4 How Many Weapons Are There in Cambodia? By Christina Wille A Working Paper of the Small Arms Survey The Small Arms Survey Contents The Small Arms Survey is an independent research project located at the Acronyms and abbreviations ...................................................................................................................................................... 5 Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva, Switzerland. It serves as About the author ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 6 the principal source of public information on all aspects of small arms and as a resource centre for governments, policy-makers, researchers, and activists. Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 7 Established in 1999, the project is supported by the Swiss Federal Depart- Introduction .............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 8 ment of Foreign Affairs, and by contributions from the Governments of Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the United I. Approaches to estimating the size of Kingdom. The Survey is also grateful for past and current project-specifi c sup- small arms and light weapons stockpiles ............................................................................................................... 9 port received from Australia, Denmark, and New Zealand. Further funding has II. Traditions and cultural patterns of civilian gun been provided by the United Nations Development Programme, the United ownership in Cambodia prior to the civil war and factional Nations Institute for Disarmament Research, the Geneva International Academic attitudes to civilian fi rearms access during the civil war ....................................................... 12 Network, and the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining. The role of fi rearms in rural life prior to the war .......................................................................................... 12 The Small Arms Survey collaborates with research institutes and non-govern- mental organizations in many countries, including Brazil, Canada, Georgia, Firearms ownership among Cambodia’s elite ................................................................................................. 13 Germany, India, Israel, Jordan, Norway, the Russian Federation, South Africa, Civil war, factional fi ghting, and civilian gun ownership ............................................................ 14 Sri Lanka, Sweden, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. III. Factions and their weapons: estimating the number The Working Paper series is published periodically and is available on the of civil war weapons in Cambodia ................................................................................................................................. 16 project’s Web site. Cambodian People’s Armed Forces (CPAF) and the Small Arms Survey Cambodia People’s Party (CPP) ............................................................................................................................................. 16 Graduate Institute of International Studies The anti-communist opposition forces: Khmer People’s 47 Avenue Blanc, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland National Liberation Armed Forces (KPNLAF) and Phone: +41 22 908 5777 National Army of Independent Kampuchea (ANKI) .......................................................................... 18 Fax: +41 22 732 2738 Khmer Rouge ....................................................................................................................................................................................................... 19 Email: [email protected] IV. How many weapons were brought under Web site: www.smallarmssurvey.org government control during the 1990s? ..................................................................................................................... 21 Creation of the RCAF and police ........................................................................................................................................... 21 Weapons collection, confi scation, and destruction .................................................................................. 22 2 Small Arms Survey Working Paper 4 Wille How Many Weapons Are There in Cambodia? 3 Imports and exports .................................................................................................................................................................................. 23 Acronyms and abbreviations Putting the estimates together .................................................................................................................................................. 29 V. Triangulation .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 31 VI. Is this a new number? ............................................................................................................................................................... 35 ANKI National Army of Independent Kampuchea (formerly ANS) Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 37 ANS Armée Nationale Sihanoukiste Endnotes ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 38 CPAF Cambodian People’s Armed Forces CPP Cambodia People’s Party Bibliography ........................................................................................................................................................................................................ 40 EU ASAC European Union’s Assistance on Curbing Small Arms and Light Weapons in the Kingdom of Cambodia EUR euro FUNCINPEC Front uni national pour un Cambodge indépendant, neutre, pacifi que et coopératif JSAC Japan Assistance Team for Small Arms Management in Cambodia KPNLAF Khmer People’s National Liberation Armed Forces KPNLF Khmer People’s National Liberation Front KPRAF Khmer People’s Revolutionary Armed Forces LTTE Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam NADK National Army of Democratic Kampuchea RCAF Royal Cambodian Armed Forces USD United States dollar 4 Small Arms Survey Working Paper 4 Wille How Many Weapons Are There in Cambodia? 5 About the author Acknowledgements Christina Wille has been a staff member of the Small Arms Survey since Feb- This Working Paper is the result of a review of available sources on weapons ruary 2003. She has managed and coordinated several research projects and has proliferation in Cambodia. It benefi ted from substantial input from Peter carried out fi eldwork in Southeast and Central Asia and sub-Saharan Africa on Bartu and support and insight from David de Beer. Vital information was pro- human security issues related to small arms and migration. A particular focus vided by Adrian Sprangemeijer, Alain Perigaud, Seng Son, and the JSAC team. of her work has been identifi cation of indicators to measure human security. ‘Troung’, a contributor to the Air Combat Information Group, also provided Prior to joining the Small Arms Survey, she served as junior expert to the Euro- valuable facts. Anne-Kathrin Glatz and Nicholas Marsh provided important pean Commission in Slovenia and worked as researcher for the Asian Research help with respect to Comtrade import data. Barbara Gimelli Sulashvili con- Center for Migration in Bangkok and the Migration Policy Group in Brussels. tributed through her careful fact-checking. The paper further benefi ted from She holds degrees from the Universities of Cambridge and Durham in the Alex Potter’s editing skills. United Kingdom. 6 Small Arms Survey Working Paper 4 Wille How Many Weapons Are There in Cambodia? 7 Introduction I. Approaches to estimating the size of small arms and light weapons stockpiles This background paper explains the evidence and logic for the small arms and light weapons stockpile estimates for Cambodia that are presented in the In the absence of reliable registration data, stockpile fi gures are always estimates. 2006 Small Arms Survey yearbook chapter (Small Arms Survey, 2006) and Small arms research usually makes a distinction between government stock- other Small Arms Survey publications on Cambodia. These state that there piles and privately owned fi rearms. The fi rst category is somewhat easier to are 107,000–188,000 small arms and light weapons presently in government estimate than the latter. Some governments provide public information on 22 000 85 000 stockpiles, and , – , weapons outside of government control. their small arms and light weapon stockpiles. This information can be used to The estimate of legal and illegal stockpiles was carried out during 2005. It is derive typical multipliers of the number of small arms per soldier (Small Arms based on interviews