Issue Brief
Arms for Deadly Attacks:
More U.S. Funding needed to Secure Foreign Arms Stockpiles
Around the world, poorly secured or surplus arms stockpiles serve as a major source of weapons for armed groups, organized crime, and violent conflicts, often with devastating consequences for civilians. According to Small Arms Survey, a government-supported research group in Geneva, an Algerian armed group called the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat likely received arms from Mali government stockpiles in 2003. This armed group is believed to have been responsible for the kidnapping of 32 tourists in the Sahara desert during 2003 and is listed as a terrorist organization by the U.S. Department of State.
From Africa to Asia to Europe and beyond, tens of millions of small arms and light weapons (SALW) such as assault rifles and shoulder-fired missiles and many more stocks of ammunition are still kept in poorly managed circumstances. Too often, these poorly secured or surplus stocks of arms fuel internal and external conflicts and grave human rights abuses. In the Solomon Islands, for example, Malaitan paramilitary officers reportedly seized more than 500 assault rifles and machine guns from government stockpiles in 2000. Some of these acquired arms were then used to overthrow the elected government and later kill, injure, and displace hundreds of civilians.
To better address the risks of poorly secured or surplus SALW around the world, Amnesty International supports increasing the annual appropriations funding for the U.S. Department of State's Office of Weapons, Removal, and Abatement (WRA) from an average of about $4 million to $30 million. This increase is similar to an approved amendment sponsored by Senator Richard G. Lugar to the Foreign Affairs Authorization Act for FY 2006 and FY 2007.
WRA seeks to secure or destroy surplus or inadequately stored arms and ammunition. Since its inception in 2001, WRA has focused largely on destroying weapons stockpiles in Eastern Europe left over from Cold War-era caches that have flooded conflict zones. In Bulgaria, where arms brokers have purchased tons of surplus arms for deadly conflicts in Africa, WRA helped destroy nearly 78,000 surplus weapons in fiscal year 2001. The United States, Norway, and Germany, also helped destroy over 100,000 weapons in Albania to curb leakages of weapons into Kosovo and Macedonia.
WRA's average funding of around $4 million a year, however, has prevented it from providing U.S. assistance to many countries with surplus or poorly stored arms stockpiles in regions outside of Easter Europe. An increase to $30 million would enable the office to begin to address the worldwide crisis and to better seek out or respond to countries in need of assistance around the world. If governments agree to receive WRA's assistance, this increased funding would help secure national arms caches, block a major source of weapons for armed groups, and better protect the lives of people around the world.
Amnesty International USA Recommendations:
- The U.S. Congress should ask the U.S. Department of State to support efforts within the United Nations to form a group of governmental experts to analyze and offer recommendations on the arms brokering issue.
- The U.S. Congress should encourage the U.S. Department of State to begin negotiations on a strong global agreement on arms brokering as soon as possible to better enforce U.S. law and regulate arms brokering.
