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

The AU commitments a statement from INTERIM Commisioner for Peace, Securtiy and Political affairs at the Commission for the African Union
Ambassador Said Dannit

I would like at the outset to apologise for the absence of Interim Commissioner, the Ambassador Said Djiniit who is responsible for peace, security and political affairs at the Commission. He is held up by the heavy workload of the Commission in connection with the final phase of the transition and the upcoming Summit in Maputo, Mozambique. Nevertheless, I will proceed to read his statement.

The issue of firearms has always been one of the priority concerns of the African Union. No one in the continent will question the enormous impacts of firearms on Africa, in particular, the humanitarian and environmental disasters caused by firearms. In this context, I would like to express my highest gratitude and that of the AU Commission to the Government of Botswana for hosting this First Consultative Conference and a special gratitude to HE Mr Festus Gontebanye Mogae, President of Botswana for his leading role in addressing the issue of firearms.

I equally wish to thank SaferAfrica for its role in organizing this Conference and for extending an invitation to me to talk about the commitments of the AU. Special thanks also, to all the invited guests, civil society representatives and government officials. It is our hope at the Commission, that in your deliberations these three days, this First Consultative Conference will produce an outcome document that will lay the groundwork for the way forward and provide needed impetus to ongoing efforts to address the issue of small arms and light weapons, particularly, in regard to how to control, manage and administer such weapons in Africa.

The impact of firearms on Africa can never be overstated, given the fact that Africa remains the most affected region in the world. Out of the estimated 500 million small arms and light weapons in circulation in the world, approximately 100 millions are found in Africa. The proliferation of firearms, in particular, the illicit trafficking in small arms and light weapons, including landmines, have exacerbated and prolonged conflicts in Africa, which have killed millions of Africans, and further forced millions into the drifting life as refugees, displaced persons, deprived of their means of livelihood, human dignity and hope. Firearms have also increased the rates of deadly urban crimes, including terrorism, in the past decades. It has also been widely acknowledged that the proliferation and availability of firearms in Africa have perpetrated a culture of violence and disrupted social organizations in many parts of Africa. The seriousness of the threat of these weapons to Africa has been clearly recognized in several meetings of African leaders.

Actions taken by the African Union against firearms

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Organisation of African Unity (OAU) and now the African Union have for long grappled with the issues of firearms, particularly as they relate to the proliferation and illicit trade in small arms and light weapons and the widespread occurrance of landmines on the continent. Bitter lessons from Somalia, Rwanda, Burundi, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo, just to name a few, of the appalling impacts of small arms on society, called for collective counter action at the regional level. The issue was first formally raised during the 38th Ordinary Session of the Council of Ministers held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, from 4 to b June 1998, which adopted resolution (LXVIII), on the proliferation of small arms and light weapons. The Council, in that decision, expressed thanks to the Government of Mali on the initiative of a West African Moratorium on the importation, exportation and manufacture of small arms and light weapons. The Council also reiterated the urgency and the need for an inter-African cooperation in search of solutions to the problems posed by the illicit proliferation of small arms and light weapons.

At its 35th Ordinary Session held in Algiers, Algeria, from 12 to 14 July 1999, the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the OAU adopted Decision AHG/Dec.137 (LXX) on the illicit proliferation, circulation and trafficking in small arms and light weapons. In that decision, the Assembly, inter alia, requested the OAU Secretariat to organize an African Ministerial Preparatory Conference on the matter prior to the International Conference on Small Arms in 2001. It also stressed the primacy of the OAU in the coordination or regional efforts to deal with the issue.

In follow-up to that decision, the Secretariat, in May 2000, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, convened the First Continental Meeting of African Experts on the Illicit Proliferation, Circulation and Trafficking of Small Arms and Light Weapons. The experts made several important recommendations, many of which were subsequently adopted by the International Consultation Conference on the Illicit Proliferation, Circulation and Trafficking in Small Arms and Light Weapons, that was also made in Addis Ababa, from 22-23 June 2000.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Efforts of the OAU to address the issue of small arms and light weapons in a more concerted and resolute manner culminated in the adoption of the Bamako Declaration on an African Common Position on the Illicit Proliferation, Circulation and Trafficking of Small Arms and Light Weapons, on 1 December 2000. The Bamako Declaration remains the most far-reaching decision of the Council of Ministers on the issue. It contains concrete measures, many of which are also found in the UN Plan of Action, to be undertaken at the national, sub-regional, and continental levels. It also stresses the need for civil society involvement in all levels of implementation.

