Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Rome (Fides Service)- One of Africa’s forgotten ills is widespread illegal possession of small arms and light weapons which feed violence, conflict, guerrilla warfare and banditry, the latter being ever more present in many countries on this continent.
The Great Lakes is one of the Regions most affected by the phenomenon. It was the scene of tragedies such as the Rwandan genocide in 1994, civil war in Burundi 1993-2003, and even today some parts of the country are unsafe, two civil wars in Democratic Congo (formerly Zaire) one in 1996-97 and another one in 1998-2003 which never really ended and indeed shows concerning signs that hostilities may resume on a vast scale. The tribute of bloodshed paid by the people of the region was extremely high: at least 5 million people killed in less than 15 years.
To discuss the problem of proliferation of small arms and light weapons in the Great Lakes Region members of parliament from Burundi, Rwanda and Democratic Congo will meet 9 to 11 November in Kinshasa capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The meeting is organised by the governments of the three countries and is funded by the United Nations Development Programme UNDP and Belgium. The MPs will discuss the harmonisation of laws to regulate arms possession in the respective countries to create a common system of control over the circulation of illegal arms in the region.
Besides the members of parliament, experts sent by the United Nations and some western countries will also be present at the meeting. According to Congolese Catholic news agency DIA, the meeting is an important development because until only recently tension between these three countries was high. Whereas now representatives of the respective national parliaments will sit around a table to solve the serious and shared problem of illegal possession of small arms and light weapons.
Numerous armed groups operate in the region and many parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi civilians still live in insecurity, prey to violence.
International humanitarian organisations recently denounced a constant flow of light arms to the Great Lakes region from various parts of the world eastern Europe in particular. The problem therefore is not only Africa’s, it is the responsibility of the whole international community.
Humanitarian organisations estimate that in Democratic Congo alone there are at least 500,000 small arms and light weapons in circulation and in all Africa the figure is estimated to be 30 million. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 4/11/2005 righe 40 parole 472)
