 |
 Aiming
for Prevention:
The Scourge of Small Arms
and Light Weapons
By their design - small, portable, rugged, inexpensive,
and deadly - small arms have evaded detection and wrought extreme destruction
to health and development around the world. In recent
armed conflicts, small arms, light weapons, and firearms1
have killed an estimated 300,000 people per year on average, and were the only
weapons used in all but three of 49 major conflicts fought between 1990 and 1998.
Civilian casualties including women and children are estimated at 35 to 80 percent
[1]. They have claimed approximately 200,000 additional lives
per year in non-combat related homicide, suicide, and accidental injury. In some
countries, such as Brazil, the rate of injury is ten times higher than the rate
of mortality, not including even greater numbers of psychologically affected [2].
But these are only the direct effects. In addition, outbreaks of disease are associated
with conflicts fueled by small arms, with recent research in African war zones
by the World Health Organization and Oxfam-UK finding increases in malaria, tuberculosis,
AIDS, bubonic plague, and other ailments[3,4]. Health infrastructure
and delivery of services are disrupted and over-stretched, including depletion
of blood supply in countries such as Burundi [5]. Economic
costs in terms of treatment and lost productivity are extremely high. Enjoyment
of human rights and long term development are sacrificed under the rule of the
gun. Because of their size, availability, low cost, durability,
and ease of use, small arms have become a widespread and entrenched cause of death
and injury. More than 500 million military-style small arms circulate in global
markets, along with an equivalent number of civilian-type firearms, and demand
is increasing. Small arms act like a spreading virus, easily traversing political
and economic boundaries, causing damage to vulnerable populations particularly
to those in economically depressed, politically unstable, and conflict-prone areas. Footnote 1.
The terms "small arm," "light weapon," and "firearm" are used here interchangeably,
and defined as any weapon of military or civilian origin that is portable and
usable by one to three people. This includes assault rifles, machine guns, mortars,
and rocket propelled grenades, as well as handguns, pistols, and other firearms. References 1.
International Committee of the Red Cross, Arms Availability and the Situation
of Civilians in Armed Conflict, Geneva, ICRC 1999.
2. United
Nations, International Study on Firearms Regulation, Vienna, 1997.
3.
World Health Organization, Press Release WHO/46, 30 June 2000, Geneva.
4.
Oxfam, Under Fire: the humanitarian impact of small arms in north east Democratic
Republic of the Congo, Executive Summary, Oxford, 2001.
5.
From an address by Lt. Col. (Retired) Jan Kamenju, Security Research Information
Centre, Kenya, at the United Nations, New York, 16 January 2001.
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