DISARMAMENT ANDINTERNATIONAL SECURITY

COMMITTEE

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Agenda: The Global Illegal Arms Trade.

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INTRODUCTION TO DISEC: The United Nations was established right after the end of World War II. The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) is one of the six main organs of theUnited Nations, being a chief deliberative, policymaking and representative organ of theUnited Nations. General Assembly was among the primarily established organs of theUnited Nations, holding its first meeting in 1945. The GA comprises of all 193 Members ofthe UN with equal representation principle, which means that each Member State hasone vote. With this principle, the General Assembly is the only organ in which anequality of such is established. It focuses on topics of peace, security and disarmament.The primary goal of the organization is to safeguard peace all over the world. Based onthat idea, the General Assembly included in its corps the First Committee, also known asthe Committee on Disarmament and International Security - (DISEC). The FirstCommittee of the General Assembly is the one responsible for the maintenance ofinternational peace and security, focusing among others on issues of global safety,nuclear proliferation, arms control, etc. Although the resolutions of the committee arenot binding they mostly become respected documents by the members of the UN. DISEChas an agenda spanning over a wide range of topics covering disarmament andinternational security. Principles governing disarmament and the regulation ofarmaments; promotion of cooperative arrangements and measures aimed atstrengthening the stability through lower levels of armaments is among its chief themesof discussion. ‘‘DISEC works in close cooperation with two bodies, namely Geneva basedConference on Disarmament (CD) and the UN Disarmament Commission (UNDC) whichwas established by the UN Special Session on Disarmament in 1978.

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INTRODUCTION TO THE AGENDA In the contemporary times, current events serve as a stark reminder of the urgency andseverity of the problem of the illicit arms trade, which, besides constituting a serious threat tointernational peace and security, represents a stimulant to other global illegal activities. Adirect consequence of arms trafficking is firearms availability, which increases lethality from awide variety of violent crimes. What’s more, there are exceptionally close and organic linkswith organized criminal activities including money laundering, smuggling, humantrafficking, financial crimes and also terrorism. Illegal and irresponsible handling of weapons in general poses a grave danger towards thecivilian population. While some illicit firearms are obtained through the theft of weaponsthat are originally held legally or that are stolen from other legal sources, the vast majorityoriginates from cross-border trafficking activities. However, due to the blurred distinctionbetween the different types of trafficking and the fact that the activity is illegal, it is ratherdifficult to quantify the relative importance of different sources of illicit firearms as it is notcaptured by official statistics.  Whilst it is possible to provide a range of estimates, this range remains to be very wide,emphasizing the fact that no accurate quantification of the problem is feasible on the basis ofexisting available data. Accordingly, reaching a solution to tackle illicit arms market is greatlychallenging and efforts to combat such reality undoubtedly require cooperation betweenauthorities in different countries.

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Background of the Agenda:  The volume of the arms trade substantially increased during the 19th century. The continually expanding industrialization in Europe stimulated an unending series of technological advancements in weaponry. In the global context, Belgians andFrench, along with the Italians, played a major role in the illicit arms trade at that time.In the last quarter of the nineteenth century, firearms became a highly demandedcommodity in East Africa.  Soon, East Africa became the chief destination for imported firearms throughtrafficking and new private traders. For the most part, these firearms were second-handmilitary weapons originating from Europe, North America and South Asia. In the secondhalf of the 1890s, the involvement of Belgian and French companies in the arms trafficintensified. Not to forget, the arms trade represented a consequential source of jobs forEuropeans.  A crucial and non-negligible event in the history of illegal arms trade was the Cold War(1945 – 1991). The long-standing rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Unionwas rather doubtlessly accompanied by a competition to acquire the most arms.Although primarily focused on nuclear weapons, conventional weapons were ofparamount importance in order to sufficiently equip both sides’ allies, to sway proxywars in their favor and to provide an indirect aid to the home country’s foreign anddomestic policies. An example of illegal arms trading during the Cold War was the Iran-Contra Affair 1985 – 1987, during which senior administration officials secretly executedorders to sell weapons to Iran, despite an embargo, with aims to free some Americansheld captive by terrorists in Lebanon.   Different regions of the world experience different effects of the illicit arms trade:InAfrica, the illegal small arms trade is a major concern for developing nations’governments. In Somalia, Ethiopian truck convoys deliver illegally obtained weapons,violating the UN embargo. Liberia has transported weapons across the border intoSierra Leone, supplying the Revolutionary United Front, a rebel group that fought andlost an 11-year civil war.

