HUMAN WRONGS WATCH

Human Wrongs Watch

The annual value of authorized international transfers of small arms, light weapons, their parts, accessories, and ammunition is at least USD 8.5 billion, according to the Small Arms Survey 2012: Moving Targets.

*Photo by Lance Cpl. Will Lathrop | Wikimedia Commons.

The new figure, the result of a four-year investigation completed this year, is more than double the previous estimate of around USD 4 billion, released in 2006, adds this independent research project located at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, Switzerland.

An expansion in the arms trade is partly responsible for the upward revision, its reports.

“Two important sources of growth are increased spending by US civilians on small arms and their ammunition, and large-scale government purchases of military firearms and light weapons for international and national armed forces involved in fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Better information and more nuanced research methodologies have also played a role in refining the estimate.”

Highly Concentrated

The Small Arms Survey 2012 finds that the authorized trade in small arms and light weapons is highly concentrated, with a handful of countries accounting for most of the documented transfers during the 2001–10 period.

The 2012 Survey again calculates the top importers and exporters using the most recent published customs data, but poor transparency in state reporting—among both large and small exporters—keeps a great deal of the authorized trade obscure.

State Transparency on Small Arms Transfers

“While state transparency on small arms transfers to and from Europe and North America has been relatively strong, it has lagged in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East,’ said Small Arms Survey Managing Director Eric Berman.”

“Improved transparency from important exporters, such as China and the Russian Federation, as well as states that re-export surplus weapons, would improve our understanding of the sources and means through which authorized arms transfers fuel the illicit trade.”

The 2012 Survey also reports the initial findings of a multi-year project to examine illicit small arms and light weapons, focusing on Afghanistan, Iraq, and Somalia.

“One conclusion is clear in all three cases: non-state armed groups are almost always using older-generation weapons, adds the project,  which serves as the principal international source of public information on all aspects of small arms and armed violence and as a resource for governments, policy-makers, researchers, and activists.”

“To a great extent, the legacy of state collapse and plundered stockpiles, rather than newer weapon models, appears to determine the arsenals of today’s insurgents. One exception is the significant percentage of Iranian weapons seized from insurgents in Iraq, which were ofrelatively recent manufacture.”

Other findings of this edition of the Survey include:

􀁳􀀀 After 15 years of rising homicide rates, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, and Venezuela all suffer from rates of more than 30 per 100,000—at least five times the global average. Together with Brazil, Colombia, Panama, and Puerto Rico, these countries also exhibit very high proportions of homicides committed with firearms(>70 per cent).

􀁳􀀀 Worldwide, at least two million people are living with firearm injuries sustained in non-conflict settings over the past decade. Their injuries generate considerable direct and indirect costs, such as those incurred through treatment, recovery, and lost productivity.

􀁳􀀀 In response to increased attacks by Somali pirates, international naval forces and private security companies have stepped up their activities in high-risk waters. As a result, the number of successful attacks dropped in 2011, but pirate groups are increasingly resorting to lethal violence and abusing their hostages during attacks and captivity.

􀁳􀀀 State transparency on small arms and light weapons transfers improved on average by more than 40 per cent between 2001 and 2010, but the average score for all states combined remains below half of all available points..

Summaries and selected chapters from the 2012 edition, published by Cambridge University Press, are available for download from www.smallarmssurvey.org

*Photo by Lance Cpl. Will Lathrop. Source. Pwermission: PD-USGov-Military-Marines | Wikimedia Commons.

Posted on 28/08/2012 at 12:13 in Africa, Asia, Latin America & Caribbean, Market Lords, Middle East, Others-USA-Europe-etc., The Peoples, War Lords   |  RSS feed |   Reply   |   Trackback URL