UNIT 4 ARMS CONTROL AND DEMILITARISATION

CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 Definition of Small Arms/ Light Weapons
3.1.1 Types of Small Arms and Light Weapons
3.2 Characteristics of Small Arms and Light Weapons
3.3 Arms Race
3.4 Arms Proliferation
3.4.1 Causes of Arms Proliferation
3.4.2 Effects of Arms Proliferation
3.5 Arms Control
3.5.1 Aims of Arms Control
3.6 History of Arms Control
3.7 Demilitarisation
3.7.1 Types of Demilitarisation Methods
3.7.2 Objectives of DDR
3.7.3 Prerequisites for DDR
3.7.4 Requirements for Successful DDR Implementation
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Reading

1.0 INTRODUCTION

The end of the Cold War and the collapse of the former Soviet Union brought about easy
access to highly lethal weaponry ranging from assault rifles to rocket launchers,
facilitated by the opening of borders and the rapid expansion of free trade. Such weapons
are increasingly falling into wrong hands and all categories of fighters, including children
who eventually turn them against those whom humanitarian law is designed to protect.

Research findings have revealed that death toll from small arms and light weapons
exceed the toll of the atomic bombs that devastated Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the
Second World War. Small arms can now be referred to as “weapons of mass destruction”
because of carnage they cause in the “trouble spots” all over the world.

One of the major efforts to preserve international peace and security in the 21st century
has been to control or limit the number of weapons and ways in which weapons can be
used.
2.0 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this unit, you should be able to:

1. define small arms and mention types of small arms known

2. define arms proliferation and state sources of arms proliferation
3. discuss arms control and different types of arms control mechanisms

4. highlight the importance of arms control

5. explain some demilitarisation processes.

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 Definition of Small Arms/Light Weapons

There are various definitions of what constitute small arms and light weapons, but we
will only give one here.

Small Arms: These are weapons or instruments that can easily be operated by an
individual meant to cause harm.

Light Weapons: Are weapons (with anticipated lethal effect) that are operated with a
combined support of a crew of two or three.

3.1.1 Types of Small Arms/Light Weapons

Small arms and light weapons conveniently fall into the categories below.

Types of Small Arms

Revolvers and self-loading pistols

Rifles and carbines
Sub-machine gun
Assault rifles
Light machine guns

Categories of Light Weapons

 Heavy machine-guns
Hand-held under-barrel and mounted grenade launchers
Portable anti-aircraft guns
Portable launchers of anti-tank missile and rocket systems
Portable anti-tank guns and recoilless rifles
Portable launchers of anti-aircraft missile system
Mortars of calibers of less than 100mm

c. Ammunition and Explosives

Cartridges (rounds) for small arms

Shells and missiles for light weapons
Anti-personnel and anti-tank grenades
Landmines
Mobile containers with missile of shells for single action and anti-
tank systems
Explosives

3.2 Characteristic of Small Arms and Light Weapons

2. Simplicity and durability: Compared to major weapons systems which requires

regular upkeep and maintenance due to their complicated electronics, vionics and
propulsion subsystems, small arms and light weapons have few movable parts, are
extremely durable and require little upkeep or logistical support.

3. Portability and concealability: Individuals or light vehicles can carry small arms
and light weapons; they can easily be transported or smuggled into areas of
conflict; and they can be concealed in shipments of legitimate cargo.

4. Military/police and civilian uses: Small arms and light weapons often have
legitimate uses for both military and police force. They may also be held legally or
otherwise by individuals who are afraid of their own personal security. However,
in the case of major conventional weapons, only the military force generally
procures them.

5. Low cost and wide availability: These weapons are usually supplied in large
quantity or abundantly for military, police, and civilian use.

6. Lethality: The increase in sophistication of rapid-fire assault rifles, pistols and

machine guns, and their widespread circulation among sub-state groups and
 civilians promotes or encourages availaibility of firepower that matches or
exceeds that of national police or even the military of a state or country.

