Arms confiscated during and after violent conflicts often remain untouched, technically capable of being revived for later use...

UGANDA TO DESTROY 57,000 WEAPONS
NATION WILL DISMANTLE WEAPONS SEIZED FROM ILLEGAL SOURCES, MILITARY WEAPONS BEYOND USE
24 May 2006

The nation of Uganda is taking important steps toward reducing the risk of regional arms poliferation, by destroying a stockpile of old and out-of-use weapons and weapons seized from illegal sources. The move is part of Uganda's pledge to the 2004 Nairobi Protocol, which required signatory nations of Africa's Great Lakes region to reduce the threat of proliferation of light arms across borders, to the peril of civilian populations and political stability.

The project begain in Jinja, 80km to the east of Kampala, the capital city, as the military destroyed 7,000 weapons in a steel rolling mill. Those weapons included light arms seized by or put aside by the Ugandan military, dating back to the colonial period and following through up to the present.

The full project, slated to last one month, will be funded by the UN Development Programme. Experts in demobilization of small arms, from both the UN and a South African agency called Safe Africa, will be assisting the Ugandan military with procedure in identifying, examining and disposing of the weapons.

Steel is separated from wood and rubber, and the metal parts are sold as scrap. The revenue from the sales of the scrapmetal are then redirected into the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Defense. The next phase of the project will be the destruction of bombs of varying sizes and other ammunition, at Nakasongola.

A legacy of fractious cross-border warfare throughout the region has left an extensive stock of confiscated, disused or malfunctioning weapons. The problem is such that in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, which suffered a brutal and protracted civil war, a group of artists grabbed world attention by using demobilized weapons to create sculptures, the centerpiece of which is the "Tree of Life", a sign of how imagination and creativity can bring a society past violent conflict as a solution to factional crises. [s]

• Panapress: "Uganda to destroy 57,000 guns, ammo"

BACKGROUND:
AMNESTY REPORTS INTERNATIONAL ARMS TRADE 'OUT OF CONTROL'
HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP SAYS 'OPAQUE CHAIN' OF PRIVATE INTERESTS INCREASING SHIPMENTS OF DANGEROUS ARMS, WITH LITTLE SUPERVISION
10 May 2006

Amnesty International has published a new report examining the international arms trade, and its findings indicate there is little control on the expanding web of private interests seeking to profit from a proliferation of dangerous weapons. The report also illustrates the ways in which this scattering of dangerous weapons has lead to severe human rights abuses. [Full Story]

4 MILLION KILLED IN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO SINCE 1998
OUT OF SIGHT OF WORLD MEDIA, MILLIONS HAVE BEEN KILLED BY ONGOING CONFLICT, DISEASE, POVERTY
12 February 2006

Ongoing armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo has taken an estimated 4 million lives since 1998. Estimates range from attributing 2 to 4 million deaths to the 5 year war, to placing 3 million during the war and 1 to 2 million more in fractious post-conflict unrest and deprivation. The Lancet reports 36,000 people per month are still dying from armed conflict, criminal violence, disease and malnutrition. [Full Story]

'TREE OF LIFE' MAKES USED WEAPONS INTO SIGN OF HOPE
11 July 2005

In the wake of Mozambique's long civil war, lasting from 1976 to 1992, a group of artists set up the Transforming Arms into Tools project in the nation's capital, Maputo. Sculptors use decomissioned weapons, and parts of weapons to make art, expressing the possibility of finding new ways to secure and advance civil society. [Full Story]