United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Developmentin Latin America and the Caribbean

Office for Disarmament Affairs (ODA) / Regional Disarmament Branch (RDB)

Armed violence reduction, small arms control and disarmament

William Godnick, Ph.D.UNLIREC Public Security Programme Coordinator

Crime Stoppers International ConferenceBridgetown, Barbados

1 October 2013

UN Office for Disarmament AffairsOffice of the

High Representative for Disarmament Affairs

Conference on Disarmament

Secretariat and(Geneva)

Weapons of Mass Destruction

Branch

Conventional Arms (including

Practical Disarmament

Measures) Branch

Information and Outreach Branch

Regional Disarmament Branch

Regional Centres UNLIREC Lima

UNREC Lome UNRCPD Kathmandu

Office of the Director and Deputy to the

High Representative

UNLIREC

Regional Organ of the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs’ Regional Disarmament Branch of the UN Secretariat

Focal Point of UN Coordination Mechanism for Small Arms in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Seeks to reduce arms proliferation and armed violence and strengthen the capacity of the security sector and national authorities to guarantee public security, governance and development.

Homicides Homicides with Firearms

Suicides with Firearms

Latam/Carib 29.3 15.5 1.0Africa 25.9 5.9 0.8Eastern Europe

15.7 3.0 0.4

North America 8.0 3.1 5.5Middle East 4.4 1.8 0.1

Southeast Asia 3.4 1.5 0.1Asian Pacific 4.0 0.5 0.4

Western Europe

1.5 0.4 1.7

Global 7.3 3.1 0.8

Global Homicide Rates (GBAV 2008)

526,000 armed homicides annually (394,500 in peace time)

Estimated global holdings of small arms/firearms (2009)

(Fuente: SAS 2009)

74,6 % in private hands, including private security companies.

650.000.000 74,6%

Civilians

200.000.000 22,7%

Armed Forces

20.000.000 2,2%

Police

5.000.000 0,5%

Criminals, Insurgents.

+ 1,000 companies

in 98 countries

8M arms & 16.000M ammo. per year

Total: 875.000.000

Illegal firearms

Human trafficking

Drugs trafficking

Counterfeiting

0 100000 200000 300000 400000

USD 32 billion

USD 250 million

Illegal arms trafficking vs other illegal activities (in millions of USD)

USD 250 billion

USD 350 billion

Source: UNODC ‘Circulation’ 2012

Global and Regional Responses

Ongoing – CARICOM RIBIN, e-Trace, IBIN/INTERPOL

2013 - Arms Trade Treaty (ATT)

2005 - International Tracing Instrument

2001 – UN Programme of Action on Small Arms (PoA)

2001 – UN Firearms Protocol (to Convention against TOC)

1997 – Inter-American Convention (CIFTA)

Small Arms Control Measures (at national level)

Legal Trade Illicit Trafficking Stocks Unlawful Use and Possession

-Better enforcement of existing laws.

-Harmonizing laws with neighboring countries.

-Marking of firearms and ammunition.

- Transparency in manufacture and transfers (e.g. end-user certificates).

-Improving intelligence and information sharing.

-Building capacity in institutions and their personnel to combat trafficking.

- Supplying specialized equipment and technology.

-Identifying national stocks and surplus.

-Improving stockpile management.

-Voluntary weapons surrender programs.

-Destruction of weapons.

-Adopting a clear legal basis for possession and use of FAME.

-Suppressing the visibility of FAME in society.

-Controlling the marketing of FAME.

Coercive

Voluntary

Education/awareness raising

InformalCompliance

Forcible seizures

Consent to search

Checkpoints/roadblocks

Urban/village courts and tribunals (AVOID)

Formal

Community policing

Alcohol prohibition

Amnesties

Gun-free areas/zones

Weapons collection & destruction

Local mediation

Media/civil society awareness programmes

Public/private health interventions

Vigilante groups (AVOID)

Neighborhood watchToll free telephone lines

Private security companies (Supervise and Regulate)

Parental notification

Armed Violence Reduction Measures (at local level)

UNLIREC Technical Cooperation Stockpile Management and Destruction

More than 40,000 weapons and 57 tonnes of ammunition destroyed since 2012 in Greater Caribbean.

More than 300 stockpiles secured in Greater Caribbean.

Law enforcement/judicial training to combat illicti firearms 180 Caribbean law enforcement officials trained in techniques to combat

illicit firearms trafficking. 22 Belizean officials trained in operatioanl forensic ballistics.

Legal assistance National firearms act reviewed in all Caricom Member States,

reccomendations made. Course for judges and prosecutors – Belize and TT 2014.

EXAMPLES of anonymous reporting of illicit weapons

• Latin America and the Caribbean

Argentina

Denuncias 0800-666-4378

Belize

HUNDREDS OF GUNS RECOVERED THROUGH ANONYMOUS TIPS.

Chile

http://www.penalolen.cl/formulario-denuncia-anonima-de-tenencia-ilegal-de-armas

Jamaica

HUNDREDS OF GUNS RECOVERED THROUGH ANONYMOUS TIPS

Mexico

01800 8324771

Venezuela

Final thoughts Firearms/small arms and their ammunition are the real weapons of mass

destrution.

Most weapons began as items legally manufactured and sold.

First line of responsibility is to prevent Responsible weapons transfers and sales Thorough stockpile management of public and private holdings.

Disarmament and arms control must be accompanied by international cooperation and public security reform at the national and local levels, including public-private partnerships.

Crime Stoppers (and similar government tip lines) appear to be making contributions to taking weapons off streets, question of building on existing frameworks and scaling up and out.