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Applying Conventional Arms Control in the Context of United Nations Arms Embargoes

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Applying Conventional Arms Control in the Context of United Nations Arms Embargoes Applying conventional arms control in the context of United Nations arms embargoes Acknowledgements Support from UNIDIR core funders provides the foundation for all of the Institute’s activities. This project is supported by the Governments of Germany and Switzerland. This report was made possible through the facilitation and cooperation of former and current members of the Security Council. UNIDIR would like to express its appreciation to the United Nations partners, namely the United Nations Department of Political Affairs, United Nations Mine Action Service and the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, which all contributed to this study. Additionally, UNIDIR would like to thank former and current members of the Panel of Experts for their valuable inputs and feedback on this report. This report would not have been possible without the support and close cooperation of all partners mentioned above. Savannah de Tessières drafted this report, with support from Himayu Shiotani, Jonah Leff, Franziska Seethaler and Sebastian Wilkin. Himayu Shiotani edited this report, with support from Sebastian Wilkin and John Borrie. At UNIDIR, Himayu Shiotani managed this project. About UNIDIR The United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR)—an autonomous institute within the United Nations—conducts research on disarmament and security. UNIDIR is based in Geneva, Switzerland, the centre for bilateral and multilateral disarmament and non-proliferation negotiations, and home of the Conference on Disarmament. The Institute explores current issues pertaining to a variety of existing and future armaments, as well as global diplomacy and local tensions and conflicts. Working with researchers, diplomats, government officials, NGOs and other institutions since 1980, UNIDIR acts as a bridge between the research community and Governments. UNIDIR activities are funded by contributions from Governments and donor foundations. Note The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The views expressed in the publication are the sole responsibility of the individual authors. They do not necessary reflect the views or opinions of the United Nations, UNIDIR, its staff members or sponsors. www.unidir.org © UNIDIR 2018 CONTENTS About the research team ........................................................................................................................ vii List of acronyms and abbreviations....................................................................................................... viii 1 Key findings ............................................................................................................................. 1 2 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 4 2.1 Structure............................................................................................................................ 4 2.2 Scope and methodology ................................................................................................... 5 3 United Nations sanctions and arms embargoes ....................................................................... 7 3.1 Sanctions regimes and arms embargoes .......................................................................... 7 3.2 Scope of arms embargo restrictions ................................................................................. 7 4 Benchmarks to assess and modify sanctions regimes .............................................................. 9 4.1 General benchmarks ......................................................................................................... 9 4.2 Benchmarks specific to the reassessment of arms embargoes ........................................ 9 5 Processes and practices related to arms embargo modifications ........................................... 11 6 Sources of information supporting the assessment and modification of arms embargoes .... 13 6.1 Monitoring the implementation of arms embargoes ..................................................... 13 6.1.1 Sanctions Committees .......................................................................................................13 6.1.2 Panels of Experts ...............................................................................................................14 6.1.3 The Secretariat ...................................................................................................................14 6.1.4 United Nations missions ....................................................................................................15 6.1.5 Additional sources of information .....................................................................................15 6.2 Assessing national WAM capacity ................................................................................... 15 7 Evolution of embargo-related arms control obligations ........................................................ 17 7.1 Arms control obligations related to United Nations arms embargoes ........................... 17 7.2 Specific arms control obligations related to transfers of exempted materiel ................ 23 7.2.1 Pre-transfer approval requests and notifications..............................................................23 7.2.2 Post-delivery controls ........................................................................................................23 7.3 Reporting as part of arms embargoes ............................................................................ 24 7.4 Legal, regulatory and procedural framework ................................................................. 25 8 Observations ......................................................................................................................... 26 8.1 Conducting assessment on WAM capacity at the national level .................................... 26 8.2 Potential development of benchmarks to assess arms embargoes ............................... 26 i 8.3 Promoting a cooperative approach with national authorities, including development of a roadmap ....................................................................................................................... 27 8.4 Strengthening and tailoring the design and use of arms control obligations ................ 28 8.5 Ensuring safeguards after lifting of sanctions/arms embargoes .................................... 29 8.6 Supporting Security Council members in building their knowledge and understanding of the technical aspects of arms embargoes .................................................................. 29 Case Studies Annex 1: Evolution of the arms embargo in Central African Republic ......................................... 31 1 Key findings ........................................................................................................................... 31 1.1 Adoption and evolution of arms embargo measures ..................................................... 31 1.2 Benchmarks ..................................................................................................................... 31 1.3 Arms embargo obligations .............................................................................................. 31 2 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 32 3 Evolution of the arms embargo in Central African Republic ................................................... 33 3.1 December 2013: Establishment of arms embargo and Sanctions Committee (resolution 2127) ............................................................................................................................... 34 3.1.1 Why was resolution 2127 adopted? ..................................................................................34 3.2 January 2014: The Security Council extends the arms embargo, specifies exemptions, and links arms control to SSR and DDR (resolution 2134) .............................................. 35 3.3 April 2014: MINUSCA is established with the mandate to assist the 2127 committee (resolution 2149) ............................................................................................................. 36 3.4 January 2015: Following the Panel of Experts stressing the lack of progress, the Security Council extends key arms embargo provisions and calls on transitional authorities to develop national WAM capacities (resolution 2196) .............................. 36 3.5 January 2016: The Security Council extends arms embargo provisions, specifies exemptions and highlights the regional nature of arms proliferation (resolution 2262) ............................................................................................................................... 37 3.6 January 2017: The Council calls for the development of national WAM capacity and requests the Secretariat to propose options for the elaboration of benchmarks (resolution 2339) ............................................................................................................. 38 3.7 January 2018: Developments related to national commission on small arms and light weapons, cooperation
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