What impact has irresponsible arms sales had on people’s lives in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)? How have groups that commit human rights violations been able to obtain weapons? This report from the Control Arms campaign examines the supply of arms to the DRC and its effect on individual lives and communities. It argues that arms transfers are fuelling atrocities in the DRC and many other countries. Governments must take responsibility for the supply of arms, by agreeing a new international arms trade treaty.
In the DRC hundreds of thousands of people have been murdered and maimed by groups using small arms and light weapons. Others have been traumatised by seeing the deaths of family members or by being abducted and forced to serve as child soldiers. The use of small arms has driven people from their homes, resulting in famine and malnutrition, and destroyed traditional customs and livelihoods. Social safety-nets to provide care and support for victims of armed violence do not exist in the DRC.
While the number of weapons in circulation in the DRC is uncertain, it is clear that they are easy to obtain. In July 2003 the UN Security Council imposed an embargo on weapons entering the eastern DRC. Nevertheless, small arms have continued to flow in to the DRC. Analysis of the supply of weapons to the DRC reveals that:
- The DRC’s vast size, porous borders and often corrupt border officials make it difficult to control arms supplies into the country.
- The UN peacekeeping mission (MONUC) is ill-equipped to monitor embargo violations and its work is often obstructed and under funded.
- The UN Group of Experts, which monitors arms violations, has had difficulty persuading the Congolese and neighbouring governments to cooperate fully with its work.
- The UN Security Council only extended the arms embargo to the whole of the DRC in 2005. Prior to this, weapons could be transferred legally to parts of the DRC neighbouring the war-torn east.
- The inadequacy of international and national laws governing the arms trade bears a large part of the blame for the easy entry of weapons into the DRC. International arms dealers are able to exploit loopholes in national laws to supply arms to rebel groups.
The DRC needs an international arms trade treaty (ATT). An ATT would establish global, legally-binding, minimum standards for all international arms transfers, based on principles of accepted international humanitarian and human rights law. Subscribing countries would need to ensure that they do not transfer arms where they are likely to be used to commit human rights violations. To reduce the proliferation and misuse of arms in the DRC:
- donor governments need to provide more support for and oversight of the DRC’s national disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration programme;
- demobilised fighters need to receive greater support to establish sustainable livelihoods when they return to civilian life;
- there must be incentives to hand in weapons and ammunition to MONUC to be destroyed;
- integration of former rebel brigades into the national army should be accelerated and more strongly supported. It should involve fully functioning systems of accountability and training based upon human rights and humanitarian law; and,
- the UN embargo must not be broken and arms brokers must be controlled.
