FOR PERSONAL, NON-COMMERCIAL USE ONLY
Viva Rio, Press Release
July 24, 2002

Destruction Of 10,000 Firearms In Rio
And List Of Foreign-Made SALW Seized By Police

In response to IANSA’s call to celebrate Small Arms Destruction Day, the Rio de Janeiro state government--together with Viva Rio and the Brazilian Army--organized the destruction of nearly 10,000 guns on July 12. The public destruction event was carried out with support from the United Nations Regional Center for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean, the Organization of American States and the United Nations Development Program.

The firearms destroyed at the event had been seized by police in irregular situations, many of them in the hands of criminals. The majority (66%) were produced in Brazil. The breakdown among guns manufactured in other countries is as follows:

Foreign-Made SALW Destroyed in Rio State by Country of Origin:

List of foreign-manufactured firearms seized by police:

Just prior to the firearms destruction, a meeting entitled GETTING TO THE "ROUTE" OF THE PROBLEM: FROM LEGAL ORIGINS TO ILLEGAL DESTINATIONS was held at the Governor’s Palace in Rio. Aside from the media, authorities from the Rio state government, the UN, OAS, and Viva Rio were present at the meeting, as well as nineteen diplomats from exporting countries and from countries that share a border with Brazil.

Rio governor Benedita da Silva handed each diplomat a list providing details for the firearms that had been produced in his or her respective country and apprehended in illegal situations in Rio. All of the weapons on the lists were seized by police in 1997 ( Brazilian law requires that seized firearms must remain at the disposal of the judiciary for at least five years; therefore, only those guns that have been held in police custody for more than five years may be destroyed ). Governor da Silva asked each diplomat to turn over the report and list to the governments they represent, asking them to identify the original purchaser of the weapons. Tracing these weapons is the key to discovering how they pass from legal to illegal markets. Without international cooperation, it would be nearly impossible to uncover this information.

The lists produced by Viva Rio were based on an analysis of a database of 224,584 guns seized by police between 1950 and 2001. The lists of guns provide the manufacturer, name or model, caliber, type, manufacturer, and serial number. It is important to note that while the numbers appear low for certain countries (in particular, China, Israel, Russia and Switzerland), the majority were semi-automatic and automatic weapons. In addition, thirty Swedish-made anti-tank portable single use weapons were apprehended with drug traffickers in Rio de Janeiro since 1996.

Number of Seized SALW in Rio State by Country of Origin:

We appeal to NGOs from these countries to pressure their governments to collaborate with the Rio state government, revealing the identity of the original buyers and helping push for tracing of these weapons. Viva Rio has posted all the information, including comparative statistics, on the new website www.desarme.org

See photos on www.desarme.org