OE Watch Commentary: For many years the UN and African Union (AU) have struggled to implement effective arms control. However, as the accompanying excerpted article from ENACT (a division of the South African Institute for Security Studies that attempts to enhance Africa’s response to transnational organized crime) points out, the ongoing proliferation of small arms is indicative of the need for new and effective measures to counter weapons trafficking.
The article breaks down Africa’s illicit arms market as being supplied through diversion by three main sources. The first is from those in the hands of a government, or in other words, licit stockpiles being diverted to illicit ones. Sometimes this happens when rebels overrun government forces and capture an arsenal; other times soldiers, especially those poorly paid, sell their weapons to the enemy. Unfortunately, this also has been known to occur during peacekeeping missions where soldiers have “lost” arms and/or ammunition. One study looked at 11 peacekeeping missions to Sudan and South Sudan and discovered at least 22 of these incidents, with nearly half of them reflecting significant losses of between 50 and 99 firearms and 2,500 to 4,999 rounds of ammunition.
The battlefield is the second main source of weapons entering the illicit arms market. However, these are not always just from government forces surrendering to an enemy. Unlike the first example where a few lower-ranking, impoverished, rogue soldiers sold their weapons, here leaders such as military commanders become involved in arms trafficking networks.
The final source of these weapons is from international suppliers acting in conjunction with corrupt internal actors. Unfortunately, it is rare for Africa to prosecute arms dealers. As the article explains, many times those internal actors are well-connected politicians who use forged documents, making it difficult to trace the flow of these weapons. Further obscuring the origin of these arms are numerous porous borders, which allow them to pass with no questions asked.
The article makes several recommendations to try to stem the arms trafficking, many based on the AU’s roadmap of initiatives for its goal known as “Silence the Guns by 2020.” These include evidence-based policy research, especially that focused on why people traffic arms; building capacity of African nations to better manage arms stockpiles; having the AU assist in developing more effective arms embargoes; ensuring institutional collaboration among those fighting the trafficking; and combating violent extremism, because radicalized youth increase the demand for illicit weapons. With less than two years until 2020, it will become apparent relatively soon how much of the AU’s ambitious goal can be reached by these initiatives. End OE Watch Commentary (Feldman)
Although many African countries have adopted regional and global policies on arms control, the continued illicit proliferation of small arms and light weapons is an indication of wider transnational organized crime on the continent that calls for more attention. Criminal networks exploit gaps in the regulatory systems, porous borders and weak law enforcement procedures. The United Nations (UN) and the African Union (AU) have for years sought to address these challenges. The AU, in particular, has designed a number of measures aimed at combating illicit arms flows. If these initiatives are implemented effectively, there is a real possibility that the flow of illicit arms in Africa can be stemmed.
Although the AU has shown renewed urgency in addressing illicit arms flows, especially through its Master Roadmap to Silencing the Guns, it should develop clear directives and timelines for member states to implement its initiatives.
The illicit arms market involves various actors, from the manufacturer to the end user, and usually a number of illicit brokers along the supply chain.