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Chairperson's summary
of the Tokyo Follow-up Meeting of the UN Conference on the
Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects
January 2002
The Tokyo Follow-up
Meeting of the UN Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small
Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects was held from January
23-25, 2002 at the invitation of the government of Japan. 47
representatives from 32 governments as well as 32 individuals
representing various organizations and research institutes
participated.
The objective
of the Follow-up Meeting was to keep up the momentum of the
UN Conference and to give the participants a first-hand opportunity
to assess the outcome of the Conference and to consider ways
to vigorously implement the Programme of Action adopted by
the Conference.
The participants
of the Meeting considered that the September 11 terrorist attacks
that took place in between the UN Conference and the Tokyo
Follow-up Meeting had the effect of making the issues of small
arms and light weapons even more relevant, since the problems
of terrorism, drug trafficking, organized crime, regional conflicts
and the weapons used in such conflicts are closely linked together
and that the international community had to make greater efforts
to deal with such new challenges.
The Meeting turned
out to be very timely and useful, achieving its objectives.
Most of the participants reiterated the need to keep up the
momentum of the Conference and to take active initiatives at
all levels to implement the Programme of Action. All the key-note
presentations made were valuable and enlightening, and the
exchanges of views that followed were stimulating and productive.
The outline of the Meeting and some of the many salient points
discussed or raised during the sessions are summarized below.
Mr. M. Donowaki, special assistant to the Minister for Foreign
Affairs of Japan, served as the chairperson of most of the
sessions.
At the opening
session, a message from H.E. Mr. Junichiro Koizumi, Prime Minister
of Japan, was introduced, then, H.E. Mr. Seiken Sugiura, Senior
Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, H.E. Mr. Camilo
Reyes, President of the UN Conference and Permanent Representative
of Colombia to the United Nations in Geneva, and H.E. Mr. Carlos
dos Santos, Chairman of the Preparatory Committee of the UN
Conference and Permanent Representative of the Republic of
Mozambique addressed the Meeting.
In Session
1, under the theme of "Assessment of the UN Conference",
Chairperson Mitsuro Donowaki Special Assistant to the Japanese
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, H.E. Mr. Camilo Reyes Rodriguez
President of the UN Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small
Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects, Mr. Joao Honwana,
Secretary of the UN Conference and Chief of the Conventional
Branch of the UN Department for Disarmament Affairs, and Dr.
Keith Krause, Programme Director of the Small Arms Survey,
Geneva, made key-note presentations which were followed by
a general exchange of views.
In the discussion
there was broad agreement on the value of the UN Conference
and the Programme of Action as a legitimation of the various
activities related to the SALW issue and recognition of its
importance. Although some participants thought that the Programme
of Action did not go far enough, all agreed that it was a valuable
first step. Moreover, there was broad agreement that the Programme
of Action was a common basis from which different states and
regions could move forward at a speed appropriate to their
desires, needs and capacities. The Programme of Action empowers
states and regions to decide what aspects of the issue to priorities.
In Session
2, under the theme of "Exchange of Views on the Programme
of Action Adopted at the UN Conference", Ms. Anna Maria
Sampaio of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil, Mr. Denis
Chouinard of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International
Trade of Canada, Mr. Fu Chong of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
of China, Mr. C. Edward Peartree, Senior Policy Expert on Small
Arms, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, Department of State
of United States of America, H.E. Mr. Antonio Cosano Perez,
Ambassador at large for International Security Affairs of Spain
on behalf of European Union and Ambassador Pasi Patokallio
of Finland made key-note presentations which were followed
by a general exchange of views. The participants endorsed the
approach of H.E. Mr. Camilo Reyes in highlighting a range of
measures that could - and should - be taken immediately by
states without requiring legislative procedures, for example,
establishing national points of contact and designating national
coordinating agencies for the implementation of the Programme
of Action, and starting record keeping on SALW. Department
for Disarmament Affairs, UN, is also empowered to collect and
circulate such data and information provided by states. It
was also noted that some measures were more relevant than others
to particular regions, for example, the concerns of South East
Asia about transnational organized crime, and that this would
determine implementation priorities.
During the discussion
there was a very encouraging exchange of information giving
an early indication of the initiatives which were being undertaken
- both regionally and nationally - in order to implement and
move forward the Programme of Action. Participants agreed that
there were a large number of such initiatives underway particularly
in Latin America and Africa and that this was a positive aid
to speedy implementation of national measures.
In Session
3, under the theme of "Exports to Non-State Actors",
H.E. Mr. Carlos dos Santos, Mr. C. Edward Peartree of the United
States Department of State, and Ms. Peggy Mason of Canada made
key-note presentations, which were followed by an interesting
and informative discussion of the issue. This was a topic on
which the positions of participating states at the UN Conference
were sharply divided.
