Unlike some of its Central Asian neighbours, Kazakhstan has been spared civil war and ethnic strife, earning it the reputation of being a pillar of stability in an otherwise volatile region. The country also has a relatively comprehensive set of measures in place to regulate civilian acquisition and possession of small arms, and is an active participant in international small arms processes. Yet several incidents of armed violence with extremist and terrorist undertones that took place in 2011 suggest the country is not immune to the misuse of firearms.

Armed groups—such as insurgent organizations—rely on internal regulations to exercise control over fighters; these rules also affect the groups’ respect for humanitarian law and human rights, and on levels of armed violence. Certain types of regulations can provide detailed guidance on the use of arms, their storage, and their management.

L’instabilité sous-régionale, le conflit, l’émergence des groupes armés, l’affaiblissement du système sécuritaire et la criminalité armée sont autant de facteurs qui ont encouragé la prolifération et la circulation illicite d’armes légères et de petit calibre en Côte d’Ivoire. Cette importante circulation d’armes contribue à exacerber les conséquences des manifestations de la violence.

Since 2000, Guyana has seen a rise in violent crime associated with gangs and organized crime syndicates, which have created drug and weapon problems in the country. Cocaine, trafficked from neighbouring Venezuela, is transited through Guyana en route to Europe and the United States. Gangs also utilize the country’s porous borders with Brazil, a major weapons manufacturer, to smuggle arms into Guyana and ship them to other countries in the Caribbean.

The private security industry has come under considerable international scrutiny due to the highly publicized role it has played in Afghanistan and Iraq (2011).

A little more than a decade after independence and the violence and displacement that accompanied it, Timor-Leