Sir, - While we focus on the high-tech war currently being waged in the Balkans, it may come as a surprise to many to learn that the single greatest cause of wartime casualties over the past decade is in fact small arms. Taking this as its starting point, a new initiative called the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) is being launched in the Hague. The network's aim is to tackle the scourge of these small weapons of mass destruction, whose number is estimated at 500 million and whose arsenal includes pistols, machine guns, rifles and mortars.
These weapons are fuelling conflicts, undermining development programmes and frustrating attempts to build peace. In fact small arms have been the only weapons used in 46 out of the 49 wars which have taken place since 1990 and account for 90 per cent of war-time casualties, of whom 50 per cent are civilians.
Therefore, raising public awareness of the horrific impact of small arms and pressuring for political action to control such weapons is an urgent priority. The European Union has already taken some limited steps to address the problem through the establishment of the European Code of Conduct on Arms Exports and through the recent Joint Action on Small Arms.
Unfortunately, significant loopholes exist in this code and these are facilitating the spread of small arms. The failure to include provisions covering arms brokering and licensed production mean that European companies and individuals can continue to organise transfers of small arms into regions of conflict. It is essential that these omissions are addressed in the forthcoming annual review of the code and that the resources be made available to effectively implement it.
Tackling the proliferation and misuse of small arms is one of the greatest humanitarian challenges for the next millennium. Since 1990, three million people - almost equivalent to the entire population of the Republic of Ireland - have been killed by small arms.
In the end any solution will entail harnessing sufficient political will. Small arms proliferation is a global problem and with the EU increasingly involved in helping post-conflict societies to pick up the pieces after war, member states would be wise to put the EU's huge resources into prevention as well as cure. The Irish Government and our MEPs have a role to play in this and a duty to take up the challenge.
As prospective MEPs canvass for our votes, raising your concerns about this issue and what they intend to do about it means that the victims of small arms will not be forgotten among all the other immediate issues which will dominate media and public discussion of the elections. - Yours, etc., Justin Kilcullen,
Director, Trocaire, Booterstown Avenue, Blackrock, Co Dublin.