FOR PERSONAL, NON-COMMERCIAL USE ONLY
SCAF, Voluntas Press Release
November 26, 2002

Minsk Workshop Breaks New Ground in the
Control of Small Arms Sales

First Steps to regional cooperation taken

(26 Nov, Minsk, Belarus) The Technical Workshop on Transparency Issues in Small Arms Transfers: Creation of a Regional Model was held in Minsk, Belarus on 22-23 November. The workshop, hosted by the independent organisations, Support Centre for Associations and Foundations (SCAF) and Voluntas, was the first regional workshop of its kind to deal with the controversial issues of reporting small arms sales, decommissioning stockpiled weapons and controlling the illicit resale of arms.

The workshop and seminar provided a depoliticised, expert environment in which technical problems at this level of arms control could be discussed by regional participants and specific policies formulated. ‘There are problems specific to this region owing both to present day geopolitical factors and the legacy of Soviet-Era weapons stockpiles’, said Dr. Franklin Swartz, one of the meeting’s organisers, ‘it makes sense to deal with issues on a regional level so that solutions which are effective and appropriate can be found’.

Attending were representatives from eight countries, Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine and a representative from the U.N. as well as an observer from Russia. For some of the participants on the Belarusian side, observed Colonel Nikolai Surko, Head of the Department of Export Control, Belarus Ministry of Defence, this was the first opportunity they had to exchange ideas and information with experts from abroad. On the part of Western experts the workshop provided a basis for further cooperation. ‘The seminar provided a constructive and fruitful discussion on means to address stockpile security, surplus arms decommissioning, and transparency,’ said Nicholas Marsh of the Norwegian Initiative on Small Arms Transfers [NISAT]who attended, ‘It has laid a solid foundation for international cooperation both within the region and the wider international community’.

The workshop produced recommendations in three areas:

Stockpile Security and Decommissioning of Surplus Weapons: It was agreed that for both Belarus and Ukraine there was an urgent need to address the issue of disposing of stockpiles of Soviet-Era weapons. In Belarus there already is a programme of decommissioning but it is constrained by lack of resources. International assistance and support are to be sought so that the process can proceed efficiently and rapidly. In the interim international assistance is required to assist in improving stockpile security.

Retransfer of Small Arms and Light Weapons: In order to prevent the illicit retransfer of arms it was recommended that a regional initiative compile a list of non-reliable organisations and states and that sales to these be proscribed. It was further recommended that there be regular regional meetings to discuss common issues and problems regarding retransfers of arms and that the Belarusian system of marking all arms and recording their movement be viewed as a possible method for restricting the illicit movement of arms.

Annual reporting: It was agreed that a regional model for reporting based on the format designed by NISAT and the Small Arms Survey proposed and by proposed by Saferworld, be developed. Progress to the adoption of this model may be incremental due to the varying situation in each country but it was agreed that when information could not be supplied in full an explanation as to why will be given. Reports are to be fully accessible to the international community via conventional publications and via the internet.

This meeting, described by Vasily Pavlov, of Belarusian Department of National Security, as, ‘ highly productive for regional networking’ ,will be the first of a series of regional workshops which will deal with the specific details arising from each set of recommendations.

Most importantly the workshop and seminar helped to break down the isolation which has prevented progress in the control of small arms sales. Anna Khakee of the Geneva Small Arms Survey pointed this out and was positive about the potential of further efforts of this kind, ‘There is little concrete knowledge generally about Belarus in the west. This lack of knowledge has become a breeding-ground for misconceptions and suspicion. In the area of arms exports, including small arms, this is particularly evident. Through its effort to bring together Belarusian, regional and international experts, the workshop organised by SCAF and Voluntas managed to lay the basis for what could become very concrete and quite far-reaching cooperation and information exchange, both between the Belarusian authorities and its closest neighbours, and between Belarus and the west.’

For further information contact:

Franklin J. Swartz
Voluntas
P. O. Box 100
Minsk
220074
+375 17 252 7314
+375 17 29 658 4238