Briefing: The risks and rewards of easing Somalia's arms embargo
NAIROBI, 21 March 2013 (IRIN) - The UN Security Council earlier this month
relaxed a long-standing arms embargo on Somalia, allowing the government to
purchase light weapons for 12 months.
"On the arms embargo, originally imposed in 1992, the Council decided that
it would not apply to arms or equipment sold or supplied solely for the
development of the government's security forces, but it kept its
restrictions in place on heavy weapons, such as surface-to-air missiles,"
<
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2013/sc10931.doc.htm> UN Security Council
Resolution 2093, adopted on 6 March, said.
The government - or member states delivering weapons - are required to
notify the Council's sanctions committee of any such deliveries.
Below, IRIN has put together a briefing on the implications of easing the
embargo.
Why ease the embargo?
For more than two decades after the fall of Siyad Barre in 1991, Somalia
experienced widespread gun violence in the form of clan conflict and, more
recently, conflict involving the African Union Mission in Somalia
(AMISOM)-supported government and Islamist insurgent group Al-Shabab.
According to the UN Monitoring Group for Somalia and Eritrea, between May
2004 and July 2011, some 445 instances of arms transfers or seizures,
involving almost 50,000
<
http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/A-Yearbook/2012/eng/Small-Arm
s-Survey-2012-Chapter-10-EN.pdf> small arms and light weapons, took place in
Somalia. Also in violation of the embargo, arms continued to flow into
Somalia by land, air and sea from countries like Eritrea, Ethiopia and
Yemen.
But following more than a year of relative stability in Mogadishu and many
other parts of south-central Somalia, some analysts expressed a desire to
see the UN relax the embargo. In February, the
<
http://www.heritageinstitute.org/images/us_recognition_of_somalia_hips_brie
fing.pdf> Heritage Institute for Policy Studies (HIPS), a Mogadishu-based
think tank, urged the US to "lobby for a gradual end to the arms embargo on
Somalia. so that the Federal Government can take a qualitative monopoly on
the instruments of legitimate violence".
Easing the arms embargo would, according to HIPS director Abdi Aynte,
"gradually give the Somali National Army [SNA] the qualitative edge over
their principal adversaries, such as Al-Shabab".
"At the moment, the SNA is battling Al-Shabab using the same [old] AK47s.
They'd have to change, especially if we want the SNA to ultimately defeat
Al-Shabab," he told IRIN. "It would allow the Somali government to gradually
monopolize the use of legitimate force. Currently, all actors are armed to
the teeth, and that won't change for some time, but it could be reversed
over time."
In a statement, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud welcomed the decision to
lift the embargo as a reflection of "a new and steadily improving political
situation in Somalia".
"Thousands of Somali National Army recruits, trained by our international
partners, have returned to Somalia but have been unable to perform their
security duties effectively alongside AMISOM troops because the government
was unable to access the equipment they needed," he added. "Lifting the arms
embargo was the missing element, and now the gap has been filled."
"At the moment, the Somali National Army is battling Al-Shabab using the
same [old] AK47s. They'd have to change, especially if we want the SNA to
ultimately defeat Al-Shabab"
Abdullahi Boru Halakhe, a Horn of Africa analyst, said the resolution made
necessary compromises between the need for legitimate weapons and the fear
of illegal ones. "The way the resolution was crafted struck a balance
between the concerns of those who feel the country is still [too] awash with
weapons for the embargo to be lifted, and those who consider the government
needs to be able to purchase weapons to provide security for its people," he
said.
What are the risks?
Halakhe warned, however, that "even the best laid plans can go awry".
"The immediate danger is if the weapons find their way in the hands of
groups like Al-Shabab through corrupt government officials/security
officers," which could lead to "an incredibly difficult situation, where
these weapons could fuel further conflict".
Two days before the embargo was lifted, rights group
<
http://www.amnesty.org/en/for-media/press-releases/somalia-un-arms-embargo-
must-stay-place-2013-03-04> Amnesty International called on the UN Security
Council to keep the embargo in place, and even strengthen it, citing the
possibility of groups like Al-Shabab becoming better armed.
"For several years, the arms embargo on Somalia has been continuously
violated, with arms supplied to armed groups on all sides of the conflict.
The flow of arms to Somalia has fuelled serious human rights abuses," Gemma
Davies, Amnesty International's Somalia researcher, said in a statement that
stressed the risks of "removing existing mechanisms of transparency and
accountability".