Although these
divisions remained, the discussion was constructive and several
potential avenues for future work to bridge the divides were
suggested. For example, H.E. Mr. Carlos dos Santos highlighted
the fact that effective implementation of the Programme of
Action, particularly of its Section II Paragraph 11, would
make it much more difficult for non-state actors to obtain
SALW. Some participants suggested that this issue might be
resolved through the efforts for a clearer formulation of the
export criteria of the Programme of Action in the follow-up
process, while others thought that its recognition as a matter
of principle might still be needed. Mr. Peartree agreed with
other participants that disagreements on this issue should
not be allowed to interfere with the implementation of the
Programme of Action, which was the key priority, but stated
U.S. concerns about the failure to consider exceptional circumstances
under which arms supplies to non-state actors would be necessary.
He also noted that the U.S. favored an alternative conceptualization,
differentiating between responsible and irresponsible end users.
Ms. Peggy Mason suggested that a fruitful route for resolving
this issue would be to look at International Law and how this
can be used to support a constructive interpretation of Section
II, paragraph 11. The establishment of a group of governmental
experts for this purpose might dialogue and it was agreed that
the dialogue should be continued at future similar meetings.
In Session
4, under the them of "International Assistance and Cooperation",
Mr. Yoshihumi Okamura, Director of the Arms Control and Disarmament
Division, Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (who also chaired
the session), Dr. Owen Greene of the University of Bradford,
H.E. Mr. Samuel Hinga Norman, Deputy Minister of Defense of
Sierra Leone, Mr. El Ghassim Wane Acting Deputy Head of the
OAU Conflict Management Centre, Mr. Takuto Kubo of UNMIK and
Mr. Sukehiro Hasegawa Director of the UNDP Tokyo Office made
key-note presentations, which were followed by a general exchange
of views.
The conference
acknowledged the path-breaking initiative by the Government
of Japan to implement an "action-oriented disarmament
initiative". In the general discussion it was pointed
out that some of the most affected and least developed countries
lacked not only the capacity to implement, but even enough
knowledge about the Programme of Action. There was discussion
of the problems of SALW in countries such as Cambodia in South
East Asia, Sierra Leone in Africa, and Albania and Macedonia
in Europe. There was agreement as to the key role of development
in providing incentives for disarmament, demobilization and
reintegration and recognition that the order in which these
activities are undertaken may vary in order to meet local needs
and conditions, for example, in Afghanistan. A key requirement
is to make weapons less relevant to the local community and
this may require: providing security on the ground, security
sector reform and providing people with a livelihood.
The session also
included specific consideration of the needs of Afghanistan
in the aftermath of the conflict there and the potential problem
of the SALW left in the region. The relationship between development
and DDR is relevant to the process beginning to get underway
in Afghanistan, where priorities include: Assisting the Interim
Authority/Government in assessing the SALW problem; developing
a strategy, policy and a realistic action plan for small arms
reduction in Afghanistan; Creating opportunities for legal
and sustainable livelihoods to reduce demand for arms; collection
and disposal of SALW made redundant by peace building and security
sector reform processes; Developing community approaches and
awareness of SALW collection processes; Building capacity to
control illicit flows of SALW through strengthening border
controls and regional co-operation; Carrying out public awareness
campaigns through visible destruction of initially collected
SALW to build public confidence; Empowering civil society organizations
to address SALW and violence at the community level; Strengthening
border controls and regional co-operation in curtailing illicit
SALW flows. The UNDP expressed its readiness to work closely
with the countries concerned on these priorities. In the discussion,
concerns were expressed that the resources being channeled
to Afghanistan might mean less money available elsewhere. However,
as one participant noted, it is not always money that is required;
shared expertise can be of equal value and this is a resource
that even poor countries can share. South-South co-operation,
particularly in terms of human resources, is very valuable.
In Session
5, under the theme of "Cooperation Between Governmental and
Non-Governmental Sectors", Mr. Nobuhiko Suto of Interband,
Mr. Paul Eavis of Saferworld, Ms. Eugenea Piza-Lopes of international
Alert, Mr. Kentaro Genma a Project Advisor, Japanese Government
Research on Small Arms Issues in Cambodia, and Ms. Virginia
Gamba of Safer Africa made key-note presentations, which were
followed by a general exchange of views. The session produced
very rich accounts of activities being undertaken between civil
society, governments and regional organizations in a number
of regions and states. Important ideas such as a "safety
net" approach to dealing with ex-combatants and their
families in carrying out DDR projects were introduced. It was
suggested that civil society could effectively assist governments
in promoting solutions to SALW issues in a number of ways:
policy formulation, action-oriented research, implementation
and monitoring. Concerns were expressed that in some countries
and regions skepticism remained on the part of governments
about the role of NGOs and civil society. It was also noted,
that in some cases, there needed to be greater co-ordination
between NGO groups and increased accountability and transparency
of both NGOs and governments.
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