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The arrest of the notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout highlights the need for
control of the international weapons market
 Viktor
Vassilyevich Bout began his career transporting flowers and frozen chickens
across Africa. He quickly moved on to diamonds, mining equipment, Kalashnikov
assault rifles, bullets and helicopter gunships. Having evaded an international
arrest warrant for more than five years, the notorious Russian arms dealer was
finally arrested this week in Thailand. Dubbed the "merchant of death", Bout is
regarded as one of the most prolific arms traffickers in the world, supplying
the weapons that have helped fuel wars in Afghanistan, Angola, the Democratic
Republic of Congo, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Sudan.
Since the early 1990s, Bout has overseen the development of a complex network
of airline and freight companies operating in many parts of the world. He has
been under investigation by police agencies and the UN for suspected involvement
in arms embargo-busting activities throughout sub-Saharan Africa. However,
because of the inadequate laws of most states to regulate arms brokering and
arms transporting activities, he has never been prosecuted for arms trafficking.
The impact of his business dealings is becoming clearer as the trial
of one of Bout's former customers, Charles Taylor, moves forward in The Hague.
Witnesses have testified about boys as young as nine learning to assemble and
use assault rifles, about civilians being killed en masse with machine guns and
about helicopters bringing those arms into Sierra Leone. The testimony starkly
illustrates the ease with which weapons can be procured from the likes of Bout
and other arms traffickers, who exploit legal loopholes or flout international
law, breaking one UN arms embargo after another. It also shows how easily
conventional arms and munitions move from state to state. And in Sierra Leone
and Liberia, the consequences were devastating.
It also provides a poignant example of why an international arms
trade treaty (ATT) is so desperately needed. The idea of an ATT is to create
basic international standards for how conventional weapons and munitions move
from one state to another. The global movement of nearly every other form of
weaponry including nuclear, chemical and biological weapons is strictly
controlled through international treaties. Yet, surprisingly, there is no
international treaty governing how weapons such as AK-47 assault rifles, attack
helicopters, grenade launchers and explosives move between states. These weapons
have been referred to as the real "weapons of mass destruction", a reflection of
the millions of lives that have been shattered through wars, violent crimes,
rape, torture and forced displacement. These weapons were the mainstay of Bout's
business.
Offloading weapons and munitions into embargoed countries is not a
straightforward exercise. It involves extensive procurement and logistics
networks and a variety of players, from pilots to corrupt officials, willing to
turn a blind eye. Even the legal and responsible arms trade involves a plethora
of actors. Such an international trade requires an international response. An
ATT would establish an international regime that would make it more difficult
for unscrupulous arms dealers to avoid legal and responsible arms transfer
controls. It would require the authorisation of each state involved in a
transfer of conventional arms. Such authorisation would be required before the
deal took place and any weapons were moved. This should include the activities
of arms brokers such as Bout. Prior to giving such authorisation, the proposed
ATT would require that countries assess the risk that the transfer of weapons
might be used for violations of human rights and bind them to refuse permission
where that risk is apparent.
Liberia and Sierra Leone are just two of the many countries that have
passionately advocated an ATT. Over 150 states have voted
in the UN General Assembly to take steps toward making such a treaty a reality.
A comprehensive ATT will have a real impact on the world and it will save lives.
The arrest of Viktor Bout reminds us how urgently an ATT must be achieved.
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