RI urges joint action to control arms trade

RI urges joint action to control arms trade

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.