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Arms embargo '25% effective'
27/11/2007 18:14 - (SA)
Stockholm - Arms embargoes imposed by the United Nations since 1990 have been efficient in only about one-quarter of the cases, according to a new study.
The report, compiled by The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute and the Uppsala University Special Programme on the Implementation of Targeted Sanctions, said UN arms embargoes have had limited impact on both the compliance of targeted countries and the arms that flow to them.
The study looked at 27 UN arms embargoes imposed between 1990 and 2006, including the cases of Iraq, Iran and Taliban-controlled Afghanistan as well as African countries such as Liberia, Rwanda and Sierra Leone.
"There appears to be a correlation between the imposition of a UN arms embargo and improved target behaviour in only a quarter of the annual observations made for the 27 mandatory UN arms embargoes studied," it said.
This was in spite of the arms embargo being "one of the most frequently used forms of sanctions" to maintain international peace and security, it said.
The main problems were listed as corruption, sanctioned targets still having access to arms within the country itself and neighbouring and other embargoed countries helping each other secure arms supplies.
In cases where UN peacekeepers were present, however, the restrictions were respected more, it said.
To improve the effects of arms embargoes, the report proposed to the UN Security Council a set of recommendations including getting countries to criminalise violations, target those that assist in violating them as well as conducting regular reviews of compliance.
- AP
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