"Without adequate safeguards, arms transfers may expose Somali civilians to
even greater risk and worsen the humanitarian situation," she added.
Countries within the region are wary of the easing of the embargo, fearing
that it could, if managed poorly, allow illegal weapons to flow out of
Somalia and into the region, where they could be used to create instability.
"As a sovereign state, Somalia is entitled to strengthen its security and
defence. The present situation in Somalia, however, is still fragile. The
institutions that control and manage small arms are not yet stable, with the
AU still the factor holding the peace and return to stability. Already,
there are so many illegal guns within Somalia and these are yet to be
properly accounted for, managed and effectively controlled," said Joe Burua,
of Uganda's National Focal Point on Small Arms.
"Letting more arms into Somalia will only give credence to the illegal ones
[as] trade commodities, basically supporting illegal trade in firearms as
security tightens."
He noted that while experts believe few guns have so far left Somalia for
other countries in the region, "the fear is, like the Cold War era of the
West and Eastern bloc countries, when the war is concluded, unscrupulous
characters will seize the opportunity to engage in illegal trade in
firearms".
What safeguards are needed?
According to Burua, if the lifting of the embargo is to work, Somalia's
government will need to, among other things: strengthen internal measures
for the safe storage of firearms; sensitize armed communities about the
dangers of possessing illegal firearms; conduct a robust demobilization and
disarmament programme; enact an amnesty for armed communities that
voluntarily surrender their firearms; strengthen the capacity of the law
enforcement agencies to manage firearms; strengthen laws and regulations on
firearms; and partner with neighbouring states to strengthen border points
and curtail illegal cross-border transfers.
"At this current juncture during the problematic early stages of the Somali
Federal Government, the initial issue before armament should be country-wide
disarmament," Kainan Abdullahi Mohamed said in a recent opinion piece for
the Somali new service,
<
http://www.garoweonline.com/artman2/publish/Opinion_20/Disarmament_compulso
ry_for_a_gun_country_at_a_crossroads.shtml> Garoowe Online. "Firstly and
foremost in the capital, where guns are found as easily as any other product
such as soap and groceries."
He further argued that there would be a need to harmonize and reform the
army if the easing of the embargo was to work.
Al Jazeera correspondent Peter Greste notes in a 21 March
<
http://blogs.aljazeera.com/blog/africa/somalia-where-un-arms-embargo-failed
> blog that beyond guns, there is a need for ongoing negotiations on an
<
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/18/us-arms-treaty-un-idUSBRE92H0TR20
130318> Arms Trade Treaty to impose strict controls on not just weapons, but
ammunition as well.
"As it stands, the treaty places trade in weapons themselves under
encouragingly tight controls," he said. "But the treaty shunts ammunition
and spare parts to an annex with far loser restrictions. If those
restrictions continue to allow a black market to flourish, the treaty fails,
especially in places like Somalia."
Amnesty International has also made the case for
<
http://livewire.amnesty.org/2013/03/20/biting-the-bullet-why-the-arms-trade
-treaty-must-regulate-ammunition> stronger controls on ammunition.
Somalia has attempted disarmament several times in the past. The Islamic
Courts Union's disarmament efforts in 2006 were met with stiff resistance by
warlords. In 2007, the prime minister of the Transitional Federal Government
extended an amnesty to Islamists and established collection points for arms
around Mogadishu. This, too, was met with resistance.
There is also the issue of how much of a role AMISOM should play in
supporting the purchase or monitoring of weapons. HIPS's Aynte says that
while AMISOM should not, in the long term, be an intermediary in the
procurement of weapons, the Somali government needs to first put in place
"verifiable mechanisms for purchasing, accounting and accountability before
going on an arms shopping spree".
"There are groups and communities in Somalia and abroad that are
legitimately concerned about the capacity of the SNA to buy arms. The
government must allay these fears by reforming the SNF and making it more
competent, credible, inclusive and, above all, accountable to a strong and
transparent judicial system," he added.
President Mohamud's statement made it clear that the Somali army would
continue to work with AMISOM to execute its duties. The SNA and the
country's police force are undergoing a process of reform with the support
of AMISOM, the UN and neighbouring countries like Uganda.
Halakhe, the analyst, said, "I hope besides providing security, the AU
forces will able to monitor that these weapons do not find their way into
the hands of Al-Shabab and other similar destabilizing forces. We need to
move slowly."
kr/rz
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Received on Thu Mar 21 2013 - 18:11:28 EDT
