US embassy cable - 05GABORONE1015

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 GABORONE 001015 
 
SIPDIS 
 
AF/S FOR MUNCY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PARM, KCRM, BC, POL/MIL 
SUBJECT:  GOB PLANS TO COMBAT SMALL ARMS PROLIFERATION 
 
 
1.  SUMMARY:  The Government of Botswana has adopted a three- 
year national action plan to combat proliferation of small 
arms but intends to approach G-8 nations, and specifically 
the United States, to request financial assistance to meet 
its USD 2 million budget.  Subsequent to its participation 
in numerous international and regional events on this topic, 
the GOB collaborated with South African NGO SaferAfrica to 
conduct an assessment of the proliferation of small arms in 
Botswana.  A national plan arose from that assessment.  In a 
June 27 meeting, the GOB and SaferAfrica briefed 
representatives from the US, UK, German, French and Russian 
missions on the plan and the Government's intention to 
formally request financial assistance in implementing.  END 
SUMMARY 
 
GOB PLANS ACTION AGAINST SMALL ARMS TRAFFICKING 
 
2.  In a June 27 meeting attended by International Law 
Enforcement Academy (Gaborone) Director Seymour Jones, 
Riccardo DeCaris, representing SaferAfrica, outlined 
Botswana's National Plan for Arms Management and 
Disarmament.  SaferAfrica had worked with Botswana's 
National Focal Point (NFP), which includes Government 
agencies such as the police service, the military, the MFA, 
the Office of the President as well as several NGOs, to 
develop this document.  The plan describes 18 objectives and 
the specific tasks required to achieve them over a three- 
year period.  Meeting these objectives would further develop 
the government's institutional capacity, assist in the 
formulation of policy and legislation, promote public 
awareness, improve management of the national stockpile of 
small arms, increase regional and international cooperation, 
enhance border controls, and support further research on 
this problem. 
 
GOB LOOKING FOR FUNDING TO IMPLEMENT PLAN 
 
3.  The National Plan describes in detail a required budget 
of USD 2,017,000 -- USD 716,355 in year one, USD 621,700 in 
year two and USD 678,000 in year three.  So far, however, 
the Government lacks the resources to implement this plan. 
Consequently, it invited representatives of the G-8 
countries to a June 27 briefing to make them aware of the 
plan and of the GOB's intention to formally request their 
financial assistance in making it a reality. 
 
4.  Although the plan anticipates that 2004-2005 would be 
year one, implementation has not yet begun.  The GOB did, 
however, finish on July 5 a series of training workshops for 
members of multi-sectoral district-level task teams on small 
arms.  The NFP anticipates that these teams will promote 
popular awareness of small arms proliferation and provide 
education on firearms safety. 
 
BACKGROUND 
 
5.  Botswana is a party to 1) the SADC Protocol on the 
Control of Firearms, Ammunition and other related materials; 
2) the Bamako Declaration on an African Common Position on 
the Illicit Proliferation, Circulation and Trafficking of 
Small Arms and Light Weapons; 3) the United Nations 
Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the 
Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All its 
Aspects; and 4) the Protocol against the Illicit 
Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Their Parts, 
Components, and Ammunition, supplementing the UN Convention 
Against Transnational Organized Crime. 
 
6.  Pursuant to these commitments, the GOB established the 
NFP on small arms and convened the First National 
Consultative Conference on Firearm Control, Ownership and 
Administration in Botswana May 13-15, 2003.  That conference 
recommended that the Government and civil society work 
together to produce a national plan of action.    It also 
called for the expansion of the NFP to include civil society 
representatives, the review of the Firearms and Ammunition 
Act, and the creation of a forum for discussion of this 
issue among civil society organizations. 
 
7.  Before drafting the National Action Plan, the NFP 
consulted with SaferAfrica and collaborated on an assessment 
of the problem of light arms proliferation in Botswana. 
This involved workshops with law enforcement personnel and 
with members of civil society and a popular attitudes survey 
conducted in October and November 2003.  The information and 
recommendations derived from this process informed the 
drafting the National Action Plan, which the GOB formally 
launched on August 2, 2004. 
 
COMMENT 
 
8.  The GOB has shown commendable vision in proactively 
seeking to prevent the proliferation of small arms so 
rampant in some of its neighbors from spreading to Botswana. 
Mission believes that assisting the GOB to fund its 
implementation of this plan would valuably enhance our law 
enforcement engagement with the GOB and significantly 
promote regional stability. 
HUGGINS