3.3 Arms Race

An arms race is a situation in which two countries or group of countries are continually
trying to get more and better weapons than each other. It is the continuing competitive
attempt by two or more nations to have available to it more and more powerful weapons
than other(s).

It refers to competition between nations to have the most powerful armaments.

It is a race between hostile nations to accumulate or develop weapons; broadly: an ever
escalating race or competition. Examples: Nuclear, chemical, biological weapons and
several other forms of weapons.

3.4 Arms Proliferation

This refers to the easy availability or influx of illicit small arms and light weapons into
wrong hands or unauthorised groups of people for use against the individuals or groups
meant to be protected. It is a rapid increase or growth in number of deadly weapons.

3.4.1 Causes of Arms Proliferation

i. Undemocratic governance
ii. Undemocratic electoral process
iii. Weak economic base of most countries engulfed with crisis
iv. Uneven distribution of basic infrastructure
v. Military coups
vi. Ethnicity
vii. Weak stockpile and management of national arms and ammunitions

viii. Post-colonial or Cold War remnants

ix. Movement of refugees/dominant of refugees camps by armed groups

x. Failed state

3.4.2 Effects of Arms Proliferation

i. Arms proliferation sustains and exacerbates arm conflicts
 ii. It endangers peacekeepers and humanitarian workers
iii. It undermines respect for international humanitarian law
iv. It threatens legitimate but weak government
v. It benefits terrorists as well as the perpetrators of organized crime
vi. It endangers the lives of defenseless individuals or citizens
vii. It threatens unity and peaceful co-existence of plural states

3.5 Arms Control

Arms control is an umbrella term for restrictions upon the development, production,
stockpiling, proliferation, and usage of weapons especially weapons of mass destruction.
Arms control is typically exercised through the use of diplomacy which seeks to impose
such limitations upon consenting participants through international treaties and
agreements, although it may also comprise efforts by a nation or group of nations to
enforce limitations upon a non-consenting country.
On a national or community level, arms control can amount to programs to control the
access of private citizens to weapons. This is often referred to as gun policies, as firearms
are the primary focus of such efforts in most places

3.5.1 Aims of Arms Control

 Arms control is meant to break the security dilemma.
 It aims at mutual security between partners and overall stability (be it in
a crisis situation, a grand-strategy, or stability to put an end to an
arms race).
 Other than stability, arms control comes with cost reduction and damage
limitation.

3.6 History of Arms Control

Arms control developed both in theory and in practice during the Cold War, a period
between the late 1940s and 1991 when the two military superpowers, the United States
and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), dealt with one another from a
position of mutual mistrust. Arms control was devised consciously during the postwar
period as an alternative to disarmament, which for many had fallen into discredit as a
means of reducing the likelihood of war. Germany had been forced to disarm following
World War I but became belligerent again during the 1930s, resulting in World War II.
Although Germany's weapons had been largely eliminated, the underlying causes of
conflict had not. Germany's experience thus illustrated that no simple cause-and-effect
relationship existed between the possession of weapons and a tendency to create war.
Arms control is often used as a means to avoid an arms race-a competitive buildup of
weapons between two or more powers. Such a race can be costly for both sides, and arms
control treaties serve the useful purpose of limiting weapons stockpiles to a level that
preserves deterrence while conserving the economic and social resources of a state for
other uses.

3.7 Demilitarisation
It is an applied strategy for executing successful peacekeeping, peacemaking and peace
building operations, in a conflict zone or in a state or country that is emerging from crisis
or war and is generally the strategy employed by all UN Peacekeeping Operations and
state, continental, and regional organizations.

3.7.1 Types of Demilitarization Methods

Disarmament: Entails the physical removal of the means of combat from ex-belligerents
(weapons, ammunition, and so on.) -Is the collection, documentation, control and
disposal of small arms, ammunition, explosives and light and heavy weapons of
combatant and often also of the civilian population. Disarmament also includes the
development of responsible arms management programmes.

