The Small Arms Trade: Stop Feeding the Monster

More than four million people have been killed in the more than 100 wars during the last decade of the 20th century. About 90 percent of these victims were civilians and 80 percent women and children. Small arms and light weapons were the weapons of choice in 46 of 49 of the major conflicts since 1990 and the leading cause of death. Two million children have been killed in the last 10 years in conflicts where small arms have been used. Five million have been disabled and twelve million left homeless.

No region in the world is invulnerable to the catastrophic consequences of the increasing proliferation of small arms and light weapons. More than 500 million small arms and light weapons are in circulation around the world - one for every 12 people. While the proliferation of these weapons does not cause these wars, their increasing availability encourages violence as an option to resolve conflicts and makes these conflicts increasingly lethal. In addition to encouraging warfare, the use of these weapons lengthens the duration of wars and thus creates more demand.

What are small arms and light weapons?

Small arms are weapons designed for personal use, while light weapons are designed for use by several people working together. Revolvers, self-loading pistols, rifles, sub-machine guns, assault rifles and light machine guns are considered small arms while heavy machine guns, mortars, hand grenades, grenade launchers, portable anti-aircraft and anti-tank guns, and portable missile launchers are considered light weapons. These weapons are highly mobile and can cause heavy casualties among civilians. They are cheap, require almost no maintenance, are easily hidden, and can be used with minimal training. While children are primary victims of these weapons, many times they are trained to use them when conscripted into rebel or guerilla movements.

The Small Arms Trade

The U.S. policy and efforts to curb the illicit traffic in small arms has ignored the link between the legal and illegal arms trade. The U.S. government sells, gives, or licenses for export hundreds of thousands of guns and huge quantities of ammunition annually. During the years 1996-1998, the U.S. government authorized the legal sale of $3.7 billion in small arms and light weapons to 154 countries.

Many small arms manufactured in the U.S. enter into illegal circulation. Weapons that are sold legally can quickly find their way into the black market because of insufficient monitoring, registration, marking of weapons, and certification. For example, during the years 1989-1993 the U.S. government approved 108 licenses for the export of over $34 million of small arms to Mexico, but it performed only three follow-up inspections to ensure that the weapons were in the intended hands.

The Worldwide Arms Trade

The U.S. remains the leading supplier of all arms and weapons; supplying the world with $30.3 billion dollars worth of weapons in 1998 alone. U.S. weapons sales accounted for 54 percent of all international arms deliveries in 1999 (the most recent year for which complete statistics are available.) This is more than four times the value of arms exported by the next biggest supplier, the United Kingdom, and fifty-four times that of China. That year, the United States supplied arms or military technology to 39 out of the 42 active conflicts worldwide. And, in well over one-third of the conflicts the United States was a major supplier - providing anywhere from 10% - 90% of the arms imported. In addition, the Center for International Policy found that during Fiscal Year 1998 54% of U.S. arms transfers to the developing world went to undemocratic governments, a total of $5.8 billion. It is also likely that U.S. dominance in the export of arms will continue for some time to come: in 1999, the State Department granted a record $53.7 billion in arms export licenses.

The International Arms Sales Code of Conduct Act of 1999

The reality of runaway U.S. arms transfers led to the enactment of the International Arms Sales Code of Conduct Act, passed by congress in November of 1999. The code requires the President to begin negotiations on a multilateral regime on arms export criteria. It stipulates that in order to qualify for arms transfers a country must promote democracy, respect human rights, and not engage in acts of armed aggression. States must not support terrorism or contribute to nuclear arms proliferation, and arms transfers must not contribute to regional arms races or instability. It also requires the State Department to include in its annual report on human rights the extent to which states meet the code's criteria. However, the Code does not restrict U.S. weapons transfers and it is only a first step towards a U.S. Code of Conduct.

At the December 2000 U.S.-EU Summit a Declaration of Responsibility in Arms Exports was made. In the declaration the two parties agreed to " work together to encourage all arms exporting countries to adopt the principles of responsibility, transparency and restraint that they apply to their own arms export programs."

Rhetoric vs. Reality

In spite of the passage of the Code of Conduct and efforts toward a multilateral regime on arms export criteria, it is clear that the US has a long way to go before the ideals of democracy and human rights become serious factors in our government's decisions on arms transfers. The tragedy of our current policy can be seen in many of the conflicts around the globe.

The Indonesian military has received over $1billion in U.S. arms and training since their 1975 invasion and illegal occupation in East Timor. It was only after the public outcry generated by the massacres in East Timor that the Clinton administration finally cut off all U.S. arms and training.

The United States continues to pour money into the Colombian military, despite its longstanding human rights problems and links to both drug traffickers and right-wing death squads.

While the United States has repeatedly declared it's commitment to promoting peace in the Great Lakes region, the flow of U.S. arms and military training to countries involved in the war in the Congo has not ceased. Rwanda, Uganda, Namibia and Zimbabwe all continue to receive arms and/or military training from the U.S. The war is estimated to have cost the lives of three million Congolese.

And, Israel has used U.S. weapons to carry out extra-judicial killings as well as to target unarmed Palestinian demonstrators (many of whom are children), armed forces, and buildings in what the State Department and human rights groups have called an excessive use of force.

In spite of the numerous human rights abuses reported by the State Department in countries receiving military aid from the U.S. in the year 2000, there have been no steps taken toward a solution.

The United Nations and Small Arms and Light Weapons

The United Nations has called a conference to develop and strengthen international efforts to prevent combat, and eradicate the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects. Some measures being considered in order to strengthen national controls over the possession, use, and transfer of these weapons include limiting international arms transfers through voluntary or legal agreements, increasing transparency on production and sales, and the inclusion of disarmament in peace settlements negotiated by the UN.

After three preparatory committee meetings in February 2000, January 2001, and March 2001, governments have still not reached consensus on the final conference document - a program of action for governments to take at the national, regional, and international levels. While the U.S. has a strong interest in curtailing the illicit trade in these weapons, during preparatory meetings for the UN conference, the U.S. delegation acted to discourage the negotiation of a legally binding agreement to regulate arms brokering activities.

Suggested Action:

Get involved in the Stop Feeding the Monster Initiative. Join the Washington Office Global Security email list to receive regular legislative alerts from the "Monster" initiative.

Background

Stop Feeding the Monster is a public education and advocacy initiative of the Arms Transfer Working Group (ATWG) which the Presbyterian Church (USA) Washington Office is a member. Its purpose is to raise public awareness about the impact of U.S. arms exports to repressive forces or regions of conflict, to promote policy initiatives to restrict U.S. weapons transfers, and to develop support for a new set of international norms on arms transfers.

Goals

• Public Education: During the 107th Congress, ATWG will conduct a concerted education campaign to inform the public, media, and policymakers about the contribution of weapons exports and military training to repression and violent conflict around the globe.
• Advocacy: We seek to mobilize concerned citizens to oppose U.S. arms transfer policies that market, subsidize or sell weapons used to commit human rights abuses and feed violent conflict.

What Does "Stop Feeding the Monster" Mean?

A couple definitions should make things clear:

Monster: the embodiment of violence, suffering, or instability stemming from, or leading to, internal conflict, interstate war, government repression, severe crime, or terrorism.

Feeding: the supply or subsidization of transfers of conventional weapons, manufacturing supplies or capability, spare parts, military technology or military training to armed forces engaged in, or potentially party to, violent conflict or human rights abuses.

In other words, "Stop Feeding the Monster" means that we are calling on U.S. industry and government to stop marketing, subsidizing, and selling weapons or providing military aid or training to places where they could be used to fuel conflict or abuse human rights.

Plan of Action

For the first several months, the Stop Feeding the Monster campaign will focus on building broader support among the American public for policy initiatives already being pursued by specialized NGOs in Washington, such as regional interest or human rights groups. At the monthly Stop Feeding the Monster meetings (see below), an invited NGO will brief us on an issue that needs urgent action. We will then take that information and transform it into fact sheets, action alerts, sample newsletter articles, or whatever else seems appropriate and distribute them to ATWG members, grassroots groups, and other concerned citizens under the Stop Feeding the Monster banner.

When a solid network of policy, grassroots, and other groups committed to working on arms trade issues has been developed, ATWG will invite the organizations which participate in the SFM initiative to help develop a unifying and broader policy initiative for curbing the proliferation of weapons. Together we will launch a concerted effort to advance that policy.

General Assembly notes:

Here are excerpts from the 2001 General Assembly's Resolution on Small Arms.

"Recognize that the human, social, economic, and environmental devastation that is occurring and is enabled by the circulation and availability of small arms and light weapons is a matter of international concern." (25.177)

"Call on the United States government to fulfill its obligation to increase its support for the United Nations in ways that enhance the United Nations' ability to engage in preventive diplomacy, nonviolent conflict resolution, peacekeeping and peacebuilding, in order to reduce the number of violent conflict situations currently existing, to seek their resolution in nonviolent ways, and to provide the mechanisms and skills that can ultimately remove war as a method of solving conflicts in human affairs." (25.178)

"Commend the United Nations for convening the Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons, with encouragement that it will be able to mobilize international concern regarding the devastations stemming from the free flow of small arms and light weapons, agree on and promote voluntary and binding agreements designed to curb the flow of weapons, and define and clarify the United Nations role both in the UN Disarmament Commission and Disarmament Committee." (25.179)

"Support the concept of a small arms control regime, empowered to promote transparency, national export controls, and the development of an international Code of Conduct and call upon the United Nations to include Small Arms and Light Weapons in United Nations Registry of Conventional Arms, in order to promote transparency." (25.180)

"Reaffirm its call upon the United States government to ratify major arms control treaties before it…" (25.181)

"Encourage all regional governmental bodies and all national governments to develop codes of conduct and the mechanisms to monitor the flows of arms into and out of their respective jurisdictions." (25.182)

"Commend the United States Congress for approving the "International Arms Sale Code of Conduct Act of 1999," designed to help set international standards to limit or prohibit sales or transfers of weapons to governments that do not match up to certain criteria; and urges Congress to now proceed to address the even larger question of regulations regarding the manufacturing, sale and transfer of Small Arms and Light Weapons that would be applicable to all countries." (25.183)

"Support the efforts of civil society to promote education and advocacy regarding these matters, and encourage cooperation with other nongovernmental organizations in the promotion of understanding on issues related to SA&LW." (25.184)