Apr 6, 2021 | Uncategorized
From 6-16 April 2021, the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC), in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of El Salvador, delivered the Specialized Course on Firearms Investigations from a Gender Perspective (FIGP).
The course, as well as helping to sensitize participants on the importance of the gender perspective in tackling crimes committed with firearms, strengthens the technical knowledge of the scientific method of criminal investigation and interinstitutional cooperation in these fields.
36 (thirty-six) people appointed by the Supreme Court of the Nation, the Attorney General’s Office, the National Academy of Public Security (ANSP), and the National Civil Police were trained. Notable participants were: judges specializing in sentencing and training for a life free of violence and discrimination against women; prosecutors from the unit for crimes related to life and bodily harm, and from the unit specialized in gang crime and homicides; national police officers, including from the Gender Unit, the Forensic Science Technical Subdirectorate, Case Control, Discipline and Support for Investigations. Officials from ANSP, the Division of Professional Development, and the Division of Studies, among other areas, also participated.
The diverse nature of the group emphasized one of FIGP’s objectives: strengthening staff coordination and cooperation to optimize individual and collective efforts to tackle crimes related to violence against women and firearms.
The course was carried out virtually and was separated into six interactive conferences, in which participants could present their experiences and talk to UNLIREC instructors. The conferences addressed theoretical and technical aspects of criminal investigation and the way in which the gender perspective as a method of analysis helps us reach conclusions free from stereotypes, grounded in objective technical or scientific studies that are based on relevant theory. Case studies were conducted to highlight the absence of a gender perspective, which violates the rights of victims and their families.
During the training, emphasis was placed on the use of firearms to commit different types of violence against women, not only as a murder weapon, but also as a means to threaten, intimidate and coerce. The training stressed the importance of the correct management of a crime scene and of firearms and ammunition as physical evidence in investigations from a gender perspective. The course shared good practices with participants and urged them to strengthen interaction and cooperation across the different stages of judicial investigation, to optimize individual and collective efforts to tackle crimes related to firearms with special attention given to cases of gender-based violence. This helps to reduce levels of impunity and improves justice and security institutions.
This course forms part of the ‘Support for the integration of the gender perspective in politics, programmes and action in the fight against trafficking and the misuse of small arms’ project, funded by the European Union.
Mar 29, 2021 | Uncategorized
On 29 March, UNLIREC participated as a panelist in one of the Gender Equality Forum’s thematic sessions on “Crises in achieving gender equality in peace, security and humanitarian action”.
Launched in Mexico last month, the Generation Equality Forum is a global meeting for gender equality. Convened by UN Women and co-chaired by the Governments of Mexico and France, there is also leadership and participation from civil society. The event takes place 25 years after the Fourth World Conference on Women and the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, enabling a review of progress and the creation of a platform that proposes concrete measures to advance gender equality by 2030. The Forum will culminate in France in June 2021.
The Generation Equality Forum promotes, among other actions, the Compact on Women, Peace, Security and Humanitarian Action, designed to foster the implementation of existing commitments. Within this context, the sessions “Crises in achieving gender equality in peace and humanitarian action” were held from 29 to 31 March. The sessions were aimed at enhancing coordination efforts for the implementation of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda, as well as understanding and strengthening links with underlying agendas, such as youth, peace and security; protection of human rights and environmental defenders; disarmament and non-proliferation of small arms; trafficking in small arms and light weapons; mediation and peaceful resolution of conflicts; the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, among others.
During the event, UNLIREC emphasized the need to make connections between the themes of peace, development, security and humanitarian action, as well as the need for platforms enabling spaces of convergence between these themes and all the actors involved in these issues, stressing the key role played by the Generation Equality Forum. The key instruments in enabling this are The United Nations Secretary General’s Disarmament Agenda, the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals and, on issues of women’s participation in disarmament, nuclear non-proliferation and arms control, the United Nations Assembly Resolution 65/69.
UNLIREC also highlighted the issue of arms control as central to all development issues, impacting all the Sustainable Development Goals, including gender equality, health, education, economy, among others.
Needless to say, well-established arms control measures enable more opportunities to promote sustainable development. Disarmament and small arms control not only contribute to significantly reducing all forms of violence and related death rates worldwide, but also to eliminating all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres. Small arms, besides being used to commit femicide, are also a tool to exercise control and subjugation through threats, causing psychological damage to the victims.
Other panelists made special reference to the increase of domestic violence during the COVID-19 confinement and the need to offer a comprehensive approach to victims (psychological support, shelter, education, work opportunities).
UNLIREC notes the importance of raising awareness of firearms in violence against women and to include initiatives aimed at firearms control both in the urgent responses that are being implemented in the context of the pandemic, as well as in other strategies.
UNLIREC also notes the need for more female representation on such matters, particularly in key decision-making roles.
The initial phase of the Generation Equality Forum in March also served as a platform to launch a series of “Action Coalitions” aimed at driving investment and delivering tangible results for gender equality during the UN Decade of Action (2020-2030). These Action Coalitions are focused on 6 themes, including gender-based violence; economic justice and rights; bodily autonomy; sexual and reproductive health and rights; feminist action for climate justice; technology and innovation for gender equality; and feminist movements and leadership.
Mar 29, 2021 | Uncategorized
On 29 March 2021, the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC), in collaboration with the Governments of the United Kingdom and Trinidad and Tobago, hosted an Inter-Institutional Round Table Meeting to advance the development of Trinidad and Tobago’s National Action Plan (NAOP).
Trinidad and Tobago has made consistent advances in reviewing the actions in the Caribbean Firearms Roadmap and identifying national priorities for its NAP since adopting the Roadmap. After its initial Executive Seminar, national authorities on their own, and with UNLIREC, have hosted several drafting sessions to identify national priorities under each of the Goals in the Roadmap and complete its NAP template.
Goal 4, of the Caribbean Firearms Roadmap is systematically decrease the risk of diversion of firearms and ammunition from government and non-government owned arsenals. On this occasion, UNLIREC supported Trinidad and Tobago by hosting a thematic Inter-Institutional Roundtable to discuss Goal 4 and stockpile management. The meeting brought together the national drafting team that included 19 representatives from Trinidad and Tobago Police Service, Forensic Science Centre, Strategic Services Agency and Ministry of National Security. UNLIREC’s technical experts participated and delivered technical presentations on best practices and international standards for stockpile management to help the NAP development.
The Inter-Institutional Round Table Meeting complemented recent initiatives undertaken by Trinidad and Tobago following its adoption of the Caribbean Firearms Roadmap, and which were made possible thanks to support of the government of the United Kingdom.
UNLIREC, as the regional organ of the UN Office for Disarmament, seeks to advance the cause of practical disarmament in Latin America and the Caribbean as part of its commitment to support Member States in their implementation of international disarmament and non-proliferation instruments, in particular, the 2001 UN Programme of Action on Small Arms.
Mar 26, 2021 | Uncategorized
On 26 March, UNLIREC and the Government of Haiti held an online workshop to provide the government with technical assistance on firearms classification. This workshop forms part of a broader support to the Haitian authorities’ ongoing commitment to modernize their national legal framework on firearms, parts, components, ammunitions and explosives, an issue considered a priority by the government of Haiti.
In the context of the current legal and technical drafting assistance provided by UNLIREC, a specific need was identified on firearms classification. The objective of this workshop was to establish a common language for the drafting process on firearms, parts, components and ammunitions. The 18 participants (which included government representatives and civil society organizations) were given information, recommendations and useful tools, mainly for them to be able to define and identify the different types and characteristics of firearms. As a result, those leading the drafting process can decide of firearms to which civilians should have access to, and the ones that should be prohibited or restricted.
This activity forms part of a project entitled “UNLIREC Technical Assistance Package for Weapons and Ammunition Management in Haiti” and funded by UNDP and the Peacebuilding Fund. The project has also previously run other similar initiatives including legal workshops on international instruments on firearms and ammunition control and recommendations for improving Haiti’s current legal framework.
This activity brought together the legal task force responsible for drafting the decree on this issue, civil society organizations, UNPOL, UNDP, BINUH and UNLIREC. The task force is made of the following Haitian government entities: Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Defense, Armed Forces, National Police, National Disarmament and Dismantling and Reinsertion Commission and Customs Administration. UNLIREC has offered to coordinate a technical follow-up session on firearms classification to strengthen national capacity and enable the drafting of the decree’s relevant provisions.