In the Declaration, the Ministers expressed their grave concern on the problem of small arms and light weapons and clearly recognized the seriousness of the threat to peace, security and development of the continent. As a prerequisite to the promotion of peace, security, stability and development, the Ministers agreed on the crucial need to address the problems posed by small arms and light weapons, in particular, to undertake certain measures, including among others:

Ensuring that the behaviour and conduct of Member States and suppliers are not only transparent but also go beyond narrow national interests.
The promotion of structures and processes to strengthen democracy, human rights, the rule of law, and good governance, as well as economic recovery and growth.
The promotion of comprehensive solutions to the problem of the illicit proliferation, circulation and trafficking of small arms and light weapons, including both their control and reduction dimension coordination and harmonization of efforts of Member States at regional, continental and international levels, encouraging the involvement of civil society in support of the central role of governments.
The institutionalization of national and regional programmes for action aimed at preventing, controlling and eradicating the illicit proliferation, circulation and trafficking of small arms and light weapons.

The Declaration also provides for sound recommendations of both legislative and executive measures to be undertaken at the national, regional and continental level. Some of the key recommendations of the Declaration include:

develop and implement, where they do not exist, national programmes for: the voluntary surrender of illicit small arms and light weapons, the identification and destruction by competent national authorities, of surplus, obsolete and seized stocks in possession of the state, and the reintegration of demobilized youth and those who possess small arms and light weapons;
encourage the adoption of appropriate national legislation or regulations to prevent the breaching of international arms embargoes, as decided by the United Nations Security Council;
encourage, where appropriate, the active involvement of civil society in the formulation and implementation of a national action plan to deal with the problem;
enter into binding bilateral arrangements with neighbouring countries, so as to put in place an effective common system of control, including the recording, licensing and collection of small arms and light weapons, within a common frontier zone;
encourage the codification and harmonization of legislation and govern the manufacture, trading, brokering, possession and use of small arms and ammunition; strengthen regional and continental cooperation among police, customs and border control services to address the illicit proliferation, circulation and trafficking of small arms and light weapons;
enact stringent laws, regulations and administrative procedures to ensure the effective control over the transfer of small arms and light weapons.

In follow-up to the Bamako Declaration, the OAU and now the AU have taken a series of measures to promote implementation of the Declaration by encouraging national small arms disarmament initiatives. In this respect, I would like to highlight the identification and collection of weapons in the Comoros island of Anjuan, undertaken by the AU to support the framework Agreement for national reconciliation. The AU Commission has also liaised and collaborated with expert institutions within Africa and the United Nations to work out the modalities for implementing the Bamako Declaration. As part of these efforts, and in order to raise awareness on the problems of small arms in Africa, a Quarterly Newsletter on Small Arms Proliferation and Africa, has been put in place to provide updates on small arms issues in Africa. The Commission encourages regional initiatives such as the ECOWAS Moratorium on small arms, the Nairobi Declaration and other initiatives undertaken in the SADC and ECCAS regions.

Activities of the African Union to address the issue are situated within the general framework of the promotion of peace, security, stability and development of the continent. In this context, the Constitutive Act of the African Union, the Protocol Relating to the Establishment of the Peace and Security Council, and the CSSDCA Solemn Declaration, have clearly underlined the seriousness of the threat posed by small arms and light weapons.

To complement the Bamako Declaration, the Memorandum of Understanding, in which African leaders outline the core and common values of the continent, declares that the "Uncontrolled spread of small arms and light weapons as well as the problem of landmines, constitute a threat to peace and security in the African continent". In order to combat the problems posed by small arms and light weapons, Member States agree on a plan of action and a timeline to implement all aspects of the Bamako Declaration.

The importance the AU attaches to the issue of small arms is further reflected in the AU NEPAD Peace and Security Agenda, which identifies the issue of small arms as one of the priority focuses for the maintenance of peace and security in the continent.