9 December 2021 – In the framework of the project on Combatting the Illicit Trafficking of Arms and Ammunition in Latin America and the Caribbean, UNLIREC held a webinar on Small Arms and Ammunition Marking for members of national institutions with responsibilities in the control of firearms and ammunition in Latin American countries.
The regional workshop highlighted the importance of marking as a measure which provides basic information that facilitates the tracing of weapons and ammunition from their manufacture to their last legal holder. Similarly, marking at different points in a weapon’s life cycle allows for better record-keeping at a national level; it also helps establish possible links between weapons and crimes, thus facilitating criminal investigation processes and the identification of illicit trafficking trends.
The activity addressed international obligations, standards and best practices on marking as contained in relevant international instruments and the Modular Small-Arms Control Implementation Compendium. Likewise, UNLIREC’s technical proposal for firearms and ammunition marking was presented in order to contribute to the standardisation of marking protocols. Finally, a demonstration was given on one of the marking methods in order to strengthen the skills of personnel who have responsibilities in these matters from Latin American institutions.
Several institutions participated in the webinar, including, inter alia, Police, Armed Forces, control bodies, investigative agencies, Ministries of security and Foreign Affairs, forensic institutions, customs, public prosecutors’ offices, and various civil society organisations.
The implementation of this project is made possible thanks to the financial support of the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany.
On 8 December 2021, the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC) held the Symposium ‘Female Forces for Change’ to celebrate the 11th anniversary of the General Assembly Resolution 65/69 on Women, Disarmament, Non-Proliferation and Arms Control, which urges State Parties, regional and sub-regional organisations, the United Nations, its agencies and programmes, to promote the equal representation of women in all decision-making processes related to these issues.
The Symposium’s objective was to raise awareness and celebrate the contribution of women in the region. Eight women from different countries and diverse backgrounds in the field shared their experiences in line with the four pillars of the United Nation’s Secretary General’s Agenda for Disarmament “Securing our common future”.
Pillar 1, ‘Disarmament to save humanity’, which advocates to reduce and eliminate weapons of mass destruction, featured María Antonieta Jáquez (Mexico), Political Coordinator of the Permanent Mission of Mexico to the United Nations, and Soledad Urruela Arenales (Guatemala), Programme Manager and Regional Coordinator for the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1540.
Pillar 2 “Disarmament to save lives”, which calls for reducing and mitigating the impact of conventional weapons, was represented by two government officials with responsibilities in the control and regulation of small arms and light weapons. They are María del Pilar Noriega López (Peru), General Manager of the National Superintendence for the Control of Security Services, Arms, Ammunition and Explosives for Civilian Use (SUCAMEC) and Samantha Allen (Jamaica), Executive Director, Safety, Security and Small Arms Unit, Ministry of National Security.
Pillar 3 “Disarmament to save future generations”, which calls for vigilance regarding new and emerging weapons technologies, featured María Pía Devoto (Argentina), Coordinator of the Human Security Network of Latin America and the Caribbean (SEHLAC) and member of the Stop Killer Robots Campaign, and Hazel Villalobos (Costa Rica), Technical Manager and Researcher at the Foundation for Peace and Democracy (FUNDAPEM).
Finally, Pillar 4, “Strengthening Partnerships for Disarmament”, is a call to revitalise disarmament institutions and partner with governments, civil society, women and youth. It was represented by Carolina de Mattos Ricardo (Brazil), Executive Director of Sou da Paz and Delia Chatoor (Trinidad and Tobago), an expert in International Humanitarian Law, former diplomat and former Vice President of the Trinidad and Tobago Red Cross Society.
In addition to celebrating the contribution of these women, the event served as a platform to officially launch the audio visual material produced by UNLIREC to support the dissemination of the important progress achieved by women in the region in the four Pillars that make up the Disarmament Agenda. Eighty three persons from across the region attended the Symposium, with 80% of the audience being women.
The event was part of the Project “Advancing Regional Implementation of UN General Assembly Resolution 65/69 on Women, Disarmament, Non-Proliferation and Arms Control”, funded by the Government of Canada.
On 7 December 2021, the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC), hosted a regional webinar on Privately Made Firearms and Implications for Forensic Analysis with 10 CARICOM States. The purpose of the webinar was to discuss how to obtain forensic data from privately made firearms, also known as ‘ghost guns’, using toolmark examination and the potential value of comparing toolmarks with recovered tools for investigative purposes.
