AN ARMS embargo was imposed on the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2003, but has been systematically ignored during a war that has claimed the lives of nearly four million people.
A survey by the Control Arms Campaign found ammunition from Russia, China, the United States and Greece in one district alone. "Around half the assault rifles we find in the Congo are Chinese," said Brian Wood, Amnesty International's spokesman on arms control. "But there's Balkan stuff coming from Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria. This weaponry has a long shelf-life."
The typical pattern for arms smuggling involves exporting weapons legitimately to a third country and illegally sending them to the country subject to an arms embargo. Using sub-contractors and small air charter firms, embargo violators can create a complicated paper trail to disguise their tracks. Arms embargoes are seen as being of limited use. "They are a blunt instrument. By the time the Security Council decides on an embargo the catastrophe has already happened," said Mr Wood.
In recent years, the UN has toughened its stance against those suspected of breaking arms embargoes, freezing assets and placing travel restrictions on named individuals. Among the most high- profile of those is Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir, who is accused of violating the arms embargo that prohibits the supply of arms to non-state forces such as the Janjaweed militia in Darfur. |