RI urges action as UN seminar on illegal weapons opens

RI urges action as UN seminar on illegal weapons opens

Agencies
Denpasar, Bali

Indonesia on Monday urged Asian nations to work together in
controlling the illicit trade in small arms, which it said had
fueled terrorism and anti-government insurgences in the region.

Sudjadnan Parnohadiningrat, a secretary general in the
Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told the United Nations
Regional Seminar on Small Arms and Light Weapons in the Bali
capital of Denpasar that these arms were the "primary instrument
of violence" in conflicts that have left thousands dead.

He called on the 30 countries from the Asia-Pacific which are
attending to pass laws and implement procedures on confiscating
and stockpiling weapons, and improve trans-border cooperation.
"For us, the link between small arms and terrorism has become
self-evident," said Parnohadiningrat in an opening address.

"Furthermore, the illicit flow of these weapons has enabled
armed separatist and insurgent groups in our region to challenge
the authority of legitimate governments and thereby disrupt law
and order."

Indonesia, which is co-chairing the two-day conference with
Japan, has been among the hardest hit by the illicit arms trade.

Separatist movements in Aceh and Papua have thrived in part
because of the steady flow of illicit arms into the country, and
heavily armed Islamic militias used illegal weapons to spark a
religious conflict in the provinces of Maluku and Central
Sulawesi that left more than 10,000 dead.

Now that peace has come to Aceh, one of the challenges is
ridding the island province of weapons. Over the weekend, the
Free Aceh Movement and the government agreed on a blueprint in
which the rebels will hand over their weapons in the next five
months.

The Bali seminar will focus on the progress made in
implementing an action plan that came out of a similar U.N.
weapons conference in 2001. It will also serve as a preparatory
meeting for a second UN weapons conference in New York in July.

Jayantha Dhanapala, the UN undersecretary for disarmament
affairs, is expected to report on Tuesday that 80 countries have
set up national commissions to address the illegal weapons
problem and many others, including Australia, have passed gun
control legislation.

In his opening remark on Monday, he said the primary
responsibility of addressing the challenge of elicit small arms
and light weapons rests with states.

"Consequently these states, in particular those most affected
by the scourge of the elicit arms market, must accept their
responsibility to address these issues and provide solutions to
meet their specific needs," Dhanapala said.

"Truly sustainable solutions to these challenges must not be
imposed from without, but embraced from within as legitimate
reflections of concrete national interests," he added.