Proliferation of small arms and light weapons (SALW) is a critical humanitarian, development and governance challenge; governments need to address the issue in a united and holistic approach. This paper, published by SaferAfrica and Saferworld, focused on Eritrea and is one of a series of reports auditing SALW control legislation in different countries accross the Great Lakes and Horn of Africa region. It summarises their audit of SALW control legislation in Eritrea vis-à-vis its conformity to regional and international SALW agreements. While some Great Lakes region and Horn of Africa states have enacted SALW legislation, there are serious regulatory gaps that need to be addressed. This report is intended to assist lawmakers and other actors in developing new legislation which will address these gaps.
In 2000, 12 countries in the Great Lakes and Horn of Africa region signed the Nairobi Declaration on the Problem of the Proliferation of Illicit SALW. This was followed in 2004 by the signature of the legally binding Nairobi Protocol for the Prevention, Control and Reduction of SALW. Since then, implementation of the Declaration and Protocol, while slower than desired, has begun to develop momentum.
This audit of SALW legislation, undertaken in 2004, is intended to assist lawmakers and other actors in developing new SALW control legislation and meeting current Declaration and Protocol obligations. Audited countries include Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea, Kenya, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. Audits review, inter alia, legislation addressing SALW controls, record keeping, manufacture and trade, arms embargoes and conformity to key regional and international SALW agreements.
The report found that there was no piece of legislation in Eritrea devoted exclusively to the issue of SALW control. Provisions related to sale are contained in the Transitional Penal Code (1993). THe Audit shows that there are some controls over the possession and use OF SALW by Eritrean citizens regarding authorisation for acquistion, sale, terms of use and areas in which they can be carried. However, there are no requirements regarding the age of SALW owners, the number of SALW that can be possessed, the competency of civilians to use SALW, or any prohibition on the licensing to civilians of automatic/semi-automatic rifles and machine guns (Aas is required by the Nairobi Protocol). Other findings include:
- National legislation does not conform to regional and international agreements on record keeping, arms sales brokering, enforcement of arms embargoes and state-owned arms.
- Some conformity to regional/international agreements exists regarding import/export and transit. Yet there is no requirement for arms registration, marking of the import/export dates, or record keeping of sales.
- Legislation exists to control manufacture without special authorisation. There are, however, no controls on small arms storage, marking at time of manufacture or record keeping.
- It is an offence to trade in small arms without authorisation; however, there are no record keeping requirements and no prohibition on pawning and pledging of SALW.
- Provisions exist for seizure of SALW sold or delivered to dangerous or suspect persons. There are, however, no provisions for SALW disposal or destruction, re-activation of de-activated SALW, or monitoring/auditing of small arms licences and inspections.
- The current penal code specifies that offences are punishable by fine or arrest but does not state specific punitive consequences.
Those responsible for improving SALW control legislation in Eritrea should address the following SALW controls that do not exist in current legislation:
- Controls relating to arms brokering, the enforcement of arms embargoes and the management of state-owned SALW.
- Sufficient record keeping requirements.
- Monitoring and auditing of small arms licences and inspections.
- Additional controls on civilian possession and use, including requirements for competency testing, regulations on age and number of SALW owned, and a prohibition on the civilian posession of automatic and semi-automatic weapons.
- Regulations regarding the storage of arms by manufacturers.
- Restrictions on the pawning and pledging of SALW.
- Provisions for small arms disposal and destruction.
- Language that states specific punishment for violations of SALW regulations, restrictions and controls.
