IANSA Update 22 February 2008

Guyana: Two mass shootings in three weeks
West Africa: IANSA presence on Bush tour
OAS: Firearms Convention implementation slow
Belgium: Weakness on EU arms transfers revealed in GRIP report
Other news: 39 Colombians arrested for assisting FARC; Charles Nasibu in the IHT; cattle rustling report

Guyana: Two mass shootings in three weeks

23 people have been shot dead in two separate mass shootings in Guyana. The shootings took place within the space of three weeks. 11 people were killed in an attack in Lusignan on 26 January. The victims included women and children who were shot while still in bed. The second attack took place on 17 February in Bartica. Twelve people were murdered, including 3 police officers. Read more here.

West Africa: IANSA presence on Bush tour

A large banner urging the US to support an Arms Trade Treaty greeted President Bush when he visited Ghana on Wednesday 20. Banners at the airport and hotel were organised by WAANSA and FOSDA, and were complemented by volunteers with placards repeating the message along the President's route. Later in Liberia, his wife visited the National Commission on Small Arms. Read more here. See image here.

OAS: Firearms Convention implementation slow
Progress has been slow on implementing the Interamerican Convention on illicit firearm manufacture and trafficking (CIFTA), according to the Organisation of American States (OAS). The second meeting of States Parties to CIFTA was held in Mexico this week. Only 5 out of the 27 countries who have ratified the Convention have fulfilled their obligation to establish a firearms marking system. Nicaragua has made the most progress. IANSA Director Rebecca Peters addressed the conference on how civil society is helping to reduce gun violence in Latin America. During the opening ceremony, the contribution of IANSA and its members was explicitly acknowledged by the OAS Secretary General and the Foreign Minister of Mexico. Read more here.

Belgium: Weakness on EU arms transfers revealed in GRIP report
A weakness of current EU arms transfer controls has been highlighted in a report by GRIP. Armoured vehicles were legally transferred from Belgium to France in 2006 on the basis of an International Import Certificate. This certificate did not include safeguards for re-export, and from France the vehicles were legally re-exported to Chad. The report argues that the re-export violated the EU Code of Conduct on Arms Exports, and that Belgium would probably not have authorised the direct export of the vehicles from Belgium to Chad. The EU Code is not applied in the same way by all EU countries, so similar situations are likely to arise in future. The report calls for harmonised application of the EU Code, and stronger controls on arms transfers between EU countries. Read more here.

Other news

• 39 people have been arrested in Colombia for providing logistical support to a senior member of the FARC rebel militia. Colombian officials say two of the detainees worked for an airline company and used their executive positions to smuggle in AK-47s in exchange for telecommunications and medical equipment. Read more here.
• Analysis on the recent DR Congo peace agreement by IANSA member Charles Nasibu was published in Wednesday's edition of the International Herald Tribune. Read more here.
• The Scramble for Cattle, Power and Guns in Karamoja, a new report from Tufts University (USA), investigates cattle rustling in the Karamoja region of northeastern Uganda. The region is noted for a high weapons demand and brutal cattle raids carried out by young armed men. Read more here.

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