Walking Together or Divided Agenda?

1 Liz Clegg, `NGOs Take Aim', Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, vol. 55, no. 1, January/February 1999, pp. 49-51, on p. 51.

2 Maxwell A. Cameron, Robert J. Lawson & Brian W. Tomlin, `To Walk Without Fear', in Cameron, Lawson & Tomlin, eds, To Walk Without Fear: The Global Movement to Ban Landmines (Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1998), pp. 1-17, on p. 14; Jody Williams & Steve Goose, `The International Campaign to Ban Landmines', in Cameron, Lawson & Tomlin, eds, pp. 20-47, on p. 47.

3 Jody Williams, `Brief Assessment and Chronology of the Movement to Ban Landmines', Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, undated documents, p. 1.

4 The full title of Protocol II is the Protocol on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Mines, Booby Traps and Other Devices. The two other protocols were Non-Detectable Fragments (Protocol I) and Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Incendiary Weapons (Protocol III). The CCW Review held in Vienna in September 1996 adopted Protocol IV, which called for restrictions on the use of laser weapons. The provisions of the Weapons Convention regulate these four protocols. See UN General Assembly document A/C.1/48/L.42.

5 The United Nations Disarmament Yearbook, Volume 22: 1997 (New York: United Nations Department for Disarmament Affairs, 1998), pp. 105-106.

6 Statement by Steve Goose, Human Rights Watch, to the Regional Conference on Landmines, Budapest, Hungary, 27 March 1998. Report of the Regional Conference on Landmines, International Campaign to Ban Landmines, Budapest, 26-28 March 1998, p. 52.

7 Ibid., p. 52.

8 Statement by UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali to the Review Conference of States Parties to the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious Or to Have Indiscriminate Effects, Vienna, September 1995.

9 Statement by UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, to the Signing Ceremony of the Anti-Personnel Mines Convention, Ottawa, 3 December 1997.

10 Statement by UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, to the opening of the UN General Assembly, New York, 22 September 1998.

11 Quoted in ICBL Summary of Vienna Meeting, 12-14 February 1997, in An Explosion Every Twenty Minutes - Conference Report: Brussels International Conference for a Total Ban on Anti-Personnel Landmines, 24-27 June 1997, p. 5.

12 Statement of the ICBL, Statement to the Expert Meeting on the Text of a Convention to Ban Antipersonnel Landmines, Vienna, Austria, 12 February 1997, in An Explosion Every Twenty Minutes - Conference Report: Brussels International Conference for a Total Ban on Anti-Personnel Landmines, 24-27 June 1997, p. 8.

13 John English, `The Ottawa Process: Paths Followed, Paths Ahead', Australian Journal of International Affairs, vol. 52, no. 2, 1998, pp. 121-132, on p. 123.

14 Ibid., p. 123.

15 Lora Lumpe & Jeff Donarski, The Arms Trade Revealed: A Guide for Investigators and Activists (Washington, DC: Federation of American Scientists, 1998), p. 86.

16 Ibid., p. 86.

17 Statement of Jody Williams, VVAF, Chair of the ICBL, at the Plenary Session of the international conference `The Socio-Economic Impact of Landmines: Towards an International Ban', Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 2 June 1995.

18 Ibid.

19 Statement of Susan Walker, ICBL Co-Coordinator, at the `Ceremony to Mark Entry into Force of the Mine Ban Convention', held at the United Nations, Geneva, 1 March 1999.

20 The United Nations Disarmament Yearbook (note 5 above), p. 106.

21 OAU Delegate List, `Towards a Landmine-Free Africa: First Continental Conference of African Experts on Landmines', Kempton Park, South Africa, 19-21 May 1997.

22 Final Declaration for the Brussels Conference on anti-personnel landmines.

23 Williams & Goose (note 2 above), p. 43.

24 Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) web-site at http://www.imsma.ethz.ch/.

25 Statement of Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Lloyd Axworthy at the Oslo NGO Forum, Oslo, Norway, 7 September 1997, in the ICBL Report: NGO Forum on Landmines, Oslo, 7-10 September 1997, p. 67.

26 Statement by Jody Williams, Coordinator, International Campaign to Ban Landmines, at the Brussels Conference on Anti-Personnel Mines, 24 June 1997.

27 See Sarah Meek, `Combating Arms Trafficking: Progress and Prospects', in Lora Lumpe, ed., Running Guns: The Global Black Market in Small Arms (London: Zed, 2000), pp. 183-206.

28 The full official name for this conference, which will take place from 9 to 20 July 2001, is the UN Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects. In this article, we refer to this throughout as the UN Conference on Small Arms.

29 This view was confirmed in a couple of interviews with NGO representatives in Geneva and New York in January 2001.

30 We recognize that the UN activities started earlier and have their roots in the supple-ment to Agenda for Peace, in which Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali identified the problem of small arms and coined the phrase micro-disarmament; see Stefan Brem & Antonino Geraci, `Third-Party Intervention in War-Torn Societies: How Effective Are Micro-Disarmament Programs?', paper presented at the International Studies Association Convention, Los Angeles, 14-18 March 2000, p. 1. On CASA, see the report by the Department of Disarmament Affairs at http://www.un.org/Depts/dda/CAB/casa.htm.

