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South Africa arms Swazi government ahead of crackdown on pro-democracy protests
By guest editor Guy Lamb
Senior Research Fellow
Institute for Security Studies
Last week the National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC) tabled South Africa's 2010 arms export report in the National Assembly. The report reveals that the South African government approved the export of arms, ammunition and riot control equipment to Swaziland totalling R11 million. This transaction is deeply concerning given the recent crackdown on pro-democracy protests, and that the National Conventional Arms Control Act compels the NCACC to avoid approving arms transfers "to governments that systematically violate or suppress human rights and fundamental freedoms".
The Act does not provide a definition of "systematic" human rights violations, which makes it difficult to determine if the arms exports to Swaziland constituted an actual breach of South African arms export legislation. Nonetheless, given the decades of autocratic rule and suppression by the Swazi monarchy of popular agitation for democratic reforms, the decision by the South African government to approve such arms sales is questionable.
The 2010 arms export report shows that Swaziland was not the only problematic destination for South African manufactured arms and related equipment. There was a noticeable amplification in arms sales to undemocratic governments (many of which have chequered human rights records) in the Middle East and North Africa. Between 2007 and 2010 there were sizeable increase in arms sales to the following countries: Egypt from R21.3 million to R97 million; Jordan from 14.2 million to 28.2 million; Libya from R1.3 million to R69 million; and UAE from R183.2 million to R577.6 million. In 2010, both Syria (R7.8 million) and Yemen (R373.9 million) became clients of the South African defence industry.
Syria and Yemen are of particular concern. In 2009 and 2010 international human rights watchdogs, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, implicated both governments in widespread human rights abuses. Syrians have been living under a state of emergency since the early 1960s, and the Yemeni government has increasingly pursued repressive measures against its own people in the name of the war on terror. In 2009, cluster munitions, which have been outlawed by an international convention, were allegedly used against civilians in Yemen.
The inclusion of the human rights criteria in the Act was motivated by Parliament's apprehension that South African arms may be used to injure and kill civilians, and that systematic violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms may result in instability and war. Recent developments in Egypt and Libya support such a concern, and should inform future NCACC decisions.
The NCACC is also required to consider the diligence of the arms control system of the recipient country, and is required to adhere to UN arms embargoes. These guidelines were enacted in order to reduce the probability that South African arms will be re-exported to conflict zones and/or in violation of UN arms embargoes. In this regard, arms exports to Syria and Yemen are also questionable. The Syrian government has been implicated in supplying arms to insurgent groups in Palestine in violation of a UN arms embargo. In addition, UN Security Council investigators have consistently implicated Yemeni sources as being the main suppliers of weapons to insurgents and pirates in Somalia, a country that is subject to a UN arms embargo.
The NCACC's approval of R122.8 million arms sales to the Republic of Congo is puzzling, as in 2009 the South African authorities apprehended a ship that was seeking to deliver North Korean arms to Brazzaville, which was in violation of a UN arms embargo against North Korea. This incident was indication that the Republic of Congo's arms control regime may lack credibility. In the coming weeks it is crucial that the relevant Parliamentary committee carefully scrutinise the arms export report and call on the NCACC to explain their more controversial decisions. The reason for this is that Parliament is not only the custodian of the National Conventional Arms Control Act, but more importantly its main role is to hold Cabinet to account for its actions.
For more on this story or arms management in Africa, contact our guest editor Guy Lamb
ISS Weekly Editor
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