AG/RES. 1888 (XXXII-O/02): Proliferation of and Illicit Trafficking in Small Arms and Light Weapons

(Adopted at the fourth plenary session, held on June 4, 2002)

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

RECALLING the Inter-American Convention against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, and other Related Materials (CIFTA);

EMPHASIZING the importance of the ratification of or accession to this Convention by the member states as soon as possible;

TAKING NOTE of resolutions AG/RES. 1642 (XXIX-O/99), AG/RES. 1744 (XXX-O/00), AG/RES. 1796 (XXXI-O/01), and AG/RES. 1797 (XXXI-O/01) and the April 26, 2002, Special Meeting of the Permanent Council Committee on Hemispheric Security on this issue;

WELCOMING the results of the United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects, held in July 2001;

REAFFIRMING member states’ commitment to respect the United Nations Security Council arms embargoes through the adoption, as may be necessary, of appropriate national norms;

ENCOURAGED by the technical and financial assistance available for destruction of surplus weapons and 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;

ALSO WELCOMING the completion of an international protocol to combat the illicit manufacturing of and trafficking in firearms, their parts and components and ammunition, in the framework of the United Nations Convention on Transnational Organized Crime; and

ACKNOWLEDGING the importance of the work and training programs of the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) to develop the capacity of member states to address the proliferation of and illicit trafficking in small arms and light weapons,

RESOLVES:

1. To encourage member states, as a complementary action to the ratification and implementation of the Inter-American Convention against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, and Other Related Materials (CIFTA), to implement the United Nations Program of Action on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects (United Nations Program of Action).

2. To request the Permanent Council to hold, at the level of the Committee on Hemispheric Security, an annual meeting on small arms and light weapons, to review the status of implementation of national, regional, and global elements of the United Nations Program of Action.

3. To encourage member states to report to the United Nations on their implementation of national, regional, and global elements of the United Nations Program of Action.

4. To call on member states to provide to the General Secretariat, by July 15 of each year, a report on the implementation of national, regional and global elements of the United Nations Program of Action.

5. To request the Secretary General, in accordance with the United Nations Program of Action, to designate a point of contact to act as liaison on matters relating to the implementation of the said Program of Action.

6. To request the Permanent Council to examine ways of arriving at a common understanding among member states on dealing with the issue of small arms brokering within the Hemisphere and, to this end, to consider undertaking a study on the issue, if possible with the assistance of the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD).

7. 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.

8. To request CICAD to continue its training programs in order to contribute to the capabilities of member states to implement CIFTA and the United Nations Program of Action, in coordination with the Consultative Committee of CIFTA and the United Nations Regional Center for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UN-LiREC).

9. To request CICAD to continue to provide assistance to member states on those matters within its purview, in order to facilitate compliance with the above-mentioned Inter-American Convention and the United Nations Program of Action.

10. To request the Permanent Council to make arrangements for a seminar on identification, collection, stockpile management, and destruction of small arms and light weapons.

11. 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, to destroy small arms and light weapons which they hold under their control in excess of their legitimate needs, and to take all necessary measures to secure the stockpiles and weapons under their control and necessary to their defense.

12. To encourage member states that have not done so to consider signing or ratifying the United Nations Protocol Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Their Parts and Components and Ammunition.

13. To instruct the Permanent Council to carry out the activities mentioned in this resolution within the resources allocated in the program-budget and other resources.

14. To request the Secretary General to transmit this resolution to the United Nations Secretary-General.

15. To request the Permanent Council to report on the implementation of this resolution to the General Assembly at its thirty-third regular session.