'Small arms No.1 killer today'

"About 300,000 lives have been lost throughout the globe during the last decade, 90 per cent of whom have been civilians and 80 per cent women and children as a result of the proliferation of small arms and light weapons.

Small arms are humanity's number one killer today," said Tilak Ranaviraja, Secretary to the Ministry of Public Security, Law and Order and Chairman of the National Commission appointed by the President to deal with the problem of proliferation of illicit small arms and light weapons based on a resolution adopted by the United Nations to tackle this problem.

He was addressing a workshop organised by the United Nations and Saferworld Organisation at the Galadari Hotel, Colombo to operationalise the terms of reference of the National Commission and discuss the national strategy. Several officials of the United Nations and Safeworld Organisation were present.

The National Commission on Small Arms headed by Ranaviraja was appointed by President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga to deal with the problem of illicit small arms in Sri Lanka and consists of members representing the Ministries of Defence, Public Security, Law and Order, Home Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Prime Minister's Office, The Police Department, Attorney General's Department and the Department of Customs and Sri Lanka Army. Ranviraja said that the Government is concerned about this issue as it creates immense security problems nationally.

Small arms and light weapons are fast growing into monstrous proportions internationally, disrupting peace and creating conflicts even in far nooks and corners of the world.

There is a pressing need to at least curb it till we succeed in totally eradicating this menace from the face of the earth.

It is no mean task, for the actors involved in it are like octopuses with an intricately interwined network of tentacles. Yet we have to tackle this issue with concerted effort, using the best possible means, said Ranaviraja.

The Government over the years has been taking measures to arrest this problem. The Firearms (Amendment) Act No. 22 of 1996 contains some stringent measures adopted to deter the offenders. The Act empowers the police to detect all unlicensed weapons and makes provision to mete out severe punishment for offences such as possession, manufacturing, repairing and import of firearms. Some of these offences carry the punishment of life imprisonment, said Ranaviraja.

He said that the government had at various periods declared amnesties to induce possessors of illegal arms to surrender them without much success.

However numerous measures adopted to counteract this proliferation of small arms and light weapons appear to have had positive effects, but we have to admit that we cannot by any means lay complacent with the total outcome, Ranaviraja added.

Many circumstances contributed to the true circulation of small arms and light weapons. The internal conflict that has ravaged the country for nearly two decades is a major contributory factor to this situation.

Upto now, 8676 firearms have been legally issued to protect agriculture and plantations. 732 weapons have been issued for self defence. Among these are pistols, revolvers, shot guns and repeaters. A total of 321 weapons have been issued for sports purposes.

5572 weapons have been issued for security purposes of institutions. Above this, there are over 30,000 small arms in the hands of criminal elements including army deserters and this is posing a great threat to civil society, he said.

The underworld that came into the scene with the open market economy provides a very lucrative market for illegal weapons. Perhaps, weapons smuggled out of conflict areas and by army deserters and also from foreign countries find ready buyers among these underworld gangs who are engaged not only in criminal activities but also in internecine warfare that has become a continuous feature.