Weapons availability and conflict dynamics: Examples from Africa

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Weapons availability and conflict
dynamicsExamples from Africa

• Charles Nasibu Bilali
• RECAAL GRIP/IANSA

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Introduction

• When I heard that I was speaking on the topic of
  weapons availability in conflicts, I wondered if
  there was anything new to say about this subject,
  especially to a group of experienced researchers
• So instead I offer some examples to illustrate
  the importance of preventing arms availability in
  conflict zones
  

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DR Congo

• 4.5 million deaths between 1998 and 2003
• Most of these deaths are indirect, as a result of
  insecurity
  
• Also sexual violence as weapon of war

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DR Congo my background

• I am Congolese, and I have seen first-hand the
  impact of availability of small arms
  
• With GRIP, I researched the sources of weapons to
  the Mai-Mai and other armed groups in the Great
  Lakes between 2002 and 2005

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DR Congo Gatumba massacre

• On 13/14 August 2004, I was one of the first
  people to arrive at the scene of the massacre at
  the Gatumba refugee camp
  
• Gatumba was a rare example of where some
  ammunition was actually recovered
  
• But this could only identify the original
  manufacturers, it did not help us work out how
  the weapons ended up in the Great Lakes region
  

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Unhappy outcome

• 2004-05 reports on Mai-Mai, arms in Kivus,
  persistent trafficking from Tanzania
  
• These made me very unpopular in Burundi
• I became a refugee in October 2005 and now live
  in Norway

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DR Congo a shaky peace

• Since 1996, the conflict in DR Congo has been
  located within the Kivus
  
• The recent peace process gives us hope, but the
  combatants still have their weapons
  
• The government protests against the unfair UN
  arms embargo
  

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DR Congo blowback

• Government fought Nkunda back for two days, but
  Nkunda seized control on third day.
  
• Nkunda took most of the arms and ammunition of DR
  Congo army
  
• Nkunda now has enough ammunition to wage war for
  five years in that region

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DR Congo embargo

• Embargo has been temporarily renewed
• Should it be renewed again?
• Should it be extended to include Burundi, Rwanda,
  Uganda?

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Problems of a weak state?

• Perhaps embargoes cannot be enforced by a weak
  state like DR Congo
  
• Somalia is an even better example
• Alternatives?
• Prevent diversion from neighbouring countries

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Tanzania ammunition factory

• A relatively recent example of weapons exported
  to a country that might have been diverted to
  fuel a conflict
  
• In 2004, a Belgium company planned to export
  ammunition upgrade to Morogoro
  
• This was purely a business deal, the ammunition
  was not intended for military use
  

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Tanzania - campaign

• NGOs in Belgium objected to this GRIP and
  others
  
• NGOs in Tanzania objected to this SaferAfrica
  and others
  
• I discovered that arms were still being diverted
  from Tanzania to Burundi, and Tanzania to DR Congo

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Results of the campaign

• The transfer was suspended by Walloon
  authorities
  
• Parliamentary investigation
• But what is stopping someone else from doing the
  same thing in future?

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Two positive examples

• Sierra Leone during elections, people from
  opposing groups came to fight in the streets
  without guns. If they had guns, possible
  catastrophe
• Kenya horrific violence but if they had access
  to guns as in DRC, then the conflict would have
  spread throughout region

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Research as tool for prevention

• Not enough evidence about the source of arms in
  conflicts
  
• Especially where there are no records, we rely
  upon researchers on the ground
  
• Vital role of African civil society researchers

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Thank you for the invitation!