Citation(s) from the GunPolicy.org literature library
Pézard, Stéphanie and Nicolas Florquin. 2007 ‘Other Sources of Arms.’ Small Arms in Burundi: Disarming the Civilian Population in Peacetime, p. 26. Geneva: Small Arms Survey, the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva / Ligue Iteka. 1 August
Relevant contents
Other Sources of Arms
Other potential sources of arms seemed to have been explored.
In 1999, for example, Hutu rebel leaders attempted to buy arms (and bombs, mines, food, uniforms, and boots) in Zimbabwe. In the same year, a cargo of arms (mainly assault rifles and grenades) from China, intended, it seems, for Burundi, was intercepted by the Ugandan authorities in Malaba.
According to a Human Rights Watch report, several countries - including China, France, North Korea, Russia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, the United States, and Zaire - provided the parties to the conflict in Burundi with military aid (in the case of the United States and France, until 1996 only).
Angola, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zaire were also used as transit areas for arms intended for Burundi.
South Africa was particularly involved in sending arms and providing military assistance to the warring parties in Burundi. It seems that arms (assault rifles, anti-tank mines, grenades) from private sources in South Africa were delivered to CNDD combatants.
In 1996, a newspaper revealed that former members of the South African secret services and senior members of UNITA (Union nationale pour l'indépendance totale de l'Angola (National Union for the Total Independence of Angola)), particularly, were involved in the trafficking of arms to Angola, Burundi, Rwanda, and Zaïre (Radio Nacional Network, 1996).
[CNDD = National Council for the Defence of Democracy]
Last accessed at:
http://www.smallarmssurvey.org