud of despondency descended as the small arms process stalled. But not for long: hope began to glow again as we approached the First Committee of the General Assembly in October, and this time we were not disappointed. The GA brought 2006 to a triumphant close with the small arms process back on track and an overwhelming majority vote to begin work on an Arms Trade Treaty covering all conventional weapons. This proved that the international community can muster the political will to move forward on disarmament despite opposition from some larger states.

2007 is likely to be less dramatic and momentous in terms of our campaigning, advocacy and work with governments, but it will be no less challenging. The events of last year have shaped a solid program of work for both government and civil society.

Globally a great opportunity has been created by the General Assembly Resolution on the Arms Trade Treaty. The UN Secretary-General has called for states to submit their views on the feasibility, scope and parameters of the proposed ATT. The deadline for submission is 30 April 2007. Control Arms – comprising the International Action Network on Small Arms (Iansa), Amnesty International and Oxfam – has launched a global campaign to run simultaneously with and feed into the Secretary General’s consultation.

The campaign is called the People’s Consultation, and it aims to ensure that the ideas, opinions and needs of civil society and ordinary people are taken into account in the process of developing the ATT. The ultimate goal is to build on the broad popular support for an ATT and the good working relationships between Iansa member groups and their national governments to ensure a large number of positive and constructive submissions to the Secretary-General.

Consultations will be held at community and national level throughout the first half of 2007 and the outcome documents will be presented to governments for consideration in preparing official national submissions. This will be followed by a large global consultation whose outcomes will be presented to the UN Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) when it starts work in 2008, as the next phase of the ATT development process.

Civil society engagement with governments will also underlie our work specifically on small arms in 2007. The emphasis will be on regional and national initiatives this year, since the next UN meeting on small arms is not until 2008. West Africa’s new convention is the third subregional small arms agreement on that continent (the others are in Eastern and Southern Africa). Country by country, sub-Saharan Africa must now amend its national laws, policies and practices to bring the new regional standards into effect.

In regional work on small arms control, Latin America is a leader. It has produced not only the world’s first legally-binding international agreement on small arms (the 1997 OAS Convention) but also the 1998 OAS Model Regulations for the Control of Firearms, the 2003 Andean Plan of Action on Small Arms, the 2003 OAS Model Regulations on Firearms Brokers, the 2004 Mercosur's Memorandum of Understanding for the Exchange of Information Regarding Small Arms and Ammunition Transfers, and the 2006 Code of Conduct on Arms Transfers of the Central American Integration System (Sica). In 2006 the Antigua Declaration created a powerful common position for Latin America at the UN Small Arms Review Conference, stressing the importance of tackling armed crime as well as gun flows into war zones. In 2007 the challenge for Latin America will be to implement these agreements, ensuring that noble sentiments are matched by effective action.

Latin America is fortunate to have a very active civil society movement against small arms: Clave, the regional network of Iansa members. Clave members have been instrumental in securing national policy reforms in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Panama; and in 2007 we hope to see further advances. Many Latin American governments adopt more progressive positions in international meetings than at home, so Clave members can play an important role in publicising and reminding their governments of the promises they have made in global fora.

The principal promise on small arms is to implement the UN Program of Action. Despite good progress in some respects, Latin America lags behind other regions in the establishment of multi-disciplinary national commissions on small arms. Guatemala, Panama, Uruguay and Argentina are among the few countries that have implemented this PoA commitment. A useful and realistic goal for other Latin American governments in 2007 would be to follow their example and create a national commission which includes members of Clave as civil society representatives.

Taking advantage of the pause before the 2008 Biennial Meeting of States, a conference this August will focus on a single aspect of the PoA, namely international transfers of small arms. Sponsored by Canada, Switzerland and Kenya, the event aims to develop a more detailed interpretation of the commitments on international transfers in the PoA. It will be essential for this conference to have representation from the countries most affected by the proliferation of small arms.

Another process underway this year is the UN Group of Governmental Experts on Illicit Small Arms Brokering. This GGE could recommend the creation of an international mechanism to regulate arms brokering, perhaps as part of a future ATT. Latin America has a special contribution to make in this process: the OAS Model Regulation on Brokers sets a high standard which should be adopted nationally around the world.

The experience of regional arms control agreements also puts Latin America in a strong position to have a positive impact on the Secretary-General’s consultation on the ATT. Latin American governments and civil society should demand a strong ATT built on existing commitments under international human rights and humanitarian law.

* Rebecca Peters is the director of the International Action Network on Small Arms (Iansa)