Towards a Safe and Secure Nation: The First Consultative Conference on Firearm Control, Ownership and Administration in Botswana, 13-15 May, 2003

Conference Report

I - Introduction

The First National Consultative Conference on Firearm Control, Ownership and Administration in Botswana: Towards a Safe and Secure Nation, took place at the Grand Palm Hotel in Gaborone from 13 to 15 May, 2003. The main purpose of this Conference was to commence nationwide consultations for the development of more effective measures and sound strategies for the long-term control of firearms and for the enhancement of public safety and security in Botswana. Specific objectives in calling this conference were:

To further develop a consultative process with civil society on firearms regulations in view of the imminent review of the 1979 Firearms Act;
To raise public awareness on firearm regulation, ownership and administration needs to improve safety and security in Botswana;
To improve public awareness leading to cooperation between government and civil society in support of improved safety;
To improve the capacity of Botswana to sustain the regional SADC Protocol on Firearms and Ammunition; and
To affirm Botswana's commitments to the continental African initiative (the Bamako Declaration) and the United Nations Programme of Action on the prevention, combating and eradication of the illicit trade of small arms and light weapons in all its aspects (the UNPOA).

The Conference was organized by the Botswana National Focal Point on Small Arms and its lead agency, the Botswana Police Service. The Conference was held with the support of Botswana Civil Society through the Botswana Council of Non-Governmental Organizations (BOCONGO) and with the technical and material assistance of Saferworld and SaferAfrica.

The conference brought together eighty government officials and sixty representatives from civil society organizations of Botswana coming from across all regions of the country.

All governmental agencies were present and regional and district crime prevention committees were invited. The conference also brought together members of Parliament, including the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, the Honourable BK Temane, members of the following Parliamentary Committees: Foreign Affairs and Trade and Security, the Law Reform Committee and the Committee on Subsidiary Legislation, Dikgosi (traditional leaders), non-governmental organizations, the media, and the private sector. International participants offering support included Dr Inoguchi, Chair of the Biannual Meeting of the United Nations Programme of Action Conference of 2003, represented by Minister Toshio Sano from the Japanese Mission in Geneva, Switzerland; the Interim Commissioner for Peace and Security of the Africa Union whose statement was read by the Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mr DM Rendoh; the personal representative of the Chair (South Africa) of the NEPAD subcommittee on Peace and Security (whose statement was read); the Executive Secretary of the SADC community; the Inspector-General of Police of the United Republic of Tanzania; the representative from the Inspector-General of Police for the Republic of Mozambique; and the Head of the Interpol Sub-Regional Bureau for Southern Africa based in Zimbabwe.

The Conference was divided into an official opening programme and international public session; and five closed sessions. In the Official Opening Programme speakers included the Honourable Minister for Presidential Affairs and Public Administration, Mr DK Kwelagobe; the Botswana Commissioner of Police, Mr. Norman S Moleboge, and the Chairperson of the Botswana Council for Non Governmental Organizations - B000NGO, Mr DP Makgalemele. The keynote speech was delivered by His Excellency the President of Botswana, Mr Festus G Mogae who formally opened the Conference. All the accredited diplomatic community in Gaborone was invited to the official welcome and the event was supported by the Botswana Police Service Band and the Millenium Production House Drama Group of Botswana.

During its closed sessions, the conference specifically engaged in the following activities:

a debate on the status of Botswana in relation to international commitments and initiatives on small arms control;
a comparative analysis of the implementation of small arms commitments in Southern Africa;
on identification of the needs and requirements for improved firearms regulations and controls in Botswana; and
the role of Botswana civil society in preventing, combating and eradicating this scourge.

Participants then proceeded to workshop specific roles for partnership between Botswana governmental agencies and non-governmental organizations; and to provide recommendations on all aspects of more efficient regulation, ownership and administration on firearms and ammunition in Botswana.

The final recommendations from the working groups were approved by all participants to the Conference. The official closure was undertaken by the Honourable Minister for Presidential Affairs and Public Administration, Mr DK Kwelagobe.

II - Summary of the Proceedings

A. International and Regional Initiatives:
The Conference made specific reference and mention to Botswana's international commitments in the prevention, combating and eradication of the problem of small arms proliferation, namely:

the Protocol on the control of Firearms, Ammunition and other related materials in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.
the EU-SADC Southern African Programme on Prevention, Combating and Control of Proliferation and Illicit Trafficking in Small Arms and Light Weapons.
the Bamako Declaration on an African Common position on the Illicit Proliferation, Circulation and Trafficking of Small Arms and Light Weapons.
the United Nations Programme of Action on the Prevention, Combating and Eradicating the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects (UNPOA).

