Lack of disarmament impedes fight against small arms

Disarming militias remains a large problem in the Republic of Congo (ROC), and a nationwide programme of disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration is essential in the fight against the trafficking of small arms, a government report recommended. The report was presented to a regional seminar on the implementation of a UN action plan to eliminate the illegal trafficking of small arms, which concluded in the capital, Brazzaville, on Wednesday. The report said that a national disarmament programme depended on the reconstruction of internal security, financing disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration in the armed forces and the police, and supporting good governance. It called for an urgent loan of between US $2 million and $3 million to finance the disarmament programme over a period of a year, allowing the UN Development Programme (UNDP), together with the International Office for Migration (IOM), to complete the collection of about 15,000 to 20,000 small arms in circulation. The report estimated that over the past decade, militias in the ROC had acquired about 74,000 small arms; among these, 24,500 had been looted or distributed from army or police posts while some 4,500 had come from abroad. The report also said there was an extensive black market for small arms in the ROC, which had an adverse affect on many sectors of society.