Monitoring and countering the illicit arms trade

1. Monitoring and countering the illicit arms trade

2. CURRENT EVENTS Prominent gun control advocate (California senator Leeland Yee) arrested for arms trafficking with the Philippines UN meeting on the Program of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons in June

3. CURRENT EVENTS Multiple illicit arms shipments seized in Libyan airports in the past month; Libyan arms fueling Syrian conflict • UK amendment to gun laws in order to comply with the ATT

4. CURRENT EVENTS Somalia allowed the sale of weapons to foreign arms traffickers, criminals and terrorists; UNSC considering arms ban Yemen tries to crack down on smuggling

5. POSSIBLE BLOCS • These countries support strict gun control laws: European countries,Australia, Korea, China, Japan, Brazil, Nigeria,Peru • These countries want to stop the illicit arms trade, but are against strict civilian gun control laws since many citizens hold guns: USA, India, Pakistan, Argentina,Turkey, Morocco

6. POSSIBLE BLOCS • These countries are centers of the illicit arms trade, but lack enough resources to monitor and counter it fully:Haiti, Rwanda, Bangladesh, Azerbaijan, Guatemala, Ethiopia • The governments of these countries have been extensively involved in arms smuggling, and would be against anything stopping them: Qatar, Libya

7. LANDMINES

8. CURRENT EVENTS The UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) ran a simulation called “Sweeper” that used a phone app to simulate the experience of traveling a mine zone; 4/4. 27 “powerful landmines” were found in the north-eastern Indian city of Gaya during a sanitizing operation; police arrested a Maoist commander based on a “tip-off”; 4/5

9. CURRENT EVENTS The UN called for half a billion USD for funding annual de-mining activities, seeing a current 367 million gap in the budget Landmine awareness conference held in Medellin, Colombia to support victims of landmines

10. BLOCS/GROUPS • (Alleged) usage of land mines that call for investigation in these nations: Yemen (confirmed), South Sudan, Sudan, Turkey • States that use landmines, yet remain outside of ban treaty: Syria, Myanmar

11. BLOCS/GROUPS • Nations where non-state groups have used landmines: Afghanistan, Colombia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Syria, Thailand, Tunisia, Yemen • Potential producers of landmines: China, Cuba, India, Iran, Myanmar, DPRK, Pakistan, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, USA, Vietnam

12. The question of preventing the production and procurement of chemical and biological weapons

13. Current Events • Syria’s chemical weapons handover deadline for weapons in presently inaccessible locations extended to April 27, 2014 • Half of chemical weapons stockpile in Syria removed

14. Current Events • Benue Coalition for Peace and Security urge Federal Government for UN investigation on usage of chemical weapons • EU gives 5.3 million USD to Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq for reinforcement of potentials in facing weapons of mass destruction

15. Key Organization(s) • OPCW(Organisation for the Production of Chemical Weapons) – primary organization working to prohibit and destroy chemical weapon stockpiles and related facilities

16. Groups/Blocs • States that have signed but not ratified the Biological Weapons Convention: Central African Republic, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Haiti, Liberia, Myanmar, Nepal, Somalia, Syrian Arab Republic, United Republic of Tanzania • States that have neither signed nor ratified the BWC: Andorra, Angola, Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Guinea, Israel, Kiribati, Mauritania, Federated States of Micronesia, Namibia, Niue, Samoa, South Sudan, Tuvalu

17. Groups/Blocs • States that have signed but not ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention: Israel, Myanmar • States that have neither signed nor ratified the CWC: Angola, Egypt, North Korea, South Sudan