Participants highlighted the urgency and need to engage in national and regional implementation of existing commitments to reduce the scourge of small arms and light weapons proliferation.

Special mention was made of the New African Partnership for Development (NEPAD) in reference to the fact that the control of small arms has been identified as one of the seven most importa nt priorities of the AU/NEPAD peace and security agenda as pre-requisites to prosperity and economic development in Africa.

Participants discussed the dynamics of arms in Southern Africa and their effects on peace, security and safety in the region. In this regard, participants affirmed that:

The Southern African region is emerging from decades of conflict, and we have a glut of small arms and light weapons; which get to be illegally transported across borders by criminal syndicates for their disruptive criminal activities.
Such criminal activities and conflicts resulting from a proliferation of small arms and light weapons in our region originally occurred within the geographic boundary of states, but their effects tend to be international in scope.
Organized criminal groups, which tend to operate across borders, have become active in arms trafficking to strengthen their illegal activities.
Southern African gun runners and drug peddlers are beginning to pool their resources to maximize profits leading to an increase in criminal or non-political acts committed with these military-style weapons in armed robberies, rape, hijacking, terrorism, stealing of livestock, drug trading and smuggling.

Participants concluded that:

Small arms proliferation is not merely a security issue; it is also an issue of human rights and of development when non-state parties: terrorist groups and perpetrators of organized crime, use arms to sustain and exacerbate conflicts, undermine the rule of law, disregard inviolable tenets of international humanitarian law, and increase the humanitarian costs of conflict and post-conflict reconstruction in terms of socioeconomic and political regression.
The unregulated trade of small arms can affect not only the country in crisis, but also neighbouring countries, and severely destabilize a state or region in such a manner that it creates a culture of violence that makes the state or region ungovernable.

Participants indicated that many of the weapons impacting on the security of countries and people in our region resulted from the changed political situation in Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Weapons that were previously used as tools of the liberation struggles have since been released because peace in the region did not come accompanied by effective and comprehensive disarmament and de-mining. Here, participants agreed that more should be done to support the evolving peace processes, and the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration efforts underway in Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Particular care should be taken to ensure complete disarmament and destruction of weapons previously held by the warring parties, where a determination has been made that they would not be needed for the defence of the state.

Continentally, participants noted that since the AU has adopted a common position in developing action programmes for the reduction, prevention and management of small arms and light weapons proliferation, as spelt out in the Bamako Declaration of 2000, we should loose no time in engaging in the institutionalization of National Focal Points for national action and the creation of National Action Programmes that are sustainable and comprehensive in character and that include, as recommended by the Bamako Declaration, an active supporting role of civil society.

Regionally, participants commended the Southern African Development Community (SADC)'s Protocol on Firearms, Ammunition and Related Material of 2001. Participants recommended that, to enhance international commitments, the following measures should be addressed:

Encourage member states to ratify the SADC Protocol so that it can enter into force during 2003.
Encourage the SADC Protocol implementation efforts of the Southern African Regional Police Chiefs Cooperation Organization (SARPCCO).
Request from the SADC Secretariat improved coordination of regional and international funding and technical support to implementing agencies of the SADC Protocol, such as SARPCCO.
Request the SADC Secretariat to urgently call a meeting of the SADC Group of Governmental Experts to adequately prepare for the Southern African presentations at the Biennial Meeting of Officials to the United Nations Programme of Action (UNPOA) to take place in New York from 7 to 1 1 July 2003.
Request the relevant authorities of the Government of Botswana that they officially report the outcome of this Conference as part of the Botswana presentation to the Biennial Meeting of the UNPOA Conference in New York during July 2003.
Request that Botswana should be more proactive on the issue of small arms proliferation, and its controls, both regionally and internationally by, for example, engaging partners internationally to especially agree on common parameters for the transfer of small arms and light weapons between manufacturers and end users. In general, more needs to be done to generate partnerships and agreements between the supply and demand actors in the transfer of small arms and light weapons. Here, participants agreed with the spirit and the recommendations presented during the holding of the All Africa Conference on the Implementation of the UNPOA: Needs and Partnerships which was held in Pretoria during March 2002 and that brought together the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD arms producing) countries and all African governments.

B: The situation of Botswana and the Review of the National Firearms Legislation
Botswana's Long Term Vision (Vision 2016) challenges Botswana to eliminate serious and violent crime and the illegal possession of firearms to create a safe and secure environment which will enhance the safety of the public and attract investors.

