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2008 Latest News

October 27, 2008

Kenyan unrest

According to Kenya's Daily Nation, the Internal Security Assistant Minister Orwa Ojodeh has described attempts at beginning a police operation on October 25 to hinder the smuggling of arms into the country from Somalia and Ethiopia. The borders in the region are notorious for their leakage and lack of controls.

However, the manoeuvre had broken down because of violence, said to be exercised against the local people by those who were sent there expected to carry out the operation against gun traffickers. The illegal arms trade is said to be flourishing in this environment.

With local people fleeing the area pursuant to inter-clan violence stemming from longstanding rivalries, it was seen as necessary to calm the area. But both police and army personnel have been accused of rape and other atrocities committed against residents, some of whom have armed themselves against the now-common violence.

nation.co.ke

October 16, 2008

Legal action in France against illicit arms trade

An article on Time.com (www.time.com) has highlighted the way substantial shipments of military munitions ranging from helicopters to landmines to small arms change hands in ways outside and not affected by the already restrictive legislation applied to the movement of arms in the legitimate sporting and civilian arms trade.

On trial in Paris now are 42 officials, some very high-ranking, alleged to have made large sums of money from the sale of the munitions, with a value of $800m, to Angolans, in the middle of the 1990s. The arms were gathered from military stockpiles after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and their transfer involved transactions in currency, often carried in suitcases.

At present, with oil prices having been so high, new sources of funding have become available to those wishing to buy illegal military arms, if they can supply illegally-gained oil in return. At the same time, ex-Soviet newly-formed nations have commenced making use of vast numbers of arms left behind, and still on their acquired territory. While NATO distributes substantial funding for the destruction of surplus arms, the money to be made by siphoning off tempts many among the responsible authorities. In addition to this, according to the article, approximately eighty shipping companies have been named in UN and other reports as being known transporters of arms, the implication being involvement in illegal transfers. Over half of these companies have been forced into closure.



October 10, 2008

Oxfam calls for international control on arms

A report published by Oxfam, “Shooting Down The Millennium Development Goals”, has called for the proposed Arms Trade Treaty, which is currently under debate at the United Nations, to incorporate sufficient power to be available, presumably placed in the hands of the UN, to prevent an arms transfer if it is deemed to put human development programs at risk.

The Millennium Development Goals were agreed on in 2000, and signatories are expected to have met them by 2015. They are designed as a benchmark for human development. According to an article in UKpress (www.ukpress.com) the Oxfam report suggests that two thirds of the countries perceived to be unlikely to meet these deadlines are currently experiencing conflict. Their conditions are said to be worsened by the large sums expended on arms, which could be better spent on infrastructure and services, and all the more so because lack of transparency in arms transfers can lead to corruption which makes the expenditure even greater.


October 2, 2008

Nigerian call for global gun legislation

An article from allafrica.com (allafrica.com ) has described a statement made at the 63rd session of the United Nations General Assembly by the Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chief Ojo Maduekwe, calling for increased international regulations on small arms.

Nigeria is suffering from increasing oil bunkering, as it is called. This is the illegal acquisition of oil, by various means up to the conducting of raids or the inflicting of damage on installations to steal it in bulk. Estimates about the amount of oil so obtained not only vary widely but are in dispute, though it is agreed the losses are substantial.

In describing the role of small arms in this criminal activity, the Minister likened oil bunkering to the trade in blood diamonds. "Blood oil", he said, "now threatens the Gulf of Guinea region". Oil bunkering is said to divert funds that are desperately needed for basic services which are part of the Millennium Development Goals.

The Minister called for "bold and robust steps" from the international community in a number of areas, including stamping out the illegal trade in small arms. For this, he said: "We remain convinced that the best and most effective strategy for achieving the goal of preventing, combating and eradicating this illicit and deadly trade is through the elaboration of a legally-binding global instrument".


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