‘Ghost guns’ refers to unregulated and untraceable firearms that are built by unassembled and partially manufactured parts. Although illicitly manufactured firearms are not a prevalent phenomenon in the Caribbean, as it is in North America and Europe, several countries in the region have reported seizures of these firearms in the past years. Such seizures signal an alarming trend that may increase the levels of armed violence in Caribbean countries if not prevented.
A total of 68 national officials, including 27 women, from ministries of National Security and Home Affairs, Police Forces, Defence Forces, Forensic Labs and Customs Departments of Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Bahamas, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago participated in the regional webinar.
UNLIREC presented on various tool operating processes and how resulting toolmarks may appear on illicitly fabricated or converted firearms. It also highlighted how the comparison and identification of toolmarks can provide firearms investigators with information concerning the type and size of tools used to fabricate weapons. In addition, the participants discussed the value of creating a database for privately made firearms recovered in the region to facilitate information sharing among forensic labs and investigators, recognize firearms, trace recovered cartridge cases and prove links between cases. Such a database would include the toolmarks on firearms, the type of tools used to make them, high definition photographs of these marks and the type of firearms recovered.
This webinar, carried out in line with the 2001 UN Porgramme of Action on Small Arms and Sustainable Development Goal 16.4, contributes towards the implementation of Goal 3 of the Caribbean Firearms Roadmap: “Bolster law enforcement capacity to combat illicit firearms and ammunition trafficking and their illicit possession and misuse”.
The Regional Webinar on Privately Made Firearms and Implications for Forensic Analysis was generously sponsored by Canada. It followed another regional webinar on Combatting “ghost guns” on 15 November 2021 and is part of a series of regional thematic webinars organized and delivered by UNLIREC to prevent and combat crime gun and illicit trafficking in the region.
UNLIREC, as the regional organ of the UN Office for Disarmament, seeks to advance the cause of practical disarmament in Latin America and the Caribbean as part of its commitment to support Member States in their implementation of international disarmament and non-proliferation instruments, in particular, the 2001 UN Programme of Action on Small Arms.
On 6 December 2021, the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC) held a technical meeting that brought together officials from different governmental sectors and countries of the region, with the purpose of analysing the progress and challenges related to the inclusion of gender considerations recommended in the United Nations Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects (hereinafter PoA).
Thirty-seven officials participated in the meeting from Ministries of Foreign Affairs; PoA Coordination Mechanisms; Firearms Control and Regulation Agencies; Criminal Statistics Offices; and Bodies with a mandate in gender and women’s equality.
UNLIREC provided an introduction on the implications of the PoA, highlighting when gender considerations were included, namely at the Sixth and Seventh Biennial Meeting of States (BMS6, 2016 and BMS7, 2021) and at the Third Review Conference (RevCon3, 2018). Among the various commitments, the following highlights those that were addressed:
Consider the different effects of illicit small arms and light weapons (hereinafter SALW) on women, men, young girls and boys in policies and programmes aiming to combat illicit trafficking of these weapons, and encourage the collection of disaggregated data on gender and the illicit trade in SALW.
Ensure coordination between national authorities responsible for executing the PoA and the relevant ministries or other national authorities with a mandate on gender equality, as well as women’s CSOs.
Share national experiences, lessons learned and best practices on mainstreaming gender aspects in politics and programmes aimed at combatting illicit SALW trafficking, and to voluntarily provide information and communicate gender-relevant initiatives as part of the national PoA and ITI implementation reports; among others.
While States have made considerable progress in recognising the above-mentioned issues, an analysis of the National Reports reveals difficulties in the local implementation of these commitments. It is due to this that, to encourage debate and exchange national best practices, three countries with initiatives that contribute to the gender commitments of the PoA were called upon to participate.
These experiences included Guatemala’s National Commission for the Prevention of Armed Violence, which proposes an expanded approach to the Commission’s composition and allows for the inclusion of non-traditional sectors. On the other hand, regarding the collection of SALW data disaggregated by gender, the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) of Mexico presented on the inclusion of the category “firearm” in the National Survey on the Dynamics of Household Relationships (ENDIREH). The National Registry of Femicides of Argentina also presented the findings of a recent study they are conducting in cooperation with the National Agency of Controlled Materials (ANMaC) regarding the highest possible disaggregation of firearms involved in femicides (authorised/unauthorised firearms; regulation firearms-FFSS). Likewise, ANMaC delivered a presentation onvarious initiatives with a gender perspective, among which the following stand out: gender training for security forces and shooting instructors; cooperation with the justice system to establish registration obstacles and disqualifications for persons accused of gender-based violence, among other initiatives.