Botswana is conscious of the fact that unregulated and uncontrolled firearms contribute to heightened levels of social instability in the form of conflict, violence, violent crimes and other social disorders in the country as a whole. Therefore, there is an urgent need to prevent, combat and eradicate the illicit manufacturing of firearms, ammunition and other related materials, and their excessive and destabilising accumulation, and the trafficking, possession and use of firearms, because of their links with, among others, drug trafficking, terrorism, trans-national organised crime and other violent criminal activities like armed robbery.

In view of the seriousness of the situation, participants reviewed progress on the generation of institutional frameworks to improve the capacity of coordination of the government on this issue and commended, in particular, the creation and operationalization of the National Focal Point of Botswana and its lead agency, the Botswana Police Service; as well as the government's decision to ratify the SADC Protocol on Firearms and Ammunition.

Participants also noted that the Botswana government has already covered a lot of ground in terms of legislation and controls over firearms, ammunition and related material. Participants recognized that the necessary legislation in Botswana, especially the Arms and Ammunition Act, has been amended to incorporate the following measures:

the prohibition of unrestricted possession of small arms by civilians;
the total prohibition of the possession and use of light weapons by civilians;
the coordination of procedures for the import, export and transit of firearms and ammunition;
the regulation and centralised registration of all civilian-owned firearms in the country through the Central Arms Registry at Police Headquarters;
measures ensuring that proper controls are exercised over the manufacturing of, possession and use of firearms, ammunition and other related materials;
provisions promoting legal uniformity and minimum standards in respect of the manufacture, control, possession, import, export and transfer of firearms, ammunition and other related materials; and
the monitoring and auditing of licences held in a person's possession, and the restriction on the number of firearms that may be owned by any person.

Nevertheless, more needs to be done in terms of regulating the circulation and/or transfer of small arms and light weapons, and building institutional capacity of national law enforcement, among other issues. Participants recommended that the following issues be considered, among others, in the process leading to national legislation review:

In general, the legislative process should be guided by four priorities:
1. The need to generate a National Plan of Action on Small Arms Management and Disarmament in Botswana.
2. The need to create a clear national policy and/or programme on firearms that can guide legislative development not only on the area of firearms but also in other relevant legislation.
3. The need to increase multi-sectoral participation of all stakeholders in the national firearms debate and in the subsequent implementation of policy and enforcement of the law.
4. The need to partner with the judiciary so that the interpretation of the law is applied in harmony with both its spirit and its letter.
In particular, legislation should take the following concerns into account:
1. The need to have provisions to make the smuggling and possession of illicit firearms and the possession of weapons of war a criminal offence.
2. The need to facilitate the successful prosecution for firearm-related crime.
3. The need to increase penalties on illicit possession.
4. The need to encourage surrender of unlicensed weapons without fear of prosecution, perhaps through the provision of an amnesty or a period of grace linked to a specific timeframe.
5. The need to promote the handing in of licensed firearms that are no longer needed nor wanted.
6. The need to consider making the firearm the property of the state with the person only retaining the right of use of the firearm.
7. The need to amend firearms legislation to include screening of applicants, competency testing, safe storage facilities and safe-keeping, and regulations governing their safe transport.
8. The need to discuss a set of minimum standards for the possession and use of firearms, and for the security of firearms in the home.
9. The need to cater for transit weapons including the issue of over-flight.
10. The need to consider the expansion of the definition of small arms to include home-made weapons, air guns, pellet guns and cross-bows.
11. The need to consider the negative aspects of toy guns and the potential for their being used for criminal activities, and legislate as appropriate.
12. The need to improve the powers of the police for seizure and capture.
13. It was further observed that the entire process of issuing the firearms needed an overhaul to ensure that licenses for firearms are issued only where necessary and all factors, including accountability and transparency of the license applicant, are taken into account. To this effect legislation should provide for mechanisms for follow-up on licences for firearms issued.
Participants further recommended parallel actions that can reinforce the Government's decision to strengthen the legislation on firearms and to provide improved capacity for law enforcement in the country. These parallel actions could be, but are not exclusive, to the following actions:
1. Get communities to work with the Police through the provision of protection on informers. This requires consideration of adequate whistle-blowing protection legislation.
2. Streamline and harmonize internal legislation that is relevant to the issue such as that governing the combating of corruption and other activities such as money laundering. Here, although most regional and international initiatives such as the legally binding Vienna Protocol on Firearms attached to the UN Convention on the Combating of Trans-National Organized Crime, and the SADC Protocol on Firearms and Ammunition provide guidelines for the review of legislation, there is a need to internalize those provisions and make them into effective national legislation.
3. Institutionally, there is a need to reinforce the effectiveness of national coordinating mechanisms such as the National Focal Point on Small Arms (NFP) by the creation, for example, of local or district focal points.
4. There is a need to improve the technical capacity for detection of illicit goods at key entry points around the country. There is a general need to improve border controls and to gain access for the police to all areas where illegal trafficking is suspected of happening.
5. There is urgent need to computerize the Central Firearms Register to assist criminal investigation, among other uses.
6. There is a need to create an independent fund for research that can be accessed for independent research by civil society on these issues.
7. There is a need to address the issue of small arms and light weapons in all relevant national programmes as an integral component; this should emerge from the National Action Plan for Small Arms and Light Weapons Management.

