OSCE supports legal development of small arms, light weapons and ammunition disposal in Kyrgyzstan
BISHKEK, 12 March 2015 – The OSCE Centre in Bishkek held today the third and final roundtable on the improvement of the Kyrgyz Republic’s normative framework on the management of small arms and light weapons (SALW) and conventional ammunition (CA).
The Armed Forces of Kyrgyzstan has accumulated a significant amount of expired small arms and ammunition, which at risk of explosion.
The OSCE Centre in Bishkek has provided equipment for the destruction of SALW but disposal cannot commence without an adequate legal framework.
During the roundtable, representatives from the Armed Forces of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan, the British Embassy and the OSCE discussed recommendations on the elaborated final draft law on the Regulation on Disposal of Small Arms and Light Weapons. The draft law was developed at two previous roundtables held on 19 September and 26 November 2014 and during Co-ordination Working Group meetings jointly with all respective ministries and institutions.
“The proposed draft law will remedy the gaps of the current legislation and provide a legal basis for the destruction of unstable weapons,” said the Head of the OSCE Centre in Bishkek Ambassador Sergey Kapinos. “The changes to the law do not resolve all the accumulated legal issues on the management of weapons, but the OSCE Centre is ready to continue its support in implementation of international obligations in the field of weapons and ammunition controls, as well as promoting security at the regional and the international levels.”
The OSCE Centre in Bishkek has signed five agreements with the Kyrgyz Defence Ministry as part of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic and the OSCE on Small Arms and Light Weapons and a Stockpile of Conventional Ammunition Programme.
The agreements aim to enhance the capacity of Kyrgyzstan for more effective SALW and CA management and control in a number of priority areas, including automated management, record-keeping and tracing.
The programme was developed by the OSCE Centre in Bishkek on the initiative of the Government of Kyrgyzstan and is jointly financed by the European Union, Finland, Kazakhstan, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.