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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NAIROBI 002247 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR AF/E, PM, ISN 
 
E.O.12958: N /A 
TAGS: PARM ETRD ETTC MASS PREL KE
SUBJECT: AFRICANS TO PUSH FOR ARMS TRADE TREATY 
 
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Summary 
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¶1. Representatives from 20 African governments attended a 
conference in Nairobi September 3-4 to discuss the need for 
an international arms trade treaty.  While acknowledging 
the need for implementation of a number of existing 
regional agreements, participants broadly agreed that an 
international treaty should be discussed as a priority 
during the October meeting of the UN General Assembly First 
Committee.  End Summary. 
 
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Untamed Arms Trade Bad for Africa 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶2. On September 3, Kenya hosted representatives from 20 
African governments as well as other representatives from 
regional organizations and civil society to discuss 
international arms transfers and the need for an Arms Trade 
Treaty.  Three UK-based organizations (Oxfam UK, 
Saferworld, and IANSA) organized the conference. 
Government representatives included: Algeria, Burundi, 
Djibouti, DRC, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, 
Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Somalia, 
South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, and Zambia.  Regional 
organization representatives included: the African Union, 
Arab League, East African Community, Economic Community of 
West African States, Regional Centre on Small Arms, and the 
Southern African Regional Police Chiefs Cooperation 
Organization. 
 
¶3. Kenya's Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Richard 
Onyonka delivered the keynote speech and emphasized the 
negative impact armed violence had on the African continent 
and how greater efforts must be made to control the flow of 
arms into Africa.  He noted that 95 percent of the arms in 
Africa were manufactured in foreign countries and said that 
"ineffective controls over unscrupulous arms brokers and 
irresponsible decisions geared more toward national 
interests rather than international or regional security 
result in weapons being sent directly to or being diverted 
to unauthorized end-users." 
 
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Time for an Arms Trade Treaty 
----------------------------- 
 
¶4. Participants at the conference favored an international 
arms trade treaty and resolved to recommend to the UN 
General Assembly's First Committee that the matter be taken up as a 
 
matter of urgency in October.  There are a number of 
agreements in Africa that already attempt to stem the flow 
of illegal small arms, and conference participants agreed 
that those agreements contain many of the elements that 
could inform a global treaty. 
 
¶5. Daniel Prins, the Chief of the Conventional Weapons 
Branch at the UN Office of Disarmament Affairs, added his 
support for an arms trade treaty.  He told the media that a 
treaty is needed because many countries that are importing 
and exporting weapons have no framework of rules under 
which they operate, and that there are now over 100 
countries that produce arms.  There are an estimated 650 
million guns in circulation around the world, and another 
eight million are added each year, Prins said.  He also 
noted that that two years ago, 153 states voted in favor of 
an arms trade treaty, 24 states abstained, and the U.S. 
voted against the treaty, citing already existing strict 
national rules for arms exports by major arms trading 
countries. 
 
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Suggested Treaty Provisions 
--------------------------- 
 
¶6. In their final statement, participants agreed that an 
arms trade treaty should: 
 
-- prevent arms transfers where there is a clear likelihood 
that they may be used to commit serious violations of 
 
NAIROBI 00002247  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
international human rights law or international 
humanitarian law, or to undermine peace, security and 
socio-economic development; 
 
-- take fully into account the recipient's record of 
compliance with its commitments in the areas of non- 
proliferation, arms and munitions control and disarmament; 
 
-- take into account the recipient's capacity to ensure the 
integrity and security of the arms received; 
 
-- draw from existing instruments, including those in 
Africa that aim to regulate arms transfers; 
 
-- include as a criterion for arms transfers the risk of 
diversion to unauthorised persons including non-state 
actors or possible use for harmful purposes.  In this 
regard, end-users and/or end-use assurances should play an 
important role; 
 
-- include sanctions for continued end-user violations; 
 
-- have a broad scope, encompassing all conventional 
weapons, including small arms and light weapons and their 
ammunition, components of weapons, dual-use equipment and 
equipment with a military end-use, and arms production 
equipment and technology. The scope should further include 
landmines and other conventional weapons already covered by 
international weapon-specific agreements, and technical 
support and operational training for the use of the above 
items; and 
 
-- encompass all transfers of weapons including imports, 
exports, re-exports, transit and transhipment, brokering 
and related activities, licenses or agreements for foreign 
arms production, gifts, loans and leasing, Government to 
Government transfers, and those between their agents and 
the Qtransfer of titleQ of any items. 
 
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Treaty Monitoring 
----------------- 
 
¶7. Participants also agreed that in order to ensure 
effective monitoring and verification of arms transfers, an 
international arms trade treaty should require: 
 
-- regular annual reporting on transfers by states to a UN 
registry; 
 
-- transparency through inter alia regular reporting of 
states to the UN register; 
 
-- transparency at the national level; 
 
-- greater focus on the exchange of information by law- 
enforcement agencies; and 
 
-- dedicated institutional capacity at the national level 
to ensure the fulfilment of substantive reporting and 
information exchange provisions under an arms trade treaty; 
and 
 
¶8. Finally, participants agreed that the treaty should make 
provisions for international cooperation and assistance to 
ensure developing states acquire the capacity to implement 
the treaty provisions at the national level.  This, they 
said, could include both financial and technical assistance 
for such states in the establishment, implementation and 
enforcement of national control systems. 
RANNEBERGER