Plea for small arms curbs

Small arms are easier for children to carry

A United Nations conference has heard an impassioned plea for weapons-producing countries to prevent light weapons falling into the hands of children.

Children kill because they have the instruments to kill

General Romeo Dallaire

General Romeo Dallaire - Canada's representative at the conference on the small arms trade - said that child soldiers were becoming the dominant factors in wars in the developing world.

He told delegates in New York that the link between children and guns was sowing the seeds for even more horrific conflicts in the future.

General Dallaire speaks with some authority as he was the UN force commander in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide which left hundreds of thousands dead.

Small arms

Revolvers, rifles

Self-loading pistols

Sub machine-guns, light machine guns

Portable anti-aircraft and anti-tank guns

Portable missile launchers

The BBC's Greg Barrow in New York says General Dallaire was one of the few UN personnel to emerge with any credit, as he gave repeated warnings about the impending massacres - which went unheeded.

The United States has refused to back demands to control the trade in small weapons.

It says a clear distinction had to be made between firearms used for traditional and cultural reasons, and those that are traded illegally and fuel conflicts around the world.

'300,000 child soldiers'

The United Nations estimates that small arms lead to half a million deaths a year.

To tackle this situation, proposals drafted for the two-week meeting include:

• Better control of the legal manufacture and possession of weapons
• Creation of a standardised marking system to trace arms used illegally
• Tighter export controls
• Tighter controls over possession and access to small arms by police, armed forces and civilians

According to the UN, some 300,000 child soldiers around the world are carrying pistols and machine guns.

Many more are used by people living in deprived and dangerous areas where carrying a weapon is a matter of survival.

Afghanistan: Home to 10 million light weapons

Countries beset by violence are prime black markets for such weapons.

The UN estimates that Afghanistan is home to 10 million light weapons.

Seven million small arms are circulating in countries such as Sierra Leone and Angola and another two million are in Central Africa.

Weapons of choice

UN statistics show that of the 500 million small arms in circulation:

• 40% - 60% are illicit
• They were weapons of choice in 46 of 49 major conflicts since 1990
• Of four million war deaths, 90% were civilians, 80% of those were women and children

Given the deep differences of opinion over the small arms trade, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has already acknowledged that the impact of the conference will be limited.

Whatever happens, the programme of action due to be adopted will not be legally binding, and it will be left to UN member states to decide what aspects of gun control they wish to adopt.