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Introduction
Tackling Small Arms and Light Weapons: A Practical Guide for
Collection and Destruction is a joint effort of the Program on Security and
Development (SAND) at the Monterey Institute of
International Studies and the Bonn International Center for
Conversion (BICC). The Guide is a synthesis of best practices
observed by SAND and BICC during more than five years of international
field research in the area of weapons collection and disposal. The
Guide is also a product of the international community integrating
material from those United Nations agencies, governments and NGOs who
have begun practical work on small arms. Contained within are sections
on environmental assessment, voluntary weapons collection, safe
handling, transport and storage and destruction techniques. It is
designed as a work in progress as the body of knowledge continues to
grow. It will be continuously updated based on field research and the
experience of its users. For those organizations who are planning a
weapons collection program, this Guide can also serve as a basic
framework for a proposal for financial support.
The publication and distribution of this document have been made
possible with funds provided by the Swiss Federal Department of
Foreign Affairs, the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland. The Guide’s content
has also been critiqued and refined through consultations with
representatives of the UN’s Coordinating Action on Small Arms (CASA)
mechanism, the Peace Implementation Network of the Fafo Institute,
governments and NGOs working in the regions of the world most affected
by the proliferation and misuse of these weapons.
The Guide is designed to be used by a broad spectrum of
organizations and individuals from international peacekeepers,
localmilitary and security officials to academics, policy makers at all
levels of government and NGOs whose mission is to provide development
assistance, promote peaceful conflict resolution or deliver
humanitarian aid. While the Guide is a practical and useful response
to the challenges faced by these organizations in no way does it
encourage untrained individuals or institutions to seek out, collect,
handle or destroy small arms and light weapons. The handson work of
collecting and destroying weapons should always be carried out by
honest, well-trained military or security officials.
The spread and use of small arms and light weapons continues to
effect the work and lives of civilians across the globe who must
operate in areas where trained military and security personnel are
scarce. The International Committee of the Red Cross documented this
reality in its June 1999 report titled Arms availability and the
situation of civilians in armed conflict:
Respondents indicated
that ICRC operations were interrupted fairly frequently by armed
security threats (i.e., beyond interruptions due to fighting among
combatants). Almost 60% of respondents put the frequency of such
interruptions at once or more per month. There was also general
consensus (approximately 70% of respondents) regarding the occurrence
of armed security threats involving either expatriate or local ICRC
staff. The most common type of security incident affecting either
expatriate or local ICRC personnel was firing of weapons at or near
ICRC staff, followed by use of weapons to threaten ICRC personnel and
use of weapons to commit a robbery. Approximately one third of
respondents believed that "roughly half" or more of the
population lived in areas not accessible to the ICRC because of armed security
threats.
Armed security threats involving Red Cross staff and the
inaccessibility of areas due the threat of armed violence are only two
ways in which the spread of weaponry and armed violence disrupt the
work of such organizations. There are many others.
In view of situations like these reported by the ICRC, it is only
prudent that organizations and individuals outside the military and
security sectors be aware of these weapons and the alternative actions
for the collection, handling and disposal of small arms and light
weapons should that be necessary. While these organizations are
unlikely to collect and destroy weapons themselves, they do have a
direct interest in seeing a reduction in the availability and number of
weapons in their area of operation. With the help of this Guide, they
can provide direct or indirect support for such efforts, thereby
increasing the likelihood of success.
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