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In Latin America, controlling large stockpiles of weapons is a major concern. In 2007, Venezuela purchased 100,000 AK-103 39mm assault rifles from Russia to replace weapons purchased in the 1950s from Belgium. This weapon is also the favorite of the strongest Colombian guerrilla group, FARC, so there is speculation over whether leftover weapons may be diverted toColombia illegally.  An hour outside the city of Peshawar, Pakistan, is home to DarraAdamkhel (The Arms Market), the largest illegal arms market in the world. The weaponsare handmade, and are some of the cheapest weapons in the world; an AK-47 costs $50USD, whereas Iranian and Russian weapons cost $300 USD and up. The guns are replicasof those supplied by the United States to the Mujahideen during the 1980s when theUSSR invaded Afghanistan. After the war, the Pashtuns helped supply the Taliban when they began to overrunAfghanistan, and also covertly supplied the Irish Republican Army, the Middle East, andthe Muslims in Kashmir.4 Past International Action In 2006, more than 100 membernations of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) submitted their views on creating apossible Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), however, it took several more years for those ideas tobe agreed upon.Today, despite UN member states’ cooperation to rid the internationalcommunity of illegal arms trade, many interlinked underground operations stillcirculate unwarranted weapons across the world. This is leading to civilians and terroristpersonnel getting their hands on lethal machinery which is devastating many parts ofthe world and defying governance laws. It is also leading to a modern day issue of guncontrol and increasing violence. Nations in the Disarmament and International SecurityCommittee must work together to destroy international arms trade as well as internalissues that are being instigated due to lack of adamant resolution.

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Previous Attempts to Solve The Problem: Since the 1990s, many countries have worked hard to develop an internationalconvention on the illicit arms trade. By unanimously enforcing the Programme of Actionin 2001, the UN Member States committed themselves to ‘‘collecting and destroyingillegal weapons, adopting and/or improving national legislation to help criminalize theillicit trade in small arms, regulating the activities of brokers, setting strict import andexport controls, taking action against violators of such laws, and better coordinatinginternational efforts to that end.’’ In 2006, over a hundred nations in the UN GeneralAssembly (UNGA) have put across their opinions regarding the implementation of apossible Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). After a several years of negotiations, the Arms TradeTreaty entered into force 24 December 2014. The only countries to vote against thetreaty as a whole were the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Iran, and the SyrianArab Republic.‘’The Arms Trade Treaty obligates member states to monitor armsexports and ensure that weapons don't cross existing arms embargoes or end up beingused for humanrights abuses, including terrorism. Member states, with the assistance ofthe U.N., will put into place enforceable, standardized arms import and exportregulations and be expected to track the destination of exports to ensure they do notend up in the wrong hands.’’

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COUNTRY POSITIONS:  USA:In the United States the Tiahrt Amendment (named for Kansas Representative Todd Tiahrt) bans the public release of comprehensive information about guns traced to crime scenes contained in ATF’s firearms tracing systemdatabase.However, a review of ATF initiated federal prosecutions provides enough data toidentify the most common sources of illicitly trafficked weapons emanating in the UnitedStates, with 10% of all arms coming from illegal means. Russia:According to official data, there are more than 2 million units of unregistered weaponsin Russia, and the number of stolen weapons is growing by 10% annually. Some experts arguethat the real number of unregistered weapons is much higher and stands at about 10 millionunits.The exports of black and gray arms represent between 5-15% of total weapons exportsfrom Russia. For example, when the official exports of weapons and military equipment fromRussia amounted to $3.8 billion in the early 2000s, the black and gray export was closer to  $380million.In reality, illegal arms sales from Russia could be much higher, and they includecountries  subject to a weapons embargo and areas of armed conflicts.  China:China is one of the world’s top small arms producers, and the products of official armscompanies such as Norinco  make regular appearances in conflicts around the globe. In 2014,Chinese arms and ammunition export totaled at $161 million, out of which sporting and huntinglong guns constituted $12.75 million . Despite the country’s position as one of the world’s largestarms producers, strict Chinese gun laws are designed to ensure few, if any, of its own citizenshave the legal right to keep arms. Much less noticed is China’s growing problem with domesticproduction of illegal firearms, which have helped fuel a recent spike in crime. Even hunting,which is sanctioned on paper and, according to China’s legal code should allow a limitednumber of guns for hunters, is curtailed, as licenses are no longer issued. Moreover, thepenalties for gun ownership, and anyone caught involved in manufacturing, sales or ownershipof guns can potentially receive a minimum of three years imprisonment. The crime can alsocarry a life sentence or the death penalty. Despite these restrictions, Chinese police continue todiscover and bust sizable gunrunning networks on a regular basis. A recent raid in Hunan’sShaodong province seized 1,180 guns, some 1,300 parts and 6 million rounds of ammunition—prompting the question, why, despite the tough gun laws in place, does China’s illicit gun tradecontinue to expand and flourish. Judging by available evidence, China’s expanding gun trade isa byproduct of its well-to-do population’s growing demand for illegal goods. However, theexisting ban, which makes legal gun purchases for law abiding citizens nearly impossible, hasresulted in the disproportionate allocation of guns to criminal groups, adding new challengesto the maintenance of public and social order.

