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You are in: Themes :: Small Arms |
SMALL ARMS
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Civilians comprise the majority of casualties in current conflicts. Most of these casualties are caused by small arms or light weapons.
Small arms is a catch-all term which includes various weapons such as machetes, rifles, hand-guns, and landmines (due to volume, there is a separate themes page on landmines). These weapons are distinctly inexpensive and are easy to construct, maintain and operate. Due to their small size they can be used by very young children and are easy to transport. As such, small arms are the weapons of choice in the mostly internal conflicts of today.
The proliferation of these arms in areas of unrest fuels deadly conflict and creates conditions where violations of human rights and humanitarian law are rife. Trade in these arms is largely unregulated and embargoes are rarely respected.
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General Information |
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Small Arms, Report of the Secretary General, Department for
Disarmament Affairs, New York 1999
United Nations Yearbook on Disarmament (Chapter III,
pg 91)
Small Arms Overview- World Federation of United Nations Associations
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International Law Standards
and Papers |
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United
Nations Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of
Certain Conventional Weapons Which May be Deemed to Be Excessively
Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects (Geneva,
10 October 1980)
Convention
on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer
of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction, 18 September 1997
(Ottawa,
1 March 1999)
Programme
of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in
Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects
(July 2001)
Convention on
Prohibiting or restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional
Weapons Which May Be Deemed to be Excessively injurious or to have
indiscriminate Effects (as Amended on 21 December 2001)
International Law and Small Arms and light weapons control:
Obligations, Challenges, and Opportunities (Centre for
Humanitarian Dialogue)
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External Links |
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Arms Control is a national nonpartisan membership
organization dedicated to promoting public understanding of and
support for effective arms control policies, by
providing policy-makers, the press
and the interested public with authoritative information, analysis
and commentary on arms control proposals, negotiations and
agreements, and related national security issues
Bonn International Center for Conversion
(BICC)
offers advice and trainings worldwide on small arms
control. It also consults on the marking and tracing as well as the
safe stockpiling of Small Arms and Light Weapons
(SALW) and ammunition. It collects data on proliferation of
SALW and evaluates small arms control activities.
Campaign Against the Arms Trade
(CAAT) aims to stop the
procurement or export of arms where they might exacerbate conflict, support aggression or increase tension;
support an oppressive regime or undermine democracy; or
threaten social welfare through the level of military spending,
to end all government political and financial support for arms
exports
and to promote progressive demilitarisation within
arms-producing countries.
Coalition
to Oppose the Arms Trade (COAT)
is a national network of individuals and organizations in
Canada which aims to expose and oppose
Canada's role in the international arms trade, particularly where
there is trade to governments which are engaged in war or which
violate human rights.
Control Arms is a global civil society alliance campaigning for a
Arms Trade Treaty that will protect lives and
livelihoods by bringing an end to transfers
of arms and ammunitions that fuel conflict, poverty and serious
violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.
Federation
of American Scientists Arms Sale Monitoring Project
(ASMP)
seeks to increase transparency, accountability and
restraint in the legal arms trade; eradicate the illicit arms trade;
and to serve as a repository of data on U.S. arms transfers and arms
export controls.
Human Rights Watch Arms Division
Established to monitor and curb the transfer of weapons to military
forces that commit gross violations of internationally recognized
human rights or the laws of war.
International
Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA),
comprised of a wide range of organisations,
is part of
the global movement against gun violence,
linking civil society organisations working to stop the
proliferation and misuse of small arms and light weapons.
NGO Committee on Disarmament
informs NGOs worldwide of the
status of negotiations, country positions, major obstacles and
opportunities which have a direct impact on the
movement for arms control, peace and disarmament.
The Programme on Security and Development
(Sand)
is an organization that focuses on documenting, investigating and
consulting on practical measures that can be undertaken to improve
security and the conditions for basic development in all regions of
the world, including the issue of Small Arms and Light Weapons.
Stockholm
International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)
is an independent
international institute dedicated to research into conflict,
armaments, arms control and disarmament.
Small Arms Survey
is an independent research project which
serves as the principal international source of public information
on all aspects of small arms and armed violence,
and as a resource for governments, policy-makers, researchers, and
activists.
The
United Nations Coordinating Action on Small Arms (CASA)
mechanism strives to improve the UNs ability to work as one in
delivering effective policy, programming and advice to Member States
on curbing the uncontrolled proliferation and misuse of small arms
and light weapons.
United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) fosters disarmament measures through
transparency and confidence-building on military matters; provides objective,
and impartial information on multilateral disarmament
issues and activities to Member States, intergovernmental
organizations,
non-governmental organizations, research institutions, the media and the general public;
and supports the development and implementation of practical
disarmament measures after a conflict, .