Demobilization: It entails the disbanding of armed groups; or is the formal and

controlled discharge of active combatants from armed forces and other armed groups.

Reinsertion: Is the assistance offered to ex-combatants during demobilization but prior

to the longer-terms process of reintegration.

Reintegration: It is described as the process of reintegrating former combatants into civil

society, ensuring against the possibility of a resurgence of armed conflict. Alternatively,
it can be described as the process by which ex-combatants acquire civilian status and gain
sustainable employment and income. Reintegration is essentially a social and economic
process with an open time frame, primarily taking place at communities at the local level.

A typical example of the above concepts is the Amnesty and Post-Amnesty operational
activities extended to the Niger –Delta militant groups by the Nigerian government.

3.7.2 Objectives of DDR

The overall objective of the disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration

(DDR) are listed below.

DDR policy and programme is to reduce the size of the armed forces and the other
organized services, and assist the ex-combatants in returning to civilian life and creating
sustainable livelihoods.
 Specific objectives of the DDR programme are to:

 to reduce the size of the armed forces and the other national
organized forces
 to assist ex-combatants to socially reintegrate into their communities
of return
 to increase livelihood opportunities for ex-combatants in
communities of return
 to facilitate the release, return and reintegration of children
associated with armed forces and groups into their families and
communities of return
 to support social and economic reintegration of women associated
with armed forces and group through community based programme
in their communities of return
 to strengthen the capacities of RSSDDRC, line ministries. In South
Sudan for instance, South Sudanese civil society and private sector
to effectively support services delivery to the people of South
Sudan.

3.7.3 Prerequisites for DDR

Disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) is somewhat different from the
blanket term “peacekeeping,” in that DDR requires certain conditions to be effectively
implemented. They include, but are not necessarily limited to:

Security - conflict in the targeted area must be completely or at least nearly halted, and a
significant deterrent force must be in place to ensure no renewal of conflict. Without this
guarantee of security, DDR cannot be effectively implemented, as trust between former
belligerents - an integral part of the DDR process - cannot develop.
7.
Inclusion of all ex-belligerents - without cooperation between all armed groups, DDR
cannot succeed. Unless all combatants and factions are disarmed, the potential for a
resurgence of conflict is too great.

Sufficient funding - without enough funding to be completed, DDR operations cannot

succeed, as incomplete reintegration of ex-combatants leaves the possibility of a renewal
of conflict.
3.7.4 Requirements for Successful DDR Implementation
There are six aspects to a successful DDR conversion:
 Reduction of military expenditure
  Reorientation of military research and development
 Conversion of the arms industry
 Demobilization and reintegration
 Redevelopment of troops
 Safe disposal and management of “surplus weapons”

4.0 CONCLUSION
Enforcement of arms control agreements has proven difficult over time. Most agreements
rely on the continued desire of the participants to abide by the terms to remain effective.
Usually, when a nation no longer desires to abide by the terms, they usually will seek to
either covertly circumvent the terms or to simply end their participation in the treaty.

More recent arms control treaties have included more stringent terms on enforcement of
violations as well as verification. This last has been a major obstacle to effective
enforcement, as violators often attempt to covertly circumvent the terms of the
agreements.

5.0 SUMMARY
In this unit, we defined small arms and light weapons and as well enumerated different
types of both concepts. We also discussed the meaning of arms proliferations, the causes
and its effects coupled with brief explanation of arms control, the aims and importance of
arms control. In addition, we also learnt about demilitarization and types or methods of
demilitarization such as disarmament, demobilization and reintegration. Objectives,
prerequisite, and requirements for successful DDR were also discussed.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

1 Briefly define the following concepts: small arms, light
weapons, arms control, arms proliferation and demilitarization.
2 What factors are responsible for small arms and light
weapons proliferation?
3 Of what importance is DDR to sustainable peace of a state?