C: The role of civil society
Participants spent a large proportion of their time and efforts identifying the role that Botswana civil society should play in the identification and resolution of the problem of the prevention, management and resolution of illicit firearms.
In general, participants noted that civil society is underplayed and underutilized when national initiatives emerge. In the case of the prevention, management and resolution of the problem of small arms proliferation and the reduction of its negative effects in society, participants indicated that there were many roles that could be usefully played by civil society in pursuit of this common goal with government. Among the identified roles for civil society were the following:

Undertake awareness creation and education programmes among the public on issues of firearms control, ownership and administration. This is vital since the success of a national strategy depends on implementation on the ground and requires community participation. Civil society is better placed to engage communities at grass roots on this issue. Education programmes for the youth and children is the only way to sustainable resolution of the problem and to impact on the generation of a culture of peace. Again, civil society is better placed to undertake this role.
Undertake independent research and establish research partnerships with government, research institutions and like-minded institutions on all the issues pertaining to the small arms problem and its effect on society. The advantage of this partnership is that civil society organisations have a track record of positive interaction with communities especially through the use of participatory methodologies and approaches to development. Therefore, it is easy to acquire organic and/or indigenous knowledge on the control mechanisms of firearms from the communities through these partnerships. Similarly, universities, think-tanks and statistics centres are mostly based in the civil society environment and have professional capacity to undertake specialized research that can serve the common interest.
Undertake needs assessment for the building of necessary capacity in both government and civil society to engage in the control, prevention and combating of small arms in Botswana.
Undertake specialized training and capacity-building courses jointly with governmental partners.
Community mobilisation against the use of small arms, used especially in family violence, is one other area where the role of civil society is crucial. Civil society may not be involved in the disarmament and destruction of small arms at the moment, but it possesses technical expertise in the area of community mobilisation to secure a sound involvement of communities in small arms issues. Civil society can also make the necessary connections between armed violence and domestic violence, abuse of children and neglect. Communities relate well to civil society and as such it is easy for them to disseminate information on violence and firearms and manners in which to reduce both if this information is presented by civil society and not by government.
A final role for civil society can be to assist in the formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of firearms control, prevention and combat strategies.
Specifically, participants' recommendations were centred on roles for civil society partnership with Government in its fight against small arms proliferation in the following areas: research, public awareness, education and capacity building. Participants, therefore, identified the following ways in which civil society can support national firearms control, ownership and administration:
1. By generating research (including field research and surveying) on:
  1. The capacity-building needs for civil society in order to undertake further research in this area.
  2. Impact of arms dynamics on the erosion of the safety and security of society.
  3. The real familiarity of firearm owners with law and regulations, including safe storage, transport, handling and use.
  4. The impact of violence and crime - particularly firearms violence - on the economy and on society.
  5. The adequacy and effectiveness on the control of firearms.
  6. The optimum minimum number of firearms to be held per licence holder or per household.
  7. The ways in which firearms control and legislative issues involving firearms can be introduced into the school curriculum to educate children from an early age. h. The conduction of a sociological survey of the impact of violence in entertainment media on the prevalence of violence in society.
  8. The impact of media reporting on crime.
  9. The inadequacies in the current penalties on reflecting the severity of the crime.
  10. The type of ideal background checks to be put in place for qualification to own a firearm (psychological profiling etc.).
  11. The effectiveness of the raffling and the suitability of the candidates selected under the raffling system for licensing arms in Botswana.
  12. Measures to monitor the movement of arms across borders and the dynamics of the illicit trafficking of arms in the region and nationally.
  13. Effective control methods for other types of weapons used in the commission of a crime.
  14. The need for police to be armed or not.
  15. The capacity needs of local police so as to guide the development of training curricula.
2. By engaging in public awareness, education and capacity building as follows:
  1. Accelerate the delivery of education (outreach) to the ground.
  2. Design a curriculum for students about the dangers of arms.
  3. Design school curricula centred around family values.
  4. Promote cooperative practices.
  5. The formation of an association of those who have arms to enhance the practice of self-policing.
  6. The training of civil society and law enforcement agencies on the general issue of small Arms and their negative impact.
  7. Ensure that the role of media is emphasized, promoted and engendered. When possible and when it does not affect civil liberties, violent shows or scenes should be monitored and restricted.
  8. Involve religious organizations and their leaders as a means of reaching out to communities that are in danger of small arms violence.
  9. Involve the Dikgotla (traditional community consultative forums) to address the issue of small arms at the community level.
  10. Create a more informed approach - develop a database for information that can be accessed and used by civil society to develop approaches to support firearm control. In addition, repackaging the information on firearms, i.e. translation into a form that can be understood easily across the sectors of the population. In so doing those who cannot read and write sufficiently will be included. Education can be carried out at the following levels: households, schools, churches, community through civil society organizations and drama, art, exhibitions, etc.
Partnership projects emerged in the discussions, among which the following recommendations stand out:
1. Identify practical projects that can assist collaboration from the grass roots up involving the private sector, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOS) and government. There is a need to dialogue to share experience and best practices.
2. Examine the impact of the existing govern mentcommunity communication and identify the effects of this communication.
3. Examine ways in which civil society can change the government's perception that they are the sole provider of safety and security and research ways in which civil society can engage the government in jointly providing for the community's safety and security.
4. Research the sense of ownership that civil society has on issues that impact on their environment and how civil society can be held accountable for this.
5. Identify ways in which civil society can be empowered to enable them to interact and participate with the government. Not only financial and institutional - but intellectual capacity-building.
6. Examine the degree to which the issue of culture glosses over the problems of our society. For example - Botswana are proud of being a peaceful nation and will often not admit to problems undermining this peacefulness because of this pride.
7. Improve the information exchange, consultation and interactions between civil society, government and the private sector to find effective ways in which to impact on the micro and macro socioeconomic development alternatives of Botswana.

