RI supports efforts to curb illegal small arms trade

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia will support international efforts to curb illegal small arms and light weapons trading, as the region as a whole has become fertile ground for such trading. Foreign Ministry's Director of International Organizations, Sudjadnan Parnohadiningrat, said on Wednesday.

He also stressed the need for countries in the region to take a stance and deal with the problem which could effect the domestic security.

"In Indonesia, for example, we can see how the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) obtains weapons. That's why we should address the issue in the region," he told journalists at a two-day regional seminar here on Illicit Trafficking in Small Arms and Light Weapons.

However, when asked, Sudjadnan could not say the extent of the problem in Indonesia.

"We (the Foreign Ministry) are not the police, we do not probe into illicit trafficking, though we know it does take place," he said.

The United Nations is slated to issue a protocol on curbing the illicit transfer of small arms and light weapons by the end of the year.

Another international conference on the issue is due to be held in July 2001.

The Chairman of the UN Governmental Expert Group on Small Arms Mitsuro Donowaki said that the region has fallen behind in taking the initiative to curb the illegal sale of weapons.

He warned that if it fails to take concrete measures, Southeast Asia and perhaps all Asia could succumb to the brutal and violent conditions prevailing in many African states.

"There are some countries in the region such as Cambodia and Vietnam which are prone to illicit (weapons) trafficking," Donowaki said while praising the initiative taken by the Indonesian government in sponsoring the seminar.

"All states should exercise the outmost restraint in the transfer of small arms and light weapons and munitions to areas in which there are ongoing conflicts," Donowaki stressed.

A representatives from the UN Department for Disarmament Affairs, Agnes Marcaillou, assured all states that the issuance of a protocol would not violate national sovereignty and become a prelude to an international treaty forcing arms disarmament.

"We are only addressing the illicit trafficking, not the legal purchasing of weapons by governments," Agnes told reporters. (dja)