Mar 23, 2021 | Uncategorized
On 23 March 2021, UNLIREC, in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Panamanian National Women’s Institute, delivered a national virtual seminar on ‘measures to prevent armed violence against women’.
The virtual seminar’s central objectives were: to explain the problems with armed violence and violence against women (VAW), to present the links between the two and their impact on society, to highlight the importance of connecting regulation of arms control to the prevention of VAW, and to promote an interinstitutional approach towards tackling and preventing gender-based armed violence (GBV) against women.
Firstly, UNLIREC highlighted the disparity between firearms’ impact on men and women at a global level, as well as a regional and national one. It also emphasised the influence of firearms on different types of GBV in the region and in Panama, including femicide. The presentation identified a firearm as a risk factor – not only because of its lethal potential – but also due to its power to threaten or suppress victims, making them more vulnerable.
UNLIREC also shared the findings of the Regulatory study on the links between regulation of gender-based violence and regulation and control of small weapons: an analysis of Central America, Colombia, Mexico and the Dominican Republic. The study analyses different countries in the region’s approach, and it recognised good work across the region as much as it did in Panama in particular. Among other measures, Panamanian rules threaten to refuse, suspend or cancel the owner’s firearm licence if they commit acts of domestic violence or are reported to have incited them.
Finally, the Panamanian National Women’s Institute (INAMU) highlighted the work they do to coordinate and carry out national policy on equal opportunities for women. During the presentation, they discussed the state of violence against women across the nation, the institutional action directed from INAMU centres, and the national challenges of improving attention and prevention of this phenomenon.
The virtual event, open to the public, was attended by over 130 people, 116 of whom identified as women. The audience included representatives from administrative institutions and national security organisations, such as the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National Women’s Institute, State Prosecution Service, the National Immigration Service, the National Aeronaval Service, among other institutions, as well as civil society and academy.
This initiative forms part of a series of activities that the UNLIREC is leading to empower nations to develop and take a sensitive approach to gender in the context of reducing armed violence. The initiative was made possible thanks to funding from the Canadian government.
Here are links to a recording of the virtual seminar and the presentations.
Mar 23, 2021 | Uncategorized
As part of UNLIREC’s efforts to provide support to States in the region, on 23 March 2021, it led a roundtable on the management of firearms and ammunition in judicial storage facilities highlighting the related challenges, experiences, and lessons learned.
It is globally recognised that state storage facilities for firearms and ammunition are vulnerable, because they can become a target for criminals who are looking to arm themselves illegally. In this vein, the storage facilities that safeguard weapons and ammunition that have been confiscated, found by authorities investigating different criminal acts, or seized because of administrative offence, are no exception.
UNLIREC gathered a group of experts and technical staff from States in the region with experience in arms control, criminal investigation, chain of custody, and management of evidence in judicial storage facilities. The aim was to promote discussion on the principal challenges arising with this type of facility, as well as to exchange ideas of best practice and lessons learned in evidence management.
During the event, UNLIREC delivered a presentation outlining some of the principal challenges and the typical impact of judicial arms storage facilities in the region. As well, it presented some best practices and international standards, such as the Modular Small Arms Control Implementation Compendium (MOSAIC) and the International Ammunition Technical Guidelines (IATG), which provide instructions for strengthening management of this type of facility.
Representatives from the arms department of the Costa Rican Ministry of Public Security and from the National Agency of Controlled Materials (ANMaC) in Argentina shared background information, challenges, and detailed rules being implemented in their countries to improve the storage, registration, and control of the evidence.
Throughout the event, it was agreed that one of the most pressing requirements for effective management of the evidence is having in place specific regulatory frameworks, standardised processes, and better coordination between the institutions involved in the chain of custody. It is also important to have tools and ways of registering information that allow better control and monitoring of evidence, the right infrastructure for the protection and preservation of evidence, and continuous training for staff, among other things.
This event forms part of a UNLIREC project aimed at preventing the diversion of arms in judicial storage facilities, which is funded by the UN Trust Facility Supporting Cooperation on Arms Regulation (UNSCAR).