31 UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/50/70, adopted 12 December 1995, pp. 2-3.

32 See David Biggs, `United Nations Contribution to the Process', Disarmament Forum II/2000, p. 32.

33 Chris Smith, `The 2001 Conference: Breaking out of the Arms Control Framework', Disarmament Forum II/2000, p. 41. The convention was opened for signature at a conference in mid-December 2000, but the negotiations on the firearms protocol became bogged down in October 2000. Solutions to the remaining disagreements could be found during the last session from 26 February to 2 March 2001. Consensus principles watered down the protocol, especially with regard to its scope and marking mechanisms. Interviews with Swiss government officials, Bern, 10 January and 22 March, 2001

34 Report of the Panel of Governmental Experts on Small Arms, A/52/298, 27 August 1997, p. 23.

35 Report of the Group of Governmental Experts on Small Arms, A/54/258, 19 August 1999, pp. 18-19, 20. In the same year, another group of experts prepared a report on the ammunition issue for the Secretary-General: Report of the Group of Experts on the Problem of Ammunition and Explosives, A/54/155, 29 June 1999.

36 In November 2000, the Swiss government abandoned plans to organize the conference in Geneva due to `financial and technical considerations', even though Switzerland has received wide support from several NGOs to hold it in Geneva. Interviews with a Swiss government official, Bern, 10 January 2001, and with NGO representatives in Geneva, 18 January 2001.

37 Draft Programme of Action. Working paper by the Chairman of the Preparatory Committee, A/Conf.192/PC/L.4, 8-9 January 2001.

38 Interviews with a Swiss representative at the Permanent Observer Mission of Switzerland to the United Nations, New York, 26 January 2001, and NGO representatives in New York, 25-26 January 2001.

39 The proposed convention can be found in Appendix 1 in Edward J. Laurance, `Dealing with the Effects of Small Arms and Light Weapons: A Progress Report and the Way Forward', paper presented to the Conference on Controlling the Global Trade in Light Weapons, Washington, DC, December 1997.

40 Keith Krause provides an excellent overview on the formation of the IANSA in Norm-Building in Security Spaces: The Emergence of the Light Weapons Problematic, Research Group in International Security Occasional Paper, Montreal, October 2000, especially pp. 13-18.

41 Clegg (note 1 above), p. 51.

42 This Internet project was initiated by Ed Laurance at the Monterey Institute of International Studies as the Preparatory Committee for an International Campaign on Light Weapons and was located at http://www.prepcom.org. The site is now available at http://www.iansa.org.

43 A report on the launch of the IANSA can be found at http://www.iansa.org/mission/newspub/launch/hap.htm.

44 Smith (note 33 above), p. 41.

45 Information on the Biting the Bullet project is available at http://www.international-alert.org/.

46 Working paper submitted by Canada on modalities for the participation of non-governmental organizations and civil-society representatives, A/CONF.192/PC/15.

47 UN General Assembly, 1 November 2000, A/Res/55/33F.

48 To illustrate the government activity, we concentrate on the early initiatives and only make reference to newer developments where there has been a significant change of action.

49 UN General Assembly, 6 November 1997, A/C.1/52/L.8.

50 More information on the moratorium in West Africa can be found at http://www.nisat.org/west%20africa/african.htm.

51 Laurance (note 39 above).

52 `An International Agenda on Small Arms and Light Weapons: Elements of a Common Understanding', final communiqué of the Oslo Meeting on Small Arms, 13-14 July 1998; available at http://www.iansa.org/documents/regional/2000/jan_00/oslomeeting.htm.

53 `Elements of a Common Understanding', final communiqué of the Second Oslo Meeting on Small Arms, 6-7 December 1999; available at http://www.iansa.org/documents/regional/dec_99/oslo2.htm).

54 Notes for an address by the Honourable Lloyd Axworthy, Minister of Foreign Affairs, to the International NGO Consulations on Small Arms Action, Orillia, Ontario, 19 August 1998; available at http://sand.miis.edu/projects/2001database/fulltext/Canada(1)081998.pdf.

55 Speech by Jakob Kellenberger, State Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Switzerland. Presented at BASIC's Seminar, International Initiatives to Stop the Spread and Unlawful Use of Small Arms, New York, 25 September 1998; available at http://sand.miis.edu/projects/2001database/ fulltext/Canada(1)081998.pdf.

56 `Report on Workshop on Small Arms', Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. Geneva, 18-20 February 1999; `Chairman's Report on Workshop on Small Arms Monitoring and Control', Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Geneva, 22-23 November 1999.

57 Working paper by Switzerland and France on a tracing mechanism, 10 January 2001, A/Conf.192/PC/25.

58 UN General Assembly, 1 December 1999, A/RES/54/54R.

59 For the program, list of participants and database of the conference, see http://www.disarmconf.org/en/index.html.

60 Remark made by a Swiss Foreign Ministry official during an interview in Bern, 24 January 2001.

61 Williams & Goose (note 2 above), p. 47.

62 Alicia Barcena, `The Role of Civil Society in Twenty-First-Century Diplomacy', in James P. Muldoon, Jr., JoAnn Fagot Aviel, Richard Retiano & Earl Sullivan, eds, Multilateral Diplomacy and the United Nations Today (Boulder, CO: Westview, 1999), pp. 190-200, on p. 193.