OEA/Ser.P
AG/RES. 1797 (XXXI-O/01)
5 June 2001
Original: English
PROLIFERATION OF AND ILLICIT TRAFFICKING
IN SMALL ARMS AND LIGHT WEAPONS
(Resolution adopted at the third plenary session, held on
June 5, 2001;
subject to review by the Style Committee)
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,
HAVING seen the annual report of the Permanent Council
(AG/doc.3970/01) on the matters assigned to the Committee on
Hemispheric Security, and in particular the topic proliferation
of and illicit trafficking in small arms and light weapons;
RECALLING the Inter-American Convention against the Illicit
Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition,
Explosives, and other Related Materials;
EMPHASIZING the importance of the member states ratifying or
acceding to this Convention as soon as possible;
TAKING NOTE of its resolution AG/RES. 1744 (XXX-O/00), in
particular operative paragraph 5, of its resolution AG/RES. 1642
(XXIX-O/99), in particular operative paragraph 4.a, and of the
Special Meeting of the Committee on Hemispheric Security held in
January 2001 on this issue;
TAKING NOTE ALSO of the Brasilia Declaration of the Regional
Preparatory Meeting of the Latin American and Caribbean States
for the 2001 United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in
Small Arms and Light Weapons in all its Aspects;
WELCOMING the United Nations General Assembly decision to
convene the United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in
Small Arms and Light Weapons in July 2001;
RECOGNIZING the valuable work of the United Nations and its
groups of governmental experts on small arms;
REAFFIRMING member states' commitment to respect the United
Nations Security Council arms embargoes through the adoption, as
may be necessary, of appropriate national norms;
WELCOMING ALSO the announcement by the Government of the
United States to offer bilateral technical and financial
assistance available for destruction of surplus weapons, as well
as illegal weapons seized as a result of interdicting illicit
trafficking;
CONVINCED of the need to continue and to intensify
multilateral cooperation as an important contribution to
addressing the problems associated with the proliferation of and
the illicit trafficking in small arms and light weapons;
TAKING NOTE with renewed interest of the work in progress for
the elaboration of a protocol to combat illicit manufacturing of
and trafficking in firearms, their parts and components, and
ammunition, in the framework of the United Nations Convention
against Transnational Organized Crime;
ACKNOWLEDGING the importance of the Inter-American Drug Abuse
Control Commission's (CICAD) Model Regulations for the Control
of the International Movement of Firearms, their Parts and
Components, and Ammunition adopted at its twenty-eighth regular
session, resolution AG/RES. 1543 (XXVIII-O/98), and expressing
its satisfaction with the work on those Model Regulations and
CICAD's related training programs; and
TAKING NOTE of the Report of the Group of Government Experts
responsible for conducting a study on the feasibility of
restricting the manufacture and trading of small arms and light
weapons to manufacturers and brokers authorized by the states,
and for including in that study arms deals, especially illicit
brokerage, related to small arms and light weapons, including
the activities of carriers, as well as financial transactions,
RESOLVES:
1. To encourage member states to apply, as appropriate, the
Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission's (CICAD) Model
Regulations in the development of national legislation and
regulations.
2. To instruct the Permanent Council to continue discussing,
through the Committee on Hemispheric Security, with the
assistance of CICAD, the advisability of undertaking a study
concerning small arms and light weapons brokering and transit.
3. To continue to encourage member states to adopt such
measures concerning arms brokering and transit as may be
necessary to combat the illicit trafficking in small arms and
light weapons.
4. To request that CICAD continue its training programs in
order to contribute to the capabilities of member states to
implement the Inter-American Convention against the Illicit
Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition,
Explosives, and other Related Materials.
5. To request that CICAD continue providing technical
assistance to member states on those matters within its purview,
in order to facilitate compliance with the above-mentioned
Inter-American Convention and the application of the CICAD Model
Regulations, as appropriate.
6. To request the Permanent Council to hold, through the OAS
Committee on Hemispheric Security, a seminar on stockpile
management, destruction, and identification of small arms and
light weapons.
7. To encourage those states in a position to do so to
destroy small arms and light weapons which they have seized as a
result of interdicting illicit trafficking and destroy small
arms and light weapons which they hold under their control in
excess of their legitimate needs, and take all necessary
measures to secure the stockpiles and weapons under their
control and necessary to their defense.
8. To instruct the Permanent Council to carry out the
activities mentioned in this resolution within funds allocated
in the program-budget and other resources.
9. To request that the Secretary General transmit this
resolution to the United Nations Secretary-General.
10. To request that the Permanent Council report on the
implementation of this resolution to the General Assembly at its
thirty-second regular session.
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