Most illicit small arms and light weapons begin as legally manufactured or imported weapons that are subsequently diverted to the illicit realm.
Tracing is the systematic tracking of illicit small arms or light weapons from their point of manufacture or most recent import, through their lines of supply, to their last legal title-holder, in order to determine the point, in space and time, at which they became illicit.
Reliably identifying a weapon’s point of diversion is crucial to preventing future diversions. It enables law enforcement officials to develop investigative leads.
The challenges are often greater in the context of armed conflict, where weapons tracing is rarely carried out. This leaves under-used an important means to identify the actors responsible for small arms and light weapons trafficking, to hold them to account, and thereby to contribute to preventing, combating and eradicating the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons.
Successfully tracing an illicit small arm or light weapon involves the following steps:
Ammunition does not usually carry a unique marking. Therefore, cartridges are more difficult to trace than small arms. Most often, small arms ammunition bears a headstamp with a factory and production year code. The serial number of the lot or batch which may include thousands of cartridges, is typically marked on the packaging of that lot or batch. When the serial number is available because the packaging has been found, it may still be difficult to ascertain a point of diversion. Ammunition from the same, identically marked lot may have reached multiple customers, which hinders the identification of a single point of diversion.
Because production and supply chains in military markets are distinctly different from civilian markets, it is usually easier to identify sources, trafficking patterns and diversion points of military-style ammunition, than successfully tracing ammunition for handguns and pistols.
Arms embargoes
Ammunition marked with its production year remains a critical element in monitoring the implementation of Security Council arms embargoes. Panels of experts tasked with such monitoring rely on recovered ammunition to determine whether it was transferred to embargoed actors or destinations after the imposition of the embargo.
Staff of peacekeeping missions with embargo-monitoring mandates need further training in the correct recording of information from recovered ammunition. Such training could be targeted at the mission personnel most likely to encounter ammunition, including members of an embargo monitoring cell, military observers and police personnel. Just as with records of weapon markings, the collected information could then be made available to arms embargo monitoring groups.
In addition, expert panels that monitor arms embargoes would be aided in their work if Member States provided information about the markings applied to ammunition for small arms and light weapons by producers under their jurisdiction and the markings on ammunition recovered from illicit use.
The systematic collection, adequate recording and publication of information concerning the markings on recovered illicit ammunition for small arms and light weapons would enhance transparency and accountability in the arms and ammunition trade and help significantly to limit the scope of the illicit trade.
The indicator under SDG Target 16.4 focuses on weapons tracing. Many States do not have the police capacity to trace weapons, or to collect data on their weapons tracing. This capacity needs to be built. Improving weapons tracing mechanisms in developing countries would be a key contribution to weapons control, and a key contribution to attaining the SDGs.
Disarmament in Review
