Relax, the U.N. Doesn't Want Americans' Guns

The Wall Street Journal (US).  [Letter to the Editor].  Nobuaki Tanaka  07/17/2006.
           

In his Rule of Law column, David Kopel does get one issue right ("The U.N. Wants Your Gun," July 8): The U.N. Review Conference and the U.N. Program of Action against the illicit trade in small arms deserve much more public attention.

He labels as "disingenuous" the secretary-general's statement that the U.N. does not wish to deny law-abiding citizens their right to bear arms in accordance with national laws. But what other term would better characterize Mr. Kopel's own choice of arguments?

Mr. Kopel seeks to associate the U.N. with human-rights violations in East Africa. But, as he himself admits, the U.N. Development Program funded only voluntary disarmament projects in that region, and has now suspended the one in the Karamoja area of Uganda. It never funded the disarmament activities of the Ugandan military, and never in any way endorsed their "cordon and search" operations. On the contrary, U.N. officials have repeatedly conveyed their concern about reported abuses to the authorities, warning that such approaches undermine the possibility of achieving lasting peace and development for the region.

Mr. Kopel insists that the U.N. Program of Action is aimed at taking away the right of Americans to own guns. That is not true. When the conference closed, the U.S. representative reiterated his country's commitment to implement the program, provide assistance to countries seeking to implement the program, and help for countries facing the lethal consequences of illicit trade in small arms. (Indeed, U.S. troops, like those of other countries, have frequently been the targets of small-arms fire in places such as Bosnia and Afghanistan, and are therefore among the first to see the benefit of removing and destroying such weapons.)

Although the conference ended on a disappointing note marked by a lack of consensus on key issues, the U.N.'s mandate is to apply the Program of Action as it is, and not as some member countries or NGO advocates might wish it to be.

The author is concerned that curbs on illicit arms sales are a possible prelude to genocide in Cote d'Ivoire and other African countries. In truth, it is the proliferation of illegal AK-47s that has fueled civil war in Cote d'Ivoire as well as Liberia and Sierra Leone. Only their removal, and the demobilization of the militias that hold them, can give those countries a real chance of peace, democracy and development, as it has allowed communities in other countries around the world to rebuild themselves from the ashes of conflict and civil war.

Nobuaki Tanaka

Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs
United Nations
New York