Issue Brief


Ruthless Arms Brokers Unhindered:
The Need for a Global Agreement on Arms Brokering


In the last decade and a half, ruthless arms brokers have been at the center of many of the most disturbing arms deals, including weapons transfers to abusive armed groups and countries under U.N. arms embargoes. In a typical example, arms brokers purportedly organized a shipment of 3,117 surplus assault rifles from Nicaragua to Panama, but in fact were diverted to Colombia’s paramilitary Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC). At the time, the AUC was accused of killing thousands of civilians and was on the U.S. Department of State list of terrorist organizations. Yet, many arms brokers, including those involved in the above and other illegal deals, remain free and unhindered, and continue to traffic arms to human rights abusers.

Despite U.S. and international efforts to stem similarly devastating deals, many governments have non-existent or weak laws or enforcement on arms brokering. For example, Irish law does not control arms brokers who arrange weapons supplies from foreign countries. This weakness made it especially difficult for the Irish government to prosecute an arms broker in 2004 that was reportedly involved in negotiations to supply 50 T72 tanks from Ukraine to the Sudanese military. In January 2004, the EU strengthened its arms embargo on Sudan out of concern for its ongoing civil war. In addition, some countries such as Russia continue to allow well-known arms traffickers such as Victor Bout to remain free. Bout has been implicated in violating or contributing to violate several U.N. arms embargoes in Angola, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Addressing the threat of these globetrotting brokers, the U.S. government adopted a tough law on arms brokering in 1996. The U.S. law, for example, covers a wide range of brokering activities, including transporting and financing. It requires arms brokers to both register as an arms broker and to apply for a license for each brokering activity. It also regulates arms brokering activity of any U.S. person engaging in activities at home or abroad, and also of foreigners located in the United States or otherwise subject to U.S. jurisdiction who undertake brokering. This law, however, will not be fully effective until other governments adopt similar laws. The major problem lies in the U.S. government’s inability to effectively investigate and extradite individuals in foreign countries that violate U.S. law.

In order to better enforce U.S. law and to elevate other government’s abilities to stem illicit brokering activities, Amnesty International supports a strong global agreement on arms brokering. Following the lead of U.S. law, this agreement must, among other items, require that all arms brokers operating in a country’s territory be registered and licensed for each arms transaction. It should require governments to regulate and control brokering activities –including transporting and financing – outside their territory by its citizens or its residents. An international agreement must also establish when governments should prevent arms brokering activity, such as transfers to governments and groups with consistent records of gross human rights violations. Such an agreement, adopted and strictly enforced, could go a long way to stemming gross human rights abuses fueled by ruthless, globetrotting arms brokers.

Amnesty International USA Recommendations: