South Africa™s vaunted arms control legislation is not preventing local companies from selling weapons to countries with appalling human rights records, and to governments involved in some of the world™s nastier conflicts.

The latest report of the national conventional arms control committee, which must approve all South African arms exports, shows that exports increased by 20% to R3,1-billion in 2003. They were helped by sales to countries with poor human rights records including Swaziland, Ce(180)´te d’Ivoire, the Philippines, Colombia, Guinea, Algeria, Nepal, China and Pakistan.

The National Conventional Arms Control Act of 2002 requires the government to consider the human rights and security situation in recipient countries before approving weapons sales. The report, which the Mail & Guardian struggled to obtain despite it being a public document, shows that:

Swaziland bought about R3-million-worth of œcommunication equipment and public order vehicles. The sale of riot control vehicles was approved despite the fact that the Swazi government has been widely accused of violently suppressing dissent.

Colombia ” wracked by a brutal civil war between government forces, leftist guerrillas, drug traffickers and right-wing paramilitaries ” bought R171,1-million-worth of œsensitive major significant equipment. This would include tanks and artillery that can cause œsevere casualties and/or major damage and destruction.

Also sold to Colombia was about R78,9-million of œsensitive significant equipment ” small arms and ammunition ” and R6,5-million of non-lethal equipment in the category that includes riot control products and demining gear. Services and other non-lethal equipment make up the balance of the R266,5-million total.

Amnesty International and other human rights groups have persistently complained that the Colombian army collaborates with paramilitary groups guilty of murder, torture and intimidation of civilians.

Algeria, with a recent history of internal conflict and repression, bought R230,5-million-worth of heavy weapons and R171-million-worth of sensitive support equipment, such as missile guidance systems and gunsights, from South Africa. In 2002 Amnesty said œthe human rights situation [in Algeria] remains fundamentally unchanged. The government continued to use internal repression to prevent state personnel from being brought to justice for abuses.

Nepal, where a crackdown on the pro-democracy movement has seen serial human rights violations, acquired R19-million of military communications equipment in 2003. Amnesty recently warned of a looming œhuman rights disaster in the Himalayan kingdom. It says œgrave human rights abuses have been going on œfor years, with both rebels and government forces to blame.

The Republic of Guinea, a near-dictatorship under General Lansana Conte, bought R12,5-million-worth of heavy weapons in 2003. NGOs and the United States say Guinea has imposed numerous restrictions on basic rights, and is trafficking weapons to warring groups in West African conflicts outside its own borders.

India and Pakistan have been at war over Kashmir, and in 2003 began making fresh moves towards peace. That did not stop South African firms from selling India R550-million-worth of defence equipment, including R445,8-million of heavy weaponry, and Pakistan R8-million-worth of heavy weaponry that year.

China, still under an arms embargo by the European Union and the US, apparently did not object to Taiwan™s purchase of R26,8-million in major weapons and small arms. The People™s Republic picked up R17-million-worth of equipment in a category that includes missile guidance technology and gun-sights, and about R12-million-worth of military services.

Minister of Provincial and Local Government Sydney Mufamadi, who now heads the committee, could not be reached for comment.

In a presentation to the parliamentary defence committee last week, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said œall national laws and policies, and international norms on small arms and light weapons transfers, should include requirements to assess the recipients™ likely respect for international humanitarian law, and not transfer weapons if they are likely to be used to violate humanitarian law.

The ICRC recommended that South Africa further improve its arms control laws by explicitly requiring an assessment of the recipients™ respect for humanitarian law in its arms transfer decision-making procedures.

Amnesty is also understood to have submitted a lengthy memo to committee chairperson Kader Asmal raising concerns about arms sales to Colombia and other countries, as well arms trafficking by companies based in South Africa. The organisation also suggested that more explicit human rights guidelines should be promulgated to guide export approval decisions.

But even existing laws are not fully implemented. The NCACC Act requires the defence minister to appoint an NCACC inspectorate to monitor the implementation of the Act and report to the committee.

Two years after the promulgation of the Act, the inspectorate has still not been established, prompting Auditor General Shauket Fakie to remark on the lapse in last year™s annual report of the Department of Defence.

In addition, the NCACC™s 2003 report was tabled late, and the 2004 report, due by the end of March, has yet to be tabled.

Source: Daily Mail & Guardian
URL: http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articlei…/p>