France Calls For Clampdown on Illegal Airlifts of Small Arms
France called for Europe’s security organization, the OSCE, to take a lead in clamping down on illegal airlifts of small arms and light weapons at the start of a three-day meeting of the 55-nation organization in Prague on May 22.
France tabled its call at a meeting of the organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe aimed at boosting security and efficiency of transport networks.
The French “non-paper” described the illegal airlifting of weapons as one of the most worrying factors “contributing to the destabilization of states, prolonging regional conflicts, feeding terrorism, facilitating organized criminal activities, and endangering the security of air transportation.”
”Small and light weapons are truly weapons of mass destruction ... Since 1990 they have caused the deaths of nearly four million people and forced more than 18 million others to leave their homes and countries,” it added.
The French initiative calls for the OSCE to take the lead in making countries live up to past declarations on arms shipments, often carried by private aviation companies which are able to dodge inadequate government controls.
Official flight plans and documentation are changed and aircraft registrations falsified — a common practice in Africa — to get round checks, the French paper said.
The aim of the initiative is for a meeting of OSCE ministers in Brussels in December to take a decision charting out the next steps in tackling the problem, the paper said.
The OSCE’s coordinator for economic and environmental activities, Bernard Snoy, told AFP on the sidelines of a news conference on May 22 that the French paper was “an attractive proposal.”
”You cannot assume that transport will just be used for positive purposes,” he added.
Human rights organization Amnesty International warned earlier this month that many arms transporting and brokering operations were unregulated, secretive and unaccountable.
It demanded the toughening of arms controls to stop what it said was a growing band of brokers from fueling killings, rape and torture around the world.
France tabled its call at a meeting of the organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe aimed at boosting security and efficiency of transport networks.
The French “non-paper” described the illegal airlifting of weapons as one of the most worrying factors “contributing to the destabilization of states, prolonging regional conflicts, feeding terrorism, facilitating organized criminal activities, and endangering the security of air transportation.”
”Small and light weapons are truly weapons of mass destruction ... Since 1990 they have caused the deaths of nearly four million people and forced more than 18 million others to leave their homes and countries,” it added.
The French initiative calls for the OSCE to take the lead in making countries live up to past declarations on arms shipments, often carried by private aviation companies which are able to dodge inadequate government controls.
Official flight plans and documentation are changed and aircraft registrations falsified — a common practice in Africa — to get round checks, the French paper said.
The aim of the initiative is for a meeting of OSCE ministers in Brussels in December to take a decision charting out the next steps in tackling the problem, the paper said.
The OSCE’s coordinator for economic and environmental activities, Bernard Snoy, told AFP on the sidelines of a news conference on May 22 that the French paper was “an attractive proposal.”
”You cannot assume that transport will just be used for positive purposes,” he added.
Human rights organization Amnesty International warned earlier this month that many arms transporting and brokering operations were unregulated, secretive and unaccountable.
It demanded the toughening of arms controls to stop what it said was a growing band of brokers from fueling killings, rape and torture around the world.
posted by Marko at 5/23/2006 08:36:00 AM
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