Can sources and supplies of small arms and light weapons be traced?

The widespread availability and misuse of small arms and light weapons, particularly in regions of internal conflict and civil war, pose not only a serious threat to regional security and stability; but also cause human suffering of civilians, particularly women and children as the most vulnerable group within societies. Large accumulation and uncontrolled flows of these weapons intensify, escalate and prolong conflicts, contribute to crime and foster a culture of violence. They impede post-conflict reconstruction and peace-building, and thus reduce the prospects for sustainable socio-economic development.

In recent years, there has been increasing awareness of the need to prevent uncontrolled flows of small arms and light weapons into regions of conflict, and reduce excessive and destabilizing accumulation.

Significant surpluses and insecurely managed stockpiles, which are particularly vulnerable to loss through theft, corruption or neglect, contribute to a great extent to the widespread availability of these weapons.

In the preparatory process leading to the UN Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects, to be held from 9 to 20July 2001 in New York, the Governments of France and Switzerland have launched a proposal to address the specific problem of tracing the flows of small arms of concern. The lack of institutionalized mechanisms to identify and trace the sources and lines of supply undermines States' efforts to find how these weapons of concern have made their way to, or how they have been lost within, regions of conflict. prevent these weapons from falling into the wrong hands, the international community has great difficulty in breaking the spiral of supply and demand.

France and Switzerland are convinced of the need for an international mechanism to enable effective cooperation in tracing sources and flows of these weapons of concern. The common initiative aims at contributing to the process of developing such an international instrument, which would form a key element of the programme of action to prevent, combat and eradicate the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects, to be established at the July Conference.

The French-Swiss initiative aims to strengthen the ability of States to take effective action to prevent or reduce small arms and light weapons flows that contribute to their excessive and destabilizing accumulation and spread, particularly in regions of conflict and tension. This would be done by establishing a cooperation mechanism and taking preventive measures, including marking and record keeping, so as to enable States to identify and trace lines of supply of these weapons of concern.

Key elements

A possible international agreement to enable States to identify and trace lines of supply of small arms and light weapons should include the following key elements:

1) At the international level, States shall establish a mechanism whereby they commit themselves to cooperate in tracing lines of supply of small arms and light weapons that contribute to the excessive and destabilizing accumulation and spread of these weapons, particularly in regions of conflict or tension. To that effect, States shall commit themselves to:

* Respond promptly and accurately to requests for information from other States to assist them in their efforts to trace lines of supply;

* Ensure an appropriate level of confidentiality relating to the information provided to them by other States in the context of specific tracing efforts;

* Respond promptly and accurately, and according to similar guidelines on confidentiality as mentioned above, to requests from the UN Secretary-General for information to assist the United Nations in efforts to trace lines of supply of small arms and light weapons that have been discovered in countries subject to a UN arms embargo; and

* Cooperate similarly with the United Nations in efforts aimed at tracing, and thereby preventing and reducing small arms and light weapons flow that contribute to the excessive and destabilizing accumulation and spread of these weapons in regions in which the United Nations is operating a peace mission;

2) At the national level, States shall commit themselves to take preventive measures to enhance their collective ability to identify and trace flows of small arms and light weapons of concern. In particular, they shall establish a national legislative and/or regulatory framework to ensure that:

* All small arms and light weapons are appropriately and uniquely marked at the stage of manufacture, and that existing unmarked or inadequately marked weapons are either expeditiously destroyed or appropriately marked;

* Accurate record-keeping systems are established, organized and maintained in such a way as to ensure that accurate information can be promptly retrieved and collated by competent national authorities; and

* Marking and registration systems are such as to allow clear identification of the countries of manufacture and authorized import to facilitate efforts to trace lines of supply of weapons of concern.

3) In order to support the implementation and further development of these cooperation and prevention measures, States shall commit themselves to:

* Set up an international consultative body to advise them on technical matters related to tracing, marking and record keeping; and

* Promote consultations with industry, research institutes and experts, both at the national and international levels, in order to benefit from their expertise.

4) To ensure the broadest possible participation in and facilitate implementation of the above-mentioned measures, States shall promote international cooperation and assistance in training and raising technical and enforcement capacities.

The forthcoming Conference provides a unique opportunity to raise the political will among both supplier States and affected countries to commit themselves to the establishment of an effective international tracing mechanism, preferably in a legally binding form, to be negotiated in the not so distant future. Hence this would create an important building-block for all efforts to prevent, combat and eradicate the illicit flow of small arms and light weapons.

Jeno C. A. Staehelin is Permanent Observer of Permanent Observer Mission of Switzerland to the United Nations.