1. What are the Issues of small arms and light weapons?

      In order to promote "Culture of Prevention", it is imperative for any nation or community to firmly establish the practice of settling issues in a fair manner through democratic means or rule of law instead of resorting to armed conflicts or at gun points. From this viewpoint, small arms and light weapons, particularly the assault rifles manufactured for military purposes, create serious problems in today's world because they are widely available and used as tools of violence exacerbating regional and internal conflicts, and also escalating criminal activities in post-conflict societies. How to reduce the excessive availability of such weapons, and how to control their supply, is one of the most urgent tasks confronting all nations today, and this is precisely why the United Nations Conference on "Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects" is to be convened in July this year.

2. Key-Note Presentations.

      In Sub-Group 1, discussions were focused on the problem of excessive and destabilizing availability of small arms and light weapons, more specifically on the collection and destruction of such weapons in Cambodia where long-lasting civil wars finally came to an end, because the excessive availability of such weapons seriously threatens internal security, stability and economic and social development.
      Prior to the Sub-Group meeting, at the end of the plenary session yesterday morning, we all listened to the very important key-note presentation by H. E. Lt. Gen. HOK Lundy, Director General of Cambodian National Police, in which we were briefed about the overall efforts the Royal Cambodian Government is making in the collection and destruction of weapons. More than a hundred thousand weapons have already been collected, and about one third of them destroyed. Efforts are also made to prevent their proliferation to neighboring countries. Becoming aware of the courageous efforts being made by the Royal Government of Cambodia, the international communities and non-governmental organizations including indigenous NGOs like the Working Group for Weapons Reduction are now coming to cooperate and assist with such efforts, but since it will take longer and greater efforts to resolve the problem, much more efforts for assistance and cooperation by actors other than the Cambodian government are required.
      Following this presentation made by H. E. Lt. Gen. HOK Lundy, Sub-Group 1 started its deliberations by receiving three more presentations, one by H. E. Mr. UNG Samy, Governor of Pursat Province on the present situation and the challenges of the problem of small arms in his Province, secondly by Brigadier General (ret.) Henny J. van der Graaf, project manager of the European Union Assistance in curbing Small Arms in Cambodia (EU ASAC) on his activities in Cambodia, particularly on several concrete projects now underway, and finally by Mr. Osanai, one of the Deputy Director-Generals of the Japanese Foreign Ministry on the Japanese policy to assist Cambodia in some of the projects related to small arms.

3.Summary of Discussions.

      These presentations kicked off very lively, informative and thought-provoking discussions in Sub-Group 1. It would not be possible to do justice to all the valuable points made by the participants in the limited time available. Therefore, I wish to highlight only those major points, suggestions and recommendations that appeared to represent the convergence of views among the participants, and if there are any important omissions or commissions on my part, I hope to be quickly corrected during the open debate in the closing session.

(1) First, it should be reiterated that the it was the Cambodian government and the people of Cambodia who started to take the initiative to make intensified efforts for disarmament and demobilization since several years ago, because without such efforts internal peace and security, and social and economic development cannot be secured or put on the right track. Strong will of the nation or community concerned is indeed the key in solving such problems, without which no assistance from outside would be effective. On the other hand, in view of the limited resources, experiences and expertise, Cambodia definitely needs assistance and cooperation for this purpose from wider international community including the United Nation, development assistance organizations, donor nations, and civil societies. I think there was a consensus on this point.

(2) Second, for the purpose of the collection and destruction of weapons, a number of initiatives and projects are already underway or about to be launched in Cambodia. For example, weapons destruction ceremonies of the collected weapons were held on several occasions by the Cambodian government, which helped to raise public awareness on the importance of the collection and destruction of such weapons. Also, laws and regulations prohibiting the possession and use of weapons by ordinary citizens are being enforced, and a new national legislation for this purpose is being prepared with the assistance of the EU ASAC. Furthermore, the EU ASAC is assisting the Ministry of Defence to build secure storage facilities for the collected weapons, ammunitions and explosives in the 2nd Military District. These are all quite encouraging developments in Cambodia.

(3) Third, what is of great importance in such efforts is the establishment of a reliable police and security system that would reassure ordinary citizens that they would not have to keep arms for the protection of their lives and property. For this purpose, the training of Cambodian police force in professionalism, as well as equipping it with minimum means of transportation and communication and so forth would be essential. Therefore, it has to be recognized that financial and technical assistance to the Cambodian police from those willing and capable donor nations is very much needed.

(4) Fourth, with respect to the illicit trafficking of small arms across the borders with neighboring countries, effective measures to eradicate such trafficking will have to be taken, because unless the supply of such weapons are stopped any efforts to reduce their excessive availability are bound to end up in a failure. For this purpose, again the strengthening of border control and customs authorities of Cambodia would be needed. Also, sub-regional network of information-sharing and cooperation among police, customs and border control agencies among neighboring countries will have to be worked out and developed.

(5) Fifth, a comprehensive approach encompassing not only disarmament and demobilization but also social and economic development has to be promoted. In return for the weapons to be handed in, development assistance in building roads, schools, job training opportunities and so forth should serve as great incentives to many local communities, promising a healthy change in their way of living. "Weapons for development" was a concept developed by the United Nations and other development assistance organizations in addressing similar problems in post-conflict regions. It was based on this idea of "weapons for development" that the EU ASAC recently came to prepare the plan for two pilot projects in the Provinces of Pursat and Kracheh. Japan is about to assist the implementation of this pilot project in Pursat Province, while it is hoped that many more donor nations will come to assist such projects in many other localities.

(6) Sixth, the important role civil societies can play in raising public awareness was stressed by all the participants. The Working Group for Weapons Reduction, a coalition of local and international organizations, has been active since 1998 making grass-root surveys on the issue of small arms, organizing campaigns and supporting the efforts of the government. The Japanese government has been and will continue to support such activities of non-governmental organizations, including more active participation by Japanese NGOs. All the donor countries should make greater efforts to encourage such grass-root activities in Cambodia being carried out by various non-governmental organizations .

(7) Seventh, the coordination of various efforts by various actors is a matter of great importance, because while each actor has comparative advantages and disadvantages, there is a tendency for each actor to plan and implement its activities without consulting other actors. There is no doubt that through better consultation and coordination, their activities can be made complimentary and mutually reinforcing to each other, avoiding not only unnecessary overlaps, but also making it possible to learn from the lessons learned by others. Therefore, greater efforts by all the actors to engage in frequent consultations and information exchange will be needed. When appropriate, the establishment of a coordinating committee or consultative committee among all the actors may have to be considered. In this sense, this International Symposium held here in Tokyo served as a very useful opportunity for information sharing and possible future coordination. It should be noted that the question of coordinating activities of various actors may differ depending on the area of such activities. For example, if the mobilization of the political will of the states in the question, it should be realized that G-8 countries can play a significant roll as was demonstrated by the G-8 Miyazaki Initiatives. Such initiative should be continued by sending strong messages to the United Nations, other international and regional organizations, and to other donor nations. If the question is the coordination of assistance activities among donor nations, there may be other appropriate fora for this purpose.

(8) Eighth, in this connection, it should be recalled that at the Seminar of conventional weapons transfer in the framework of ASEAN Regional Forum held three weeks ago in Phnom Penh at the co-sponsorship of the governments of Cambodia, Canada, Japan and the UN, the problems of small arms and light weapons were discussed at length. On that occasion the United States and Canada came to announce that they would also come to offer assistance for the collection and destruction of small arms in Cambodia. Thus, the efforts now being made in Cambodia on the problems of small arms can be said to be still at their very early stage.

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