For Immediate Release
14 August 2003
As developments toward restoring stability in Liberia proceed,
civil society experts in the region are urging governments and
the international community to address the surplus of small arms
in West Africa, and to prevent further weapons from arriving
in contravention of UN embargoes and a regional moratorium on
small arms transfers.
With the departure of Charles Taylor and the arrival of more peacekeepers,
much-needed humanitarian assistance to Liberia will help address
the immediate needs of a nation wrecked by ten years of armed conflict.
But civil society leaders say these steps are no guarantee for
a lasting peace in the region, as the fighting continues even after
Mr. Taylor's departure, and is likely to continue.
"Whatever now happens to build a new Liberia, attention must
be re-focused on removing guns currently in circulation there," said
Conmany Wesseh, Director of the West African Action Network on
Small Arms (WAANSA). "This will help ensure that they are
not recycled in on-going conflicts in Liberia and elsewhere. At
the same time, all efforts must be made to stop more weapons from
coming in to the region. Certainly these measures must be a part
of any lasting peace agreement."
Despite a UN embargo and a West African moratorium, arms are still
being shipped illegally to the region. Last week, it was reported
that Nigerian peacekeepers intercepted a shipment of 10 tonnes
of AK-47 ammunition and rocket-propelled grenades en route to Liberia.
The shipment had been purchased by Taylor's son and illegally diverted.
In Liberia and its neighbors in West Africa,
small arms are the weapons of criminal activities, intra- and
inter-communal feuds,
local wars, armed insurrections, armed rebel activities and terrorism.
Small arms are used to violate human rights, to facilitate the
practice of bad governance, to subvert constitutions, to carry
out coup d’états and to create and maintain a general
state of fear, insecurity and instability.
Small arms also used to forcibly recruit children into armed conflict,
and provide coercive tools for the committing of violence against
women, including rape and murder.
The millions of small arms in the region have arrived in contravention
of both UN embargos and the ECOWAS Moratorium on the import, export,
manufacture and sale of small arms and light weapons in West Africa;
the same guns have circulated freely between neighboring countries,
including Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone and Guinea, contributing to
the extensive destabilization and conflict there.
The recent developments in Liberia come one month after the close
of the UN Biennial Meeting of States on the Implementation of the
2001 United Nations Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and
Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in
All Its Aspects (UNPoA). A recent IANSA report on the implementation
of the UNPoA found that many nations have not taken even the most
basic steps toward implementation.
In addition, recent meetings of signatories to the ECOWAS Moratorium
have revealed a lack of commitment to implementing the measures,
and the moratorium has been largely ineffective in preventing arms
shipments to the region.
With this in mind, the International Action Network on Small Arms
(IANSA), along with its participant organisations in the region,
including WAANSA, calls for:
· The inclusion in any peace agreement
of specific measures that address small arms in the region; these
measures must include
demobilization, disarmament and reintegration (DDR) programs for
ex-combatants, and weapons collection and destruction efforts
· A thorough investigation by the
United Nations of those who illegally sell and supply guns to
the region - and a commitment
to bringing them to justice
· Increased international support
for and engagement on the United Nations arms embargo on Liberia
and the global UN Programme
of Action on small arms and light weapons; locally, this must take
the form of national coordination agencies for Programme actions,
the destruction of surplus weapons, and increased efforts toward
DDR and weapons collection and destruction programs
· Full commitment of West African
nations to the ECOWAS Moratorium on the import, export, manufacture
and sale of small
arms and light weapons in West Africa; non-governmental organizations
are essential to this process and must be included at all levels
For more information contact Awa Ceesay : +44 207 953 7678 or
communications@iansa.org.
The International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) is the
global movement against gun violence - a network of more than 500
civil society organisations working in 100 countries to stop the
proliferation and misuse of small arms and light weapons. IANSA
seeks to reduce the impact of small arms by fostering collaborative
advocacy, promoting the development of regional and thematic networks,
supporting capacity building and raising awareness.
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