BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, WEDNESDAY 22ND MARCH 2006 - St. Kitts and
Nevis appealed on Wednesday to the United Nations Security Council for
cooperation and assistance to support the efforts of the twin-island
Federation and other nations, to "prevent, combat and eradicate the illicit
trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects."
The appeal was made by St. Kitts and Nevis' Ambassador Plenipotentiary and
Permanent Representative to the United Nations, His Excellency, Dr. Joseph
Christmas, during the 5,390th Meeting of the Security Council. It was the
first time that a St. Kitts and Nevis representative addressed the UN
Security Council.
Dr. Christmas told the Security Council that the issue of the illicit
trafficking in small arms is of grave concern to St. Kitts and Nevis.
St. Kitts and Nevis, he said, has been experiencing a significant increase
in all types of crime, in particular crimes against persons and property,
which has paralleled the increase in firearms offences.
"At the end of the 1980's, such serious crimes as murder and manslaughter
averaged about 2 per year, but over the last five years, this was averaging
over 10 per year, a five-fold increase since 1990. Meanwhile, over the same
period there was an 18-fold increase in firearms crimes and offences," said
Dr. Christmas, who pointed out that at this rate of growth in a few year's
time, the consequences would be disastrous for the country's economy, in
particular on the tourism sector, even as the Government strove to develop
it to offset the closure of the 350-year-old sugar industry in the face of
trade liberalisation pressures and escalating costs.
Dr. Christmas said that an increase in crime would also seriously undermine
the long-standing democratic structures of governance in the country and
threaten its stability.
He said that the illicit trafficking in small arms was not only having a
negative effect on St. Kitts and Nevis, but also several other Caribbean
islands and it continued to have a devastating effect on many parts of
Africa - so rich in natural resources that it should easily be among the
world's most prosperous continents - had attracted the wrong type of
players, whose greed, aided by the illicit trafficking in arms, among other
things, had helped to fuel conflicts and retard development, making Africa
the poorest continent.
The top St. Kitts and Nevis United Nations official said there was also a
corresponding link with the illicit trafficking in drugs and humans and was
of the view that all of those areas should be addressed simultaneously.
"If the concept of collective security, as emphatically underscored at the
September 2005 World Summit, is to have any real meaning, then the
international community must act to help the less able countries to combat
the scourge, he said.
Ambassador Christmas said it was a just request, because most of the
countries affected did not manufacture the weapons.
"St. Kitts and Nevis aligned itself with the urgent necessity for
international cooperation and assistance in supporting the efforts of
national Governments to prevent, control and eradicate the illicit trade in
small arms and light weapons," concluded Ambassador Christmas.