REPORT Small arms and human security in the Caucasus Caucasus Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development and Saferworld Taking stock: Small arms and human security in Georgia David Wood Introduction by Duncan Hiscock September 2006 Taking stock: Small arms and human security in Georgia David Wood Introduction by Duncan Hiscock CAUCASUS INSTITUTE FOR PEACE, DEMOCRACY AND DEVELOPMENT AND SAFERWORLD SEPTEMBER 2006 About the authors Duncan Hiscock is International Co-Director of the International Centre for Policy Studies in Kyiv, Ukraine. Previously he was Project Co-ordinator for Eastern Europe at Saferworld. He has studied and worked in the former Soviet Union for almost ten years. Other publications include The Caucasus: Armed and Divided (2003) with Matveeva A (eds), Security Sector Reform in Armenia (2005) with Avagyan G, and ‘The Commercialisation of Post-Soviet Private Security’ in Private Actors and Security Governance (DCAF 2006). David Wood is a Project Co-ordinator for Saferworld’s Europe programme. Other publications include the SALW Survey of Moldova (2006), SALW and Private Security Companies in South Eastern Europe: A Cause or Effect of Insecurity? (2005) with Page M, Rynn S, and Taylor Z. He has also co-ordinated development of The Sarajevo Code of Conduct for Private Security Companies and The Sarajevo Client Guidelines for the Procurement of Private Security Companies as part of the Sarajevo Process (2006). Acknowledgements The UK Government’s Global Conflict Prevention Pool funded the production of this report, and Saferworld is grateful for its generous support. This report was written by David Wood,with an introduction by Duncan Hiscock. The report was edited by Duncan Hiscock and Simon Rynn. Primary research and analysis in Georgia was conducted by Duncan Hiscock, Tata Makhatadze, Tamara Pataraia, Nino Rcheulishvili, Goska Wasilewska and David Wood.It was copy-edited for Saferworld by Robert Long. The Georgian Opinion Research Business International (GORBI) conducted the household survey and focus group discussions. Among the many individuals – acknowledged in the list of sources at the end of the report – who volunteered invaluable information and time, the research team is particularly grateful for the support of Shota Utiashvili of the Information Department of the Ministry of Interior, Mamuka Kikaleishvili of the Law Department of the Ministry of Defence, Giorgi Gogiberidze of the Licence Department of the Ministry of Justice, Zaza Khachidze of the Licence Department of the Ministry of Interior, David Darchiashvili of OSGF,Merab Pachulia of GORBI, and Ambassador MacLaren of MacLaren and William Robinson of the British Embassy, Georgia. © Saferworld, September 2006. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without full attribution. Saferworld welcomes and encourages the utilisation and dissemination of the material included in this publication. Contents Executive summary i 1 Survey background and methodology 1 2 Introduction 4 2.1 A brief history of Georgia since independence 4 2.2 The impact of the unresolved conflicts 8 2.3 Capacity and reforms 9 3 Possession of firearms 12 3.1 Legislation and regulation 13 3.2 Legal civilian firearms 17 3.3 Illegal civilian firearms 21 3.4 Sources for illegal firearms 23 3.5 Geographic distribution of firearms 25 3.6 Law enforcement 31 4 Firearm use and misuse 34 4.1 Demand for firearms 35 4.2 Demand for illegal firearms 38 4.3 Criminal impact 39 4.4 Impact on public health 47 4.5 Societal impact 50 4.6 Law enforcement 53 5 Small arms production and trade 57 5.1 Legislation and regulation 57 5.2 Manufacturing capacity 59 5.3 The internal market 59 5.4 Law enforcement 60 5.5 Administrative capacity 60 6 State small arms management 61 6.1 State small arms holdings 62 6.2 Stockpile security 65 6.3 Use of state held firearms 68 7 Collection and destruction 70 7.1 Past weapons collections 70 7.2 Lessons learnt for future weapons collections 73 7.3 Small arms destruction 75 8 International transfer controls and border management 77 8.1 Legislation and regulation 78 8.2 Recent arms transfers 85 8.3 Border controls 91 8.4 Arms trafficking 97 9 Transparency and oversight 102 9.1 Civil society oversight 103 9.2 Parliamentary oversight 105 10 Co-ordination and policy formulation 106 10.1 Arms transfer controls 106 10.2 Controls over civilian ownership and use 107 10.3 National level response 108 10.4 Regional level response 109 11 Recommendations 110 ANNEX 1: Key informant interviewees and focus groups 118 ANNEX 2: Tbilisi Plan of Action (Tbilisi, 10 June 2006) 120 Acronyms and abbreviations ADGT Arms and dual-use goods and technologies MoD Ministry of Defence ASYCUDA Automated System for Customs Data MoE Ministry of Economy and Trade BSEC Black Sea Economic Co-operation MoJ Ministry of Justice CIPDD Caucasus Institute for Peace, Democracy MFA Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Development MTC Military Technical Commission CIS Commonwealth of Independent States NAMSA NATO Maintenance and Supply Agency CIVPOL Civilian Police NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organisation COMTRADE UN Commodity Trade Statistics Database NISAT Norwegian Initiative on Small Arms Transfers CUG Citizens Union of Georgia NMS National Military Strategy ENP European Neighbourhood Policy NSC National Security Council EU European Union NSS National Security Strategy EU CoC EU Code of Conduct on Arms Exports OSCE Organisation for Security and Co-operation EUSR EU Special Representative in Europe GBSLE Georgia Border Security and Law OSGF Open Society Georgia Foundation Enforcement PfP Partnership for Peace (NATO) GDP Gross Domestic Product PGA Parliamentarians for Global Action GEL Georgian Lari PKF Peacekeeping Force GORBI Georgian Opinion Research Business PoA UN Programme of Action International SALW Small arms and light weapons GTEP Georgia Train and Equip Programme SECI Southeast European Co-operative Initiative GTZ Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit (Germany) SIPRI Stockholm International Peace Research Institute GUAM Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova SOD Special Operative Department ICD-10 International Classification of Diseases ToE Table of Organisation and Equipment IDP Internally displaced person UN United Nations IMF International Monetary Fund UNDDA United Nations Department for Disarmament ISAB International Security Advisory Board Affairs JACIG Joint Arms Control Implementation Group UNDP United Nations Development Programme JPKF Joint Peacekeeping Force UNITA National Union for the Total Independence of KPS Kosovo Police Service Angola IOM International Organisation for Migration UNOMIG United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia IPAP Individual Partnership Action Plan US United States MAP Membership Action Plan VLEC Virtual Law Enforcement Centre MIA Ministry of Internal Affairs WHO World Health Organisation Georgia RUSSIAN FEDERATION INGUSHETIA ABKHAZIA Kodori Gorge CHECHNYA Sukhumi NORTH OSSETIA RATCHA-LECHKHUMI Gali SAMEGRELO KVEMO SVANETI ZEMO SVANETI Ambrolauri Zugdidi SOUTH OSSETIA Pankisi (Tskhinvali region) Kutaisi Gorge Tskhinvali MTSKHETA- BLACK SEA MTIANETI DAGESTAN Poti GEORGIA IMERETI Gori GURIA SHIDA KARTLI Telavi Mtskheta Batumi AJARA Akhaltsikhe KAKHETI Tbilisi SAMTSKHE- JAVAKHETI KVEMO KARTLI Marneuli Rustavi Red Bridge Akhalkalaki Territory controlled by Georgian Government TURKEY Territory outside Government control AZERBAIJAN ARMENIA Executive summary TAKING STOCK: SMALL ARMS AND HUMAN SECURITY IN GEORGIA presents the findings of research conducted on small arms and light weapons (SALW) and human security issues in Georgia by the non-governmental organisations Saferworld (UK) and the Caucasus Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development (CIPDD, Georgia). The report is comprehensive in scope, considering the ownership of small arms in the country, their use and misuse, their impact on individuals, communities and the state, public attitudes and perceptions towards arms and security, and the capacity of state institutions to control the proliferation and misuse of small arms. The research for this survey was undertaken during a seven-month period from December 2005 to June 2006. A variety of methods were used during the research, including a nationwide household survey of 1,300 respondents (excluding Abkhazia and South Ossetia), 14 focus group discussions, interviews with more than 50 key officials and opinion-formers and a review of official data and media reports. The report is intended as a practical reference tool to aid policy makers in developing effective responses to the outstanding small arms problems facing Georgia at this time. To this end, periodic consultation meetings were organised as part of the research process so that officials from the Georgian Government might review preliminary research findings and comment on them. The views expressed during these consultations are reflected in the final research report. Although this survey analysed the impact on arms proliferation and security of the two areas of Georgia’s internationally recognised territory that remain outside the control of the central Government – Abkhazia and South Ossetia – it is focussed primarily on those areas currently under Tbilisi’s control. This is purely because of a variety of practical difficulties related to undertaking such research in these areas during 2005–2006. Background Small arms proliferation and misuse has had a dramatic