International news 20 July 2006 :. Aquila Arms, Ammunition & Academy

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International news 20 July 2006

http://churchworldservice.org/news/archives/2006/07/513.html
Church World News Service

U.N. and U.S. Needed to End Small Arms Trafficking, Says African Church Leader
July 20, 2006

Washington, DC -- The failure by the United Nations to reach agreement on how to stop small arms trafficking around the world is "disheartening," says Baffour Amoa, chair of the West African Action Network on Small Arms, of the just ended U.N. Review Conference on Small Arms. It is imperative, he said, that people "support the call for an arms trade treaty."

Amoa was responding to a detailing of U.S. policies and efforts around small arms trafficking by Stephen Costner, deputy director of the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement at the U.S. Department of State.

The forum was the July 19-21 Interfaith Summit on Africa, sponsored by global humanitarian agency Church World Service and the All Africa Conference of Churches. The purpose of the Summit is to bring together African faith leaders and their U.S. counterparts to discuss some of the problems that plague Africa, to strengthen interfaith ties, and to provide a forum for the Africans to express their concerns to U.S. policymakers.

Amoa, who also heads the Fellowship of Christian Churches and Councils in West Africa, was there to carry a message to the world from Africans who live in conflict areas:

"Tell them that we are tired of the incessant harassment, the horrific forms of torture and the senseless killings. Tell them that our productive lands are lying bare and our able hands are engaged in wanton destruction of life and property. Tell them our children are being denied their childhood, which forces them to be adults before time," Amoa told the gathering.

The U.S. is well aware of the problem and is working to stem the trade in illegal small arms and remove other weapons, like unexploded ordance and landmines, left behind from earlier conflicts, according to Costner. He said the U.S. effort is focused on stricter import and export laws, destruction of surplus and obsolete small arms and light weapons, better security for national weapons stockpiles, and systematic marking and tracing of small arms and weapons.

Costner added that the state department has spent more than $1 billion since 1993 to assist in landmine removal around the world and needs cooperation from governments to put a dent in the trade.

Characterizing the subject of small arms as "dear to my heart because of what I had seen in Nigeria, Guinea (Conakry), Sierra Leone, and Liberia," Amoa conceded the right of sovereign states to manufacture or acquire small arms for their defense, but expressed grave concern over "the use of small arms to perpetuate impunity and dictatorships."

He cited statistics showing about 640 million small arms in the world--or one for every ten people on earth--and traced their path from an initial legal sale to ultimately being used as weapons in crimes or conflicts.

"The fallout during civil wars is that small arms get into the hands of civilians and paramilitary persons who use them to cause undue havo--maiming, raping, and killing. Africa is bleeding because of the proliferation of small arms and we need help to deal with the threat," Amoa said.

United Nations talks on an Arms Trade Treaty collapsed earlier this month. but Amoa said continued support for calls for an arms treaty is a matter of urgency if the slaughter of innocent and unarmed people in conflict areas is to cease.

"This proliferation of small arms impacts so severely on the life and rights of children, the youth, women and men--especially the aged--and this ought to engage our collective attention and action. The time to act is now."