Asia Times: Worried governments target small arms trade


	May 12, 2000	atimes.com

Southeast Asia

Worried governments target small arms trade
By Kanis Dursin

JAKARTA - The proliferation of illicit trade and trafficking in small arms and light weapons in Southeast Asia has led to a growth in transnational organized crime and exacerbated internal conflicts in the region, prompting countries to target a common approach to curbing it.

''The illicit transfer and circulation of small arms and light weapons and, in some cases, their accumulation as well as proliferation pose a threat to the national and regional security, and can contribute to the destabilization of states,'' says Ureerat Ratanaprukse, first secretary of Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

''No region is immune to illicit trade and trafficking in small arms and light weapons,'' adds Agnes Marcaillou, secretary of the preparatory committee for the UN Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons. The conference, which will be held next year, will tackle proposals by experts to restrict the manufacture and trade of small arms and light weapons to government-authorized dealers.

It was in preparation for this conference that member governments of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) met here on May 3-4 for a seminar on illicit trafficking in small arms and light weapons. The meeting was sponsored by the Indonesian and Japanese governments and the United Nations Regional Center for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and Pacific. Delegations from China, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea and Pakistan were observers at the meeting .

''The illicit trafficking and smuggling of firearms poses a serious threat to national security and a stumbling block to economic development,'' Lt Co Gilberto Abanto of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, told the seminar.

The UN defines small arms as weapons that can be carried by an individual for personal use, while light weapons are those that can be handled by two or more people serving as crew, by a pack of animals or a light vehicle.

By UN definition, small arms include revolver and self-loading pistols, rifles and carbines, submachine guns, assault rifles and light machine guns. Light weapons range from heavy machine-guns, grenade launchers, portable anti-aircraft guns to mortars of caliber of less than 100 millimeters.

The region is rich with examples of a robust trade in small arms, making control of the trade an important issue for many governments.

In Burma, where the military government tightly controls the possession and trafficking of arms and light weapons, insurgent groups such as the Karen National Union buy firearms from neighboring Thailand. Some insurgent groups fighting against the Indian government in the western side of Burma also get arms and weapons from Thailand, analysts say. ''It is a well-known fact that the insurgents active on the borders with Thailand, Bangladesh and India purchase arms and ammunitions from smugglers in Thailand,'' said Lt Col Si Thu of Burma's defense ministry. ''Whatever their causes are, the illicit transfer of small arms and light weapons is an unlawful act, which does not only endanger the peoples in each country, but also undermines the peace, stability and prosperity of the whole region,'' he added.

In the Philippines, where private citizens can own licensed firearms, illicit trafficking and illegal possession of small arms are common. As of December 1999, registered firearms in the Philippines totalled 706,148, while unregistered or loose firearms were recorded at 349,782 units. Loose firearms are often used in robberies, in the harassment of political opponents and some of them are in the hands of local dissidents.

Philippine police authorities have detected the involvement of international organized criminal groups in the trade in small arms. ''Information gathered by the country's intelligence agencies confirmed the Yakuza illegal firearm trade,'' said Abanto, adding that members of the Japanese underworld Yakuza acquire the bulk of firearms from illegal producers, locally known as paltik in Cebu and which are exported from different exit points like Batangas, Ilocos Sur and northern parts of the Philippines.

Abanto says Yakuza members have also started recruiting Filipino gun manufacturers to go to Japan and produce guns there. ''Reports of buy-bust operations and police raids prompted the Yakuza to import technology of the gun manufacturers by hiring individual gun makers. These gunsmiths are brought to Japan in the guise of tourists, contract workers and other legitimate covers purposely to manufacture guns inside Japan,'' he explained. Indeed, Japan's National Police Agency ranks the Philippines as third among countries in the production of seized handguns in Japan, with a total of 657 units. Similarly, the Philippines ranks third in the number of gun shipments foiled by the Japanese government.

In Indonesia, the illicit trafficking of firearms is linked to crimes, especially robberies, in cities like Jakarta, Lampung in South Sumatra, Aceh in the northern tip of Sumatra, and Surabaya in East Java. Indonesian police authorities recorded 170 cases of armed robberies involving 193 suspects in the first four months of 2000, compared to 181 cases and 1,155 suspects throughout 1999.

Indonesian police have also identified three critical areas - Sangir Talaud in North Sulawesi, Aceh and the border of Indonesia and East Timor - where illicit trade and trafficking of small arms and light weapons take place. Recently, Indonesian authorities arrested illicit arms traders from the Philippines heading for North Maluku and South Maluku provinces, where religious conflicts have been going on for more than one year now. Members of the secessionist group Free Aceh Movement are believed to be receiving weapons smuggled from Malaysia.

In Cambodia, during the more than two decades of violence and the genocidal regime of the Khmer Rouge, all kinds of weapons were brought into the country not only for the use of combatants but also by civilians. Since 1998, the Cambodian government has collected more than 100,000 units of small arms and light weapons, of which 50,000 have been destroyed.

Mitsuro Donowaki, a Japanese expert who chaired the UN Panel of Governmental Experts on Small Arms and Light Weapons, says Asean is struggling with the problems of traditional disarmament and weak law enforcement. ''The war came to an end in Cambodia, but we have to destroy the weapons because if they are there, conflicts may start again, at least criminal activities. So, in order to have peace, you have to demobilize. This is a peace-building process. That is the typical disarmament approach,'' he pointed out.

Donowaki says the illicit trade and trafficking in small arms concerns countries like the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia, which have poor law enforcement. ''Indonesia and the Philippines have peculiar problems such as vast areas and territories. They have so many islands,'' he added.

''The most difficult and challenging part is the illicit transfer of small arms and light weapons by sea,'' said Nafisah Mohamed, principal assistant secretary of Malaysia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Although Asean did not come up with a common strategy at last week's seminar here, they agreed that the problem of trafficking in small arms is a regional issue that has to be tackled through cooperation among member countries.

Explained Donowaki: ''Asean countries have to start trying and it will take some time to completely stop illicit trade and trafficking in small arms and light weapons because criminals are becoming more clever - and they bring in weapons where there is a demand.''

(Inter Press Service)

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©1999 Asia Times Online Co., Ltd.