Forum to fight unauthorised arms

Rasika Somarathna

COLOMBO: A Parliamentarian forum was held yesterday, with a view to stimulating the broader participation of political leaders in view of establishing a dialogue between them and civil society/organisations in combatting the menace of unauthorised small arms and light weapons.

The forum was organised by the South Asia Small Arms Network in Sri Lanka(SASA Net) along with PAFFREL to raise awareness in the “UN programme of action to prevent, combat and eradicate the illicit trade of small arms and light weapons”. The event was attended by Government and opposition parliamentarians along with other political leaders.

Sri Lanka has worked tirelessly since the adoption of the UN programme of action in 2001 in order to address the challenges posed by the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons, which continues to be a serious threat to peace,stability and sustainable development in the country.

Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights Mahinda Samarasinghe said, “After the adoption of the UN programme of action in 2001, the Government took the initiative to establish a National Commission against the proliferation of illicit small arms and light weapons”.

“Sri Lanka was the first country in the Asian region to set up a National Commission, which has identified a number of areas to focus its attention such as conducting a National survey, organising public awareness programmes, formulating a plan of action, introduction of new legislation and steps to effectively curb trafficking” Samarasinghe said.

The National Commission had taken steps to initiate a destruction programme in 2005, which resulted in creating a great deal of public awareness. The Minister said that such programmes will serve as confidence building measures among the public which would prompt them to co-operate with law enforcement agencies.

UNP Parliamentarian Professor G. L. Peiris addressing the gathering urged a multi-pronged approach to address the issue,”No country could deal with this problem in isolation, we have to muster the support of all. We have to change the attitudes in society. Violence has become a fashion today, a child is exposed to violence from a very small age. We have to identify the root causes and address them accordingly,” Peiris said.

UK Parliamentarian Paul Eavis emphasised the need for a Global resolution to address the issue and spoke at length about the British experience in combatting the menace of unauthorised arms.

According to National Commissions Co-ordinator Brig. Ranjan Silva nearly 30,000 unauthorised small arms are circulating in the country. Weapons given to politicians have not been returned even after they have vacated their office. These have ended up with criminal gangs. The deserters from the military too pose a big threat.

“We should take immediate steps to address these issues” the Brigadier said. According to (SASA Net) Chairman Kingsley Rodrigo, the proliferation of small arms is a global phenomenon and around 500,000,000 small arms are estimated to be in circulation around the globe. As a result of clashes about 300,000 lives have been lost in the last decade.

The event was attended by many prominent politicians including Deputy UNP leader Karu Jayasuriya.