GOB PLANS TO COMBAT SMALL ARMS PROLIFERATION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 GABORONE 001015

SIPDIS

AF/S FOR MUNCY

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PARM KCRM BC POL MIL
SUBJECT: GOB PLANS TO COMBAT SMALL ARMS PROLIFERATION



1. SUMMARY: The Government of Botswana has adopted a three-
year national action plan to combat proliferation of small
arms but intends to approach G-8 nations, and specifically
the United States, to request financial assistance to meet
its USD 2 million budget. Subsequent to its participation
in numerous international and regional events on this topic,
the GOB collaborated with South African NGO SaferAfrica to
conduct an assessment of the proliferation of small arms in
Botswana. A national plan arose from that assessment. In a
June 27 meeting, the GOB and SaferAfrica briefed
representatives from the US, UK, German, French and Russian
missions on the plan and the Government's intention to
formally request financial assistance in implementing. END
SUMMARY

GOB PLANS ACTION AGAINST SMALL ARMS TRAFFICKING


2. In a June 27 meeting attended by International Law
Enforcement Academy (Gaborone) Director Seymour Jones,
Riccardo DeCaris, representing SaferAfrica, outlined
Botswana's National Plan for Arms Management and
Disarmament. SaferAfrica had worked with Botswana's
National Focal Point (NFP),which includes Government
agencies such as the police service, the military, the MFA,
the Office of the President as well as several NGOs, to
develop this document. The plan describes 18 objectives and
the specific tasks required to achieve them over a three-
year period. Meeting these objectives would further develop
the government's institutional capacity, assist in the
formulation of policy and legislation, promote public
awareness, improve management of the national stockpile of
small arms, increase regional and international cooperation,
enhance border controls, and support further research on
this problem.

GOB LOOKING FOR FUNDING TO IMPLEMENT PLAN


3. The National Plan describes in detail a required budget
of USD 2,017,000 -- USD 716,355 in year one, USD 621,700 in
year two and USD 678,000 in year three. So far, however,
the Government lacks the resources to implement this plan.
Consequently, it invited representatives of the G-8
countries to a June 27 briefing to make them aware of the
plan and of the GOB's intention to formally request their
financial assistance in making it a reality.


4. Although the plan anticipates that 2004-2005 would be
year one, implementation has not yet begun. The GOB did,
however, finish on July 5 a series of training workshops for
members of multi-sectoral district-level task teams on small
arms. The NFP anticipates that these teams will promote
popular awareness of small arms proliferation and provide
education on firearms safety.

BACKGROUND


5. Botswana is a party to 1) the SADC Protocol on the
Control of Firearms, Ammunition and other related materials;
2) the Bamako Declaration on an African Common Position on
the Illicit Proliferation, Circulation and Trafficking of
Small Arms and Light Weapons; 3) the United Nations
Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the
Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All its
Aspects; and 4) the Protocol against the Illicit
Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Their Parts,
Components, and Ammunition, supplementing the UN Convention
Against Transnational Organized Crime.


6. Pursuant to these commitments, the GOB established the
NFP on small arms and convened the First National
Consultative Conference on Firearm Control, Ownership and
Administration in Botswana May 13-15, 2003. That conference
recommended that the Government and civil society work
together to produce a national plan of action. It also
called for the expansion of the NFP to include civil society
representatives, the review of the Firearms and Ammunition
Act, and the creation of a forum for discussion of this
issue among civil society organizations.


7. Before drafting the National Action Plan, the NFP
consulted with SaferAfrica and collaborated on an assessment
of the problem of light arms proliferation in Botswana.
This involved workshops with law enforcement personnel and
with members of civil society and a popular attitudes survey
conducted in October and November 2003. The information and
recommendations derived from this process informed the
drafting the National Action Plan, which the GOB formally
launched on August 2, 2004.

COMMENT


8. The GOB has shown commendable vision in proactively
seeking to prevent the proliferation of small arms so
rampant in some of its neighbors from spreading to Botswana.
Mission believes that assisting the GOB to fund its
implementation of this plan would valuably enhance our law
enforcement engagement with the GOB and significantly
promote regional stability.
HUGGINS