LATEST IANSA NEWS

IANSA Update 16.05.08* Mexico: 6 high-ranking police shot dead* Nepal: Arms proliferation fuelled by lack of government* Bolivia: Confiscation of illegal guns* Austria: €100,000 pledged to UN Asia-Pacific* Spain: DRC activist speaks on peace building* Thailand: Geneva Declaration Conference* REMINDER: Two weeks to the Global Week of Action Against Gun Violence* Other news: Workshops in Nepal and Uganda; US campaigner honoured; Reports on peace processes, EU, DRC; Jobs+++Six senior police officials have been shot dead in Mexico in less than a week. Police Chief Juan Antonio Roman was the latest victim of violence against security forces, believed to be in retaliation to a government crackdown on organised crime. IANSA member Guadalupe Gonzalez, from the Centre for Strategic Analysis and International Negotiation (CAENI), said ‘We are increasingly concerned about the growing number of criminal acts committed with aggravated violence and with the use of firearms.’ According to the BBC, 95% of small arms in Mexico originate from gun shops across the border in the US. CAENI is calling for better international tracing to monitor the flow of guns across the US-Mexico border.www.iansa.org The absence of an established government in Nepal has led to a proliferation of small arms in the Terai region, according to local analysts. As political parties struggle for power, criminals and armed groups are taking advantage of the insecurity to import large numbers of weapons. Arms are thought to be coming across the porous border from the Indian state of Bihar. Civil society is calling for the new government to regulate small arms in cooperation with India, and to increase security in the Terai region and at the Nepalese-Indian border. IANSA member SASANet Nepal said, ‘There must be continued dialogue between the Indian and Nepalese government to develop effective security across the border and prevent the proliferation of weapons within the Terai region’.www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=78188 The Bolivian government issued a decree on 30 April ordering the seizure of all illegal guns in civilian hands. It also requires an inventory of weapons held by the Armed Forces and police. IANSA member CEJIP acknowledged the decree as an initial step toward disarmament, but stressed that Bolivia still needs a comprehensive firearms law. www.cejipbolivia.org Austria has pledged €100,000 to the UN Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific. The Centre in Kathmandu (Nepal) seeks to combat arms trafficking in the region. www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=26597&Cr=disarmament&Cr1= Flory Kayembe, coordinator of the Congolese Small Arms Network, spoke on DRC’s peace building process at an event held by Fundacio per la Pau in Barcelona (Spain). He highlighted the impact of armed violence and arms proliferation, including the experience of child soldiers. His speech is on our website at: www.iansa.org/regions/cafrica/cafrica.htm A regional meeting on the Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and Development was held in Bangkok (Thailand) on 8-9 May. Several Asian NGOs participated. In total 85 countries have now adopted the Geneva Declaration.REMINDER: Only 2 weeks remain until the Global Week of Action Against Gun Violence (2-8 June)! Please contact bruce.millar@iansa.org for information or suggestions, and visit www.iansa.org/campaigns_events/WoA2008/ Just in time for the Week of Action, Control Arms has produced materials for its new campaign ‘The World is Watching’. Download from:www.iansa.org/campaigns_events/WoA2008/ +++Other News:* South-South cooperation: Qamar Nassim of Blue Veins (Pakistan), member of the IANSA Women’s Network, led a fundraising workshop for NGOs in Nepal on 15-16 May, with assistance from South Asia Partnership Nepal. The Women's Network facilitated and supported this regional initiative. * A workshop on UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security was held in Uganda on 17-18 April. Canon Joyce Nima, member of the IANSA Women’s Network, taught on Gender, Ethics and Cultural Dimensions in Small Arms Research. A report on the workshop can be found at:www.iansa.org/women * The Rainbow/PUSH coalition in the US has honoured Jennifer Bishop for her work with victims and survivors at the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. Jennifer’s sister and her husband were shot dead in a robbery in 1990.www.bradycampaign.org/media/release.php?release=979 * In a new report by the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue in Geneva, former guerrillas, mediators, and observers of peace processes reflect on how weapons control, violence reduction, and DDR feature in peace talks and agreements. Available in English and (soon) in Spanish: www.hdcentre.org/projects/negotiating-disarmament * ‘The Impact on Domestic Policy of the EU Code of Conduct on Arms Exports’ is the latest policy paper from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).http://books.sipri.org/product_info?c_product_id=359 * IANSA Women's Network member RODHECIC has published its April review of media reports on armed violence in DR Congo.www.iansa.org/regions/cafrica/cafrica.htm * Vacancies are available at North-South Institute, War on Want, Oxfam International, and Women's International League for Peace and Freedom.www.iansa.org/jobs