All state-owned firearms in the Great Lakes and Horn of Africa region are to be marked by the end of December 2008, according to an agreement made by states at a meeting organised by RECSA (Regional Centre for Small Arms and Light Weapons in the Great Lakes Region, the Horn of Africa and Bordering States). The markings, which will include a country code, will be added to all weapons in state stockpiles and also to firearms at the point of manufacture, import or transfer. This information will then be entered into a national database. When the process is completed, states will be able to trace any illicit weapon that might once have been possessed by a state in the region, by making a tracing request to Interpol. States will not have automatic access to the database, as police and military stockpiles are considered to be a matter of state security.
National Focal Point Coordinators from the 12 states were instructed in the marking process, stockpile management and database creation during the meeting.
The marking of state-owned guns will fulfill the requirements of both the Nairobi Protocol and the International Tracing Instrument. IANSA Africa coordinator Joseph Dube welcomed the renewed commitment, but expressed concern about states meeting the December 2008 deadline. “If civil society is to monitor the progress of the marking, then it may be useful to have updates on states' progress. A December deadline may not be realistic for states with larger stockpiles.”
The International Tracing Instrument (ITI) will be discussed at the Biennial Meeting of States (BMS) on the implementation on the Programme of Action on Small Arms at the UN in New York this July (2008).
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