–Donates equipment for destruction of stockpiled firearms

A COMPREHENSIVE report, detailing Guyana’s international obligations with respect to firearms, ammunition and explosives, was on Monday handed over to Minister of Legal Affairs, Mr. Anil Nandlall.
The document was given him by Ms. Juliet Solomon Team Leader of a UN-led mission that conducted a study on the subject here.
In June 2013, Minister of Home Affairs, Clement Rohee had reported that Guyana was working, in the context of international cooperation, with the United Nations (UN) Office for Disarmament’s Regional Centre for

Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC) to address the question of stockpiling firearms and ammunition, and how to deal with over-accumulation of those items which have become obsolete.
In that context, UNLIREC will guide Guyana on how to dispense with firearms, as well as secure stockpiles in ways that are in keeping with certain international standards.
“We have received a copy of that report, which would have chronicled all of Guyana’s obligations under various treaties in relation to this,” Minister Nandlall said, adding:
“… a training session is being held for members of the Army and Police Force who are being trained to operate a machine which was donated, the purpose of which is to destroy arms and ammunition no longer in use.
“That training session is to commence this week and once our officers are equipped to operate the equipment, the destruction will commence.”
The UN Mission has donated a Hydraulic Shears and a Small-Arms Ammunition Burning Tank to be used for the destruction of obsolete and surplus weapons, ammunition and explosives in Guyana.
As the minister explained, the training sessions will help with the implementation of the recently-approved Firearms (Amendment) Bill, as well as the Evidence (Amendment) Bill.
The main purpose of the Firearms (Amendment) Bill is to create new offences in relation to possession and trafficking of components of a firearm. The prosecution of those types of offences would require expert evidence to be given, identifying alleged components of a firearm or ammunition as being exactly that.
The testimony at reference must come from a person who is duly qualified, and who would be deemed an expert witness by the court. Additionally, the amendment to the Evidence Act increases the category of experts whose certificates or analyses can now be admissible in a Court of Law.
Among the authorities listed in the Bill are ballistic and fingerprint experts, and the analysis or certificate of scientific officers who are attached to the Guyana Forensic Laboratory.
“So far as these certificates touch and concern firearms, ammunition and explosives,” Minister Nandlall said, “we have requested from this very organisation, UNLIREC, assistance to train our personnel in the field of ballistics, fingerprints and any other area of activity which may be relevant in helping the State to establish a case of possession of firearms and ammunition and or explosives or any criminal offence which involves the use of firearms and ammunition and or explosives.”
In underscoring the dire need for expert help, he said that a request was also made “in terms of training for prosecutors, which would include prosecutors at the Director of Public Prosecution’s Office, the Guyana Police Force, as well as training for experts who would be engaged as part of the prosecutor’s case in establishing or proving any offence which touch or concern firearms and ammunition and or explosives.”
He added that personnel in the Guyana Forensic Laboratory, who would be engaged in any form or fashion in the analysis or examination of aspects related to firearms and ammunition and or explosives, would also be involved in any training relevant to the discharge of their functions and responsibilities.
Minister Rohee had, last June, noted that while this move by Government was not necessarily a part of the security reform process, “it is part of bringing better management to our armories, whether they are in the Guyana Defence Force, Police Force, Municipalities or Prisons, wherever there may be a stockpile of firearms. The idea is to bring a better system of management, utilisation, and disposal of those that have become technically obsolete.”
As Ms. Solomon had explained at the time, the UNLIREC team’s visit was in the context of a Caribbean assistance package. “This is a regional assistance package, and we have done it across the board; Guyana is one of the latest countries. We are looking to assess what areas of assistance we can provide,” she had said.
UNILIREC provides support in several areas in terms of securing weapons’ stockpiles and managing them. Guidance is also provided in the broader context of legislation.
The UN Mission consists of Juliet Solomon (Team Leader), UNLIREC Senior Programme Officer (Caribbean), Stockpile Management and Destruction; and Peter Snow, Manufacturer’s Trainer (Hydraulic Shears).