Overwhelmingly, the most important recommendation coming from civil society participants to the First National Consultative Conference was that there is an urgent need to establish a sustainable and transparent framework for a close partnership with all stakeholders to maintain effective control on firearm control, ownership and administration in Botswana.

III - General Conference Recommendations

In conclusion, the First Consultative Conference on Firearms Control, Ownership and Administration in Botswana: Towards a Safe and Secure Nation, recommends that.

The government and civil society should work together to effectively create and implement a National Plan of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons Management in Botswana that takes into account all the existing regional and international protocols and initiatives on small arms proliferation issues. This National Plan can guide the development of a national policy on firearms and all the recommendations that emerged during the Conference as indicated in the Summary of Proceedings, above.
The National Focal Point should be expanded to include representatives of civil society as an integral part of the Focal Point. This will maximize consultation and cooperation between governmental agencies and civil society organizations in pursuit of all actions supporting the development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the National Plan of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons Management.
The review of the Firearms and Ammunition Act should be undertaken taking into account the concerns raised at this Conference and in broad consultation with civil society as appropriate.
Civil society organizations, including Non-Governmental organizations, communitybased organizations, professional and religious associations, private sector, and academic institutions, among others, should strive to improve their interactions with each other and to institute a common civil society Forum for the discussion of joint activities, actions and concerns.
This Conference Report should be made available to the relevant national and international authorities for their information and support.

Finally, the Conference reaffirms its belief that the future prosperity of Botswana lies in the responsible and cooperative partnership between civil society and government to effectively implement the policy and law that can prevent, manage and resolve the problem caused by the proliferation of small arms and light weapons. Civil society and government should act as one on this issue as they are co-responsible for its effective implementation. This should not only relate to firearms control but also to the enhancement of a culture of peace and cooperation in Botswana.

Notes
' Funders of SaferAfrica for this activity are the UK (DFID) government and the government of The Netherlands. Funders for Saferworld for this activity is the UK (DFID).

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Towards a Safe and Secure Nation: The First Consultative Conference on Firearm Control, Ownership and Administration in Botswana, 13-15 May, 2003

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