We at UNLIREC hope that the meeting has contributed to the integration of gender considerations in the implementation of national policies and actions for firearms control, armed violence prevention and combating illicit trafficking of SALW.
This activity took place within the framework of UNLIREC’s Women, Disarmament, Non-Proliferation and Arms Control Programme, funded by the European Union and Canada, and was part of the International Campaign #16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence (25 November – 10 December).
On 3 December 2021, the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC), in collaboration with the Governments of Germany and Trinidad and Tobago, hosted a National Firearms Licensing System Roundtable Meeting.
Trinidad and Tobago has embarked on an initiative to develop an integrated data management information technology system to improve stockpile management and reduce loopholes for diversion. The project seeks to streamline and digitise the Firearms Licensing Management System in Trinidad and Tobago, reduce loopholes for diversion and ensure compliance with the Arms Trade Treaty reporting Standards.
UNLIREC supported Trinidad and Tobago by hosting a roundtable meeting on national firearms licensing systems, with technical experts from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s Canadian Firearms Program, United Kingdom’s National Firearms Licencing System, Home Office and National Crime Agency and the Dominican Republic’s Laboratorio Balístico y Biométrico del Sistema Nacional de Armas (LABBS), all sharing national experience and best practices on computerising licensing processes.
Close to 50 representatives (27 women) of the Ministry of National Security, Strategic Services Agency, Office of Law Enforcement Policy, Forensic Science Centre, Firearms Appeal Board, Customs and Excise Department, and Trinidad and Tobago Police Service took part in the roundtable. Participants included the Minister of National Security, heads of the Police Service, Intelligence Agency, Customs Department and Forensic Laboratory as well as their subordinates responsible for the licencing firearm applicants.
This roundtable complements recent initiatives undertaken by Trinidad and Tobago including its adoption of the Caribbean Firearms Roadmap, and discussions to create its National Action Plan. The activities were made possible thanks to the generous support of the government of Germany and included experts from the United Kingdom, Canada and the Dominican Republic. The Roundtable on National Firearms Licensing Management Systems contributes towards the implementation of Goal 1 of the Caribbean Firearms Roadmap, Reinforce Regulatory Frameworks Governing Firearms and Ammunition and ultimately reducing firearms-related crimes and armed violence in the Caribbean.
UNLIREC, as the regional organ of the UN Office for Disarmament, seeks to advance the cause of practical disarmament in Latin America and the Caribbean as part of its commitment to support Member States in their implementation of international disarmament and non-proliferation instruments, in particular, the UN 2001 Programme of Action on Small Arms.
On 30 November 2021, the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC), within the framework of the project “Combating illicit trafficking in arms and ammunition in Latin America and theCaribbean”, held the Regional Webinar “Optimizing measures to combat illicit trafficking in firearms and ammunition: Presentation of exploratory papers on Ammunition Tracking and Monitoringof the SDG indicator on illicit arms flows”, aimed to officials and facilitators with responsibilities in the control, regulation and management of firearms and ammunition in countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.
During the webinar, UNLIREC presented exploratory papers on ammunition tracing practices in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as national mechanisms for the monitoring and evaluation of indicator 16.4.2 of the 2030 Agenda, with the purpose of promoting regional dialogue in optimizing measures to combat illicit trafficking in firearms and ammunition.
The study of Ammunition Tracing Practices in Latin America and the Caribbean, elaborated during 2020-2021, documents current practices, gaps and challenges related to ammunition tracing, and identifies practical recommendations and measures to achieve an effective ammunition tracing system. In the webinar, UNLIREC highlighted the importance of marking, recording, and tracing ammunition to contribute to criminal investigations and to prevent and combat their diversion, illicit trafficking, and misuse.
The study Monitoring and Evaluation of Indicator 16.4.2 in Latin America and the Caribbean identifies regulatory gaps and institutional challenges in measurement said indicator and determines a set of regional good practices to comply with target 16.4 of the SDG related to the reduction of illicit arms flows. During the webinar, the relevance of this indicator for the region was spotlighted.
In this event participated officials and practitioners from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Jamaica, Mexico, Peru and Trinidad and Tobago, some of whom participated and facilitated the conduct of the research.