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France:Most of the arms found on the black market in France and other Western European countries hail from countries with a proliferation of guns and loose or poorly enforced regulations or are trafficked from conflict zones, according to experts.One of the reasons we see a lot of Kalashnikovs and AK-47s on the black market is because Russia has just upgraded the Kalashnikov, andthat has created massive stockpiles of the older models.  United Kingdom:Guns are very tightly controlled in the UK. Those that end up on the blackmarket often start off as legal guns - but become illegal because they are modified or theirlicence status changes.For example, a legal gun covered by a firearms licence could be stolenfrom a farm or firearms dealer.And decommissioned guns used in conflict can bereactivated - especially because the standards of "deactivation" vary around Europe and insome cases the process is very easy to reverse.In 2017, Europol - the EU police agency - said:"The reactivation of deactivated weapons and conversion of blank-firing firearms are amongthe main sources of illegal firearms trafficked in the EU."The National Crime Agency (NCA)in the UK says blank-firing and deactivated guns are bought legally by organised crimegangs in Europe who then "reactivate" them - often by removing an obstruction from thebarrel - and sell them in the criminal market.Some of these then end up in the UK, oftencoming from Eastern Europe, hidden in heavy goods vehicles, by sea or even in thepost.Guns or parts of guns are also traded online. In 2015, NCA officers seized a gun that hadbeen sent to a man in the UK in the post, concealed within a radio.And finally, there is agrowing problem in the UK of antique guns that use obsolete kinds of ammunition beingfitted with home-made bullets.  Europe:Organised criminal groups often rely on the availability of weapons to carry out theiractivities. However, the market for firearms in the EU remains modest in size. Traffickingoccurs on a small scale, and the weapons trafficked are intended for either personal use or tomeet specific orders. Weapons trafficking is almost exclusively a supplementary rather thana primary source of income for the small number of organised criminal groups involved.Most groups enter the weapons-trafficking business through other criminal activity, whichmay offer contacts, knowledge of existing routes and infrastructure related to thesmuggling of weapons. The weapons and organised criminal groups involved in weaponstrafficking primarily originate from the Western Balkans (the weapons will typically havebeen held illegally after recent conflicts in the area) and the former Soviet Union. Outlawmotorcycle gangs are also involved in the trafficking of weapons, and have opened chaptersin the Western Balkans. Organised criminal groups use existing criminal routes to trafficweapons.

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DPRK:UN sanctions now ban all arms, including small arms and light weapons. North Koreahas developed an extensive and complicated arms trade network in an attempt tocircumvent sanctions and uses front companies and embassies to traffic weapons. In a 2014UN report, Syria, Myanmar, Eritrea, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Somalia and Iran were all suspectedto have bought weapons from North Korea. The main sources of illegal weapons: The reactivation of neutralised weapons;Burglaries and thefts;The embezzlement of legalarms;The selling of legal arms on the illegal market, including the Darknet;The reactivationof decommissioned army or police firearms;The conversion of gas pistols.In 2014, Europolestimated that there were almost half a million lost or stolen firearms in the EU. Therelatively high risks associated with weapons trafficking act as a disincentive for organisedcriminal groups. However, where demand exists, criminals will exploit vulnerabilities inlegitimate supply chains to obtain weapons and ammunition. A 2016 investigation by Italianlaw enforcement, in cooperation with Europol, underlined the latter’s importance as anintelligence provider and its capabilities in detecting connections between seeminglyunconnected cases in France, Italy, Malta and Slovakia, with possible links to Egyptianmigrant smuggling gangs

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Questions a Resolution must Answer (QARMA)Should every country have stringent gun laws preventing the sale and use of guns?How can manufacturers of illicit arms, like those in Peshawar, Pakistan be heldaccountable?How can national law enforcement officials efficiently trace small arms back to theirlast legitimate owner, who might be held accountable and form an effectivemeasure against illicit trade?How can the Arms Trade Treaty be enforced as a useful tool for preventing conflict,violence and violations of international law and human rights?How can scientific and technological advances ensure that the application of newmilitary technologies was consistent with legal, ethical and political imperatives?

Conclusion The agenda of ‘the global illegal arms trade’ calls for an immense effort from membernations in DISEC and its delegates to solve the issue that may plague the world’s nearfuture. With no prominent action taken, the underworld of illegal arms trade couldoverpower the UN’s forces and eventually become the inevitable force that puts an endto the purpose of the United Nations: maintaining international peace and security.Delegates must think with grit and intellect to form powerful and dynamic blocs,debate with diplomatic professionalism and find a viable solution to the agenda that ispresented to DISEC. The dias wishes to see the preparation of delegates in debate andduring informal communication. The executive board wishes all delegates luck and iseager to observe the quality of debate at this year’s DISEC.