Articles

Balance of the balance: Exports and imports of small arms, light
weapons (SALW) its parts and ammunition to Africa, Latin America, and
the Caribbean, from 2000 to
2007.

Presented at the Joint Conference of the International Studies Association and Associação Brasileira de Relações Internacionais PUC/RJ, 23nd  July 2009, Rio de Janeiro

I am grateful to the organizer of this panel, particularly to Kai Michael Kenkel, for the honor of inviting me to make the eulogy of  Pablo Dreyfus.

International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA)'s Sarah Masters introduces the worldwide Disarming Domestic Violence campaign, a part of the Global Week of Action Against Gun Violence held in 85 countries to draw attention to the human toll of small arms proliferation and misuse. "The main goal is to ensure that anyone with a history of domestic abuse is denied access to a firearm, and has their license revoked."

In 2007, according to information from Comtrade, a UN commercial transactions database, Brazil exported around 84 million dollars in small weapons ammunition. This amount represents approximately 6,4 percent of the global small weapons ammunition exportations in this year, being last data available from Comtrade. Brazil, according to Small Arms Survey, is among the 6 main exporters of light weapons and ammunition. And to talk about ammunition production and small weapons export (MAP) in Brazil is equivalent to talking about the Brazilian Company of Cartridge (CBC - Companhia Brasileira de Cartuchos ) the company maintaining a arms monopoly in this country.

Few countries of Latin America and the Caribbean have progressed more than Peru in the path of the effective implementation of United Nations Plan of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons (PoA). Peru is a model country when referring to its annual reports to UN Office for Disarmament Affairs on accomplishment with the PoA, due to the level of details as well as for the regularity in which it is presented.

The article “CASAC: A regional multidisciplinary approach ” was written by Eva Sacasa , Director of the Regional Executive Unit of the joint PNUD and SICA (Central American System of Integration) weapons control project. In her article, the author presents an evaluation of the first year of this program’s execution, centering on four points of performance: legislative; reinforcement of capacities; weapons collection and destruction; and, finally, awareness and prevention.

Gabriel Conte, from Red Argentina for el Desarme – RAD (Argentinean Network for the Disarmament), does a detailed analysis, in his article “Argentines delivered more than a hundred thousand weapons to the disarmament plan”, of the results of the national plan of voluntary weapons delivery implemented in Argentina, thanks to which 104,782 firearms and 747 thousand rounds of ammunition have been removed from circulation during the 380 days of the campaign.

Maria Pía Devoto shares her impressions of the beginning of the 63rd period of sessions United Nations General Assembly which for her meant a chance for the progress in subjects like disarmament in the First Commission, specially for the support and interest generated for an Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), in the general and thematic debate on conventional weapons.

Gustavo Colás analyzes the unanimous adoption of a draft framework law on Firearms, Ammunition and Related Materials in the Committee of Public Safety, Combating and the Prevention of Drug Trafficking, Terrorism and Organized Crime of the Latin American (Parliament), at the meeting held last October 23rd in the Federal District of Mexico.

Recently, Interior Security Committee of the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino) approved a prototype of legislation, the "draft framework law" regarding  arms control  which involved sectors of civil society and parliamentarians that work in the fight against since the gun violence for at least two years.