Govt steps up efforts to disarm civilians

Angola has set up a commission to explore ways of disarming the civilian population, a senior police official said on Wednesday. The new initiative follows the failure of an earlier disarmament programme which yielded less than 10 percent of the weapons believed to be in circulation. While there is no independent confirmation of exactly how many guns are in the hands of individuals, officials estimate that a third of Angolans are armed. "We have agreed that other groups such as NGOs and the church should be part of the commission, as they have an important role to play in this process - although the police have already started working on retrieving firearms from the population across the country. In parts [of the country] some people have already returned their weapons on their own," Police Chief Commissioner Ambrosio de Lemos dos Santos told IRIN. He added that following earlier appeals, people in the provinces of Kuando Kubango in the south east and Huila in the south had handed over 564 assorted weapons, including mortars, automatic rifles and ammunition. However, in Luanda, the province most affected, civilians continued to hold onto their weapons. "In Luanda we have embarked on an awareness programme. The message is that the country is no longer at war and that people no longer have any need for the weapons. It must be pointed out that disarming the population will take time. The programme hopes to do this in phases," dos Santos said. The government has been hesitant to accept responsibility for the large number of small arms in civilian hands. But in recent official statements acknowledging the problem, the government has been prepared to shoulder some of the blame, analysts told IRIN. During the turbulent period of the 1992 election in particular, the government armed its supporters in key towns after accusing UNITA rebels of not properly demobilising. "It is a positive sign that the government has now said that small arms are a problem and that something needs to be done. Previously the issue was an extremely sensitive one and neither the government nor UNITA wanted to claim any responsibility for putting guns in the hands of ordinary Angolans," Joao Porto, a senior researcher at the Pretoria-based Institute for Security Studies told IRIN. Observers have pointed out that the widespread availability of small arms among Angolan civilians could give rise to an increase in crime and banditry, adversely affecting the resettlement of people returning to their areas of origin. The possible trafficking of guns across Angola's borders has also caused concern, while the presence of weapons has increased feelings of insecurity and vulnerability among civilians. "Although details are scant at present, it would be advisable if the government's disarmament programme included a cash incentive which would make it an attractive option for Angolans who have fire arms in their possession to hand back their weapons," Porto added. But dos Santos dismissed the suggestion of guns-for-cash. "No we will not be buying back the guns from any person, especially since they were given away freely by different political parties during the war. We urge people to voluntarily hand in their weapons."