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Conferences |
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United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects
(New York, 9-20 July, 2001)
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Reports, Articles and Analysis |
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Cluster bomb treaty reaches ratification, UN says (BBC News) (February 17, 2010)
Reporting
Transfers of Small Arms and Light Weapons to the United Nations
Register of Conventional Arms (SIPRI Background Paper) (2009)
How to guide small arms and light weapons legislation (United
Nations Development Programme) (July 2008)
Tackling the Global Threat of Small Arms and Light Weapons (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) (May 28, 2008)
Depleted
Uranium, state crime and the politics of knowing (Rob White,
Theoretical Criminology) (2008)
Children in the
Ranks (Human Rights Watch) (February 1, 2007)
Deal Eludes Small Arms Conference (BBC News) (July 8, 2006)
'Is the pen mightier than an AK-47?' (IOL) (October 05, 2006)
Kalashnikov Backs Weapon Control
(BBC News) (June 26, 2006)
In-Depth: Guns Out of Control: the Continuing Threat of Arms
(IRIN News) (May 9, 2006)
Small Arms, Children and Armed Conflict: A framework for effective
Action (Kathy Vandergift and David Lochhead) (2006)
AK-47: the Sierra Leone child soldier
(BBC News) (December 6, 2005)
AK-47: The Colombian guerrilla (BBC News) (December 5, 2005)
AK-47: Iconic weapon
(BBC News) (December 5, 2005)
Tracking Lethal Tools
(Control Arms) (December 2004)
Implementing the
Programme of Action 2003: Action by States and Civil Society (International Action Network on Small Arms) (July 6, 2003)
Targeting Children: Small Arms and Children in Conflict (Rachel
Stohl, Senior Analyst, Center for Defense Information) (2002)
Weapons
that target children (BBC News) (November
22, 2001)
French
children urged to disarm (BBC News) (November
15, 2001)
US
rejects germ warfare plan (BBC News)
(July, 25, 2001)
US
blocks small arms controls (BBC News)
(July 10, 2001)
Human
Rights Abuses with Small Arms: Illustrative cases from Amnesty
International reports 2000-2001 (Amnesty
International) (July 9, 2001)
Israel:
Dart Shells Pose Civilian Threat (Human
Rights Watch) (June 15, 2001)
Depleted Uranium Fears
- BBC Compilation
No Guns please- We
are Children (Unicef) (July 2001)
Us Blocks Small Arms Control
(BBC News) (July 10, 2001)
Amnesty international gives cautious welcome to OSCE initiative on small arms (Amnesty International) (November 30, 2000)
Stop Weapons Flows to Human Rights Abusers
(Human
Rights Watch) (February 28, 2000)
Depleted Uranium 'Threatens Balkan Cancer Epidemic' (BBC News)
(July 30, 1999)
Depleted
Uranium Study Shows Clear Damage (BBC News)
(August 27, 1999)
Gulf
War Shells Could be Causing Children's Cancer
(BBC News)
(March 26th, 1998)
The Social Impacts of Light Weapons Availability and Proliferation (Christopher Louise,
United Nations Research Institution for Social Development (UNRISD)) (March 1995)
How
Youthful Offenders Perceive Gun Violence (Julie H.
Goldberg, William Schwabe) RAND
Small Arms in Failed States: A
deadly combination (Rachel Stohl and Col. Dan Smith, Center for
Defense Information)
A Destruction Handbook: Small Arms, Light Weapons, Ammunitions and
Explosives (United Nations)
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Country and Region Specific |
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Africa |
Blowback:
Kenya's Illicit Ammunition Problem in Turkana North District
(James Bevan) (Small Arms Survey, June 2008)
Small
Arms, Armed Violence, and Insecurity in Nigeria: The Niger Delta in
Perspective (Jennifer M. Hazen with Jonas Horner )(Small Arms
Survey, 2007)
Small
Arms Availability, Trade and Impacts in the Democratic Republic of
the Congo (Spyros Demetriou, Robert Muggah, Ian Biddle) (Small
Arms Survey, Special Report, April
2002)
How
many weapons are there in
Cambodia
(Christina Wille)
(Small Arms Survey, June 2006)
Stabilizing Cambodia: Small Arms Control and Security Sector Reform
(Small Arms Survey, 2006)
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Europe |
Surveying Europe's Production and Procurement of Small Arms and
Light Weapons Ammunition (The Cases of Italy, France and the
Russian Federation) (Small Arms Survey, Geneva 2010)
Behind a Veil of Secrecy: Military Small Arms and Light Weapons
Production in Western Europe (Reinhilde Weidacher) (Small Arms
Survey, November 2005)
Undermining Global Security: the European Union's Arms Exports
(Amnesty International) (February 1, 2004)
Albania to destroy 100,000 weapons looted in 1997 (CNN) (September 7, 2000)
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Middle
East |
190,000 weapons 'missing in Iraq' (BBC News) (August 6, 2007)
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North
America |
Children bringing in a deadly harvest (The Times) (June 2, 2006)
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South
America |
Small
Arms in Brazil: Production, Trade and Holdings (Pablo Dreyfus, Benjamin Lessing, Marcelo de
Sousa Nascimento, Julio Cesar Purcene) (Small Arms Survey, September
2010)
Assessing the Effect of Policy Interventions on Small Arms Demand in
Bogota, Clombia (KAtherine Aguirre, Oscar Beccerra, Simon Mesa,
and Jorge A. Restrepo) (Small Arms Survey, December 2009)
Small Arms
in Rio de Janeiro: The Guns, the Buyback, the Victims (Pablo Dreyfus, Luis Eduardo Guedes, Benjamin Lessing,
Antonio Rangel Bandiera, Marcelo de Sousa Nascimento, and Patricia
Silveira Rivero) (Small Arms Survey, 2008)
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