Disarmament and International Security
Topic: B
Illegal Arms Trade
DISEC Topic B
DISEC
Illegal Arms Trade
Guatemala
Avon Lake High School
Top Five Arms Exporters worldwide are the United States ($18.55 billion), Russia ($4.6 billion)
France ($4.4 billion), and the United Kingdom ($1.9 billion). Illegal Arms Trade is a huge concern that
spreads throughout the world. About 300,000 to 500,000 people around the world are killed by small
arms each year. The use of trading these weapons illegally, has caused many of these deaths. The
government spends more money on military issues and the trading of these weapons than on health
and social issues combined. About 45 to 60 million dollars are spent on the trading of arms each year.
These weapons are usually sold to new developing countries and will be used to violate the human
rights. The sales of these arms are often corrupted because of the large amount money that is being
involved.
Along with the cons, there are many pros argued that are related to this topic. Most arms
contractors say that by selling these weapons, it can help with jobs at home. By the trading and
distributing of these arms, it makes the competition higher that results in the creation of new and
improved weapons. Another point proven is that there are many economic incentives. The Federation of
American Scientists stated that it could be spent productively in more useful and productive industries:
"When assessing the employment 'benefits' of arms exportation we must take into consideration the $7
billion plus in subsidies that underwrite the arms trade. The same investment in any other industry
would create as much -if not more- employment. By moving productions jobs overseas, offsets also
undercut the jobs argument."
In 2007, the country of Guatemala had the highest number of weapons per head of population out
of Central America. In 2012, Plaza Publica reported that there are over 1 million weapons in Guatemala
DISEC Topic B
and 800,000 of them are not registered. Most of these weapons come from illicit arms trade in the black
market. The majority of these illegal weapons are from Honduras, which has less strict gun laws than
other regions. Many of these weapons that are in Guatemala are then imported to Mexico where they
are used there for many purposes or they are then imported to other areas.
Unlike weapons of mass destruction, smaller guns and weapons are harder to track and take care of.
They can be used for many recreational purposes such as hunting or sporting. In 2001, the UN initiated a
POA on the illicit trade in small arms, but with no standards set towards this goal, the program failed to
manage a decrease in the trade. Although it may be difficult, the acts of preventing these weapons from
entering borders can result in less deaths and the tracking of the weapons. The government can reduce
the supply in many ways. They can act on stronger border controls to prevent the weapons from
entering. They can destroy the stockpiles and break up the many trafficking rings. By detecting and
revealing the starters of these chains, the supply of the arms can be drastically reduced.
Works Cited
Global Issues. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2014.
<http://www.globalissues.org/article/77/military-propaganda-for-arms-sales>.
Gun Policy. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2014.
<http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/region/guatemala>.
In Sight Crime. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2014. <http://www.insightcrime.org/newsbriefs/guatemala-atf-trace-illegal-weapons>.
United Nations Developing Programme. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2014.
<http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/presscenter/articles/2012/09/07/preventingillegal-flow-of-guns-is-key-to-reducing-poverty-/>.
DISEC Topic B
Committee: Disarmament and International Security (DISEC)
Topic: Illegal Arms Trade
Delegates: Milad Rowshanbakhtfardian, Hana Baran
Written By: Milad Rowshanbakhtfardian
With terrorism being a main concern in today’s society claiming over 17,800 lives a year
and rebel groups taking their tolls on civilian population, focus on disarming these bodies to
diminish their harmful acts is of utmost importance (State: 17,800-Plus People Killed Globally in
Terrorist Attacks in 2013) These radical groups all require some sort of arment of their people to
be able to induce harm and seek out countries whom have a stockpile of illicit weapons and nonsecure borders through which they can with relative ease smuggle the weaponry, which rebels
had imported. out. In order to halt or dismiss this issue the UN has taken several steps including
sanctions on notorious countries and “The Arms Trade Treaty” which will engage force on 24
December, 2014 and will regulate the international trade in conventional arms (The Arms Trade
Treaty). Although the UN has had some success with their decisions, their efforts have had little
effect on certain countries with a mass cache of illegitimate weapons; such as Libya.
With the fall of Libya’s past president Muammar Gaddafi, the rebel groups which at one
point led the push for our democracy are not going against the very government they created.
These groups continued operations even after our new government was established and
essentially took control of Libya’s borders and three ports. This control allows them to smuggle
unwarranted arms into the country without many roadblocks and distributing groups who take
destructive actions in 14 other countries and areas such as Syria and West Africa. As Libya, we
believe that the proper disarmament of these rebellion groups through the drainage of supplies
and “liberation” of the three ports that the rebels entirely control, tranquillity can be restored to
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the people of Libya and the countries which surround them. Libya also believes that, the
government being still in its infant stages, that the UN must provide financial support and
supplies to aid the operation. Along with the borders, the Libyan government must control our
ports as well, which will allow us to inspect and regulate our imports, which could be illicit
weapon smuggling, and defuse the issue. Libya believes that the countries who supply the arms
to Libyan officials should be held responsible (Libya is epicenter of illicit arms trade - UN).
Finally, we must neutralize armed militia forces which dominate our country in order to regain
control and proper and equal governing of our beloved country (Libya’s guns free-for-all fuels
region’s turmoil).
In order to control this issue within Libya, the UN has taken several steps to regulating
and inspecting the import and export of arms within our country. The UN unanimously voted
towards the “Resolution 1970” which took force on 26 February, 2011 established an arms
embargo which bans “arms and related material” from being exported by Libya (Resolution 1970
(2011)). In addition, Libya and 152 other countries voted for “Robust and Actionable” which
passed on 26 April, 2013 requires the countries to regulate and keep track of weaponry sold and
asses any misuse of that weaponry (Overwhelming Majority of States in General Assembly Say
‘Yes’ to Arms Trade Treaty to Stave off Irresponsible Transfers that Perpetuate Conflict, Human
Suffering). With the help of the UN and our government, we can achieve human rights and
tranquility for not only Libya, but other surrounding countries as well.
Works Cited
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"Armed to the Teeth: The Security Problem with Libya and Its Weapons Cache."
Foreign Policy Blogs Armed to the Teeth The Security Problem with Libya and Its
Weapons Cache Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2014.
"The Arms Trade Treaty - UN Office for Disarmament Affairs." UN News Center.
UN, n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2014.
Ferran, Lee. "State: 17,800-Plus People Killed Globally in Terrorist Attacks in 2013."
ABC News. ABC News Network, 30 Apr. 2014. Web. 19 Nov. 2014.
"The Legal vs. the Illegal Arms Trade." IHT Rendezvous The Legal vs the Illegal Arms
Trade Comments. N.p., 06 Apr. 2012. Web. 19 Nov. 2014.
"Libya Is Epicenter of Illicit Arms Trade †“ UN." - RT News. N.p., n.d. Web. 19
Nov. 2014.
"Libya's Guns Free-for-all Fuels Region's Turmoil." The Big Story. N.p., n.d. Web. 19
Nov. 2014.
"Mar. 11: Libya: Lessons in Controlling the Arms Trade." — Www.sipri.org. N.p., n.d.
Web. 19 Nov. 2014.
"Overwhelming Majority of States in General Assembly Say 'Yes' to Arms Trade
Treaty to Stave off Irresponsible Transfers That Perpetuate Conflict, Human Suffering
| Meetings Coverage and Press Releases." UN News Center. UN, n.d. Web. 19 Nov.
2014.
"Position Papers." United Nations Association of the USA. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov.
2014.
"Security Council." International Organization 1.02 (1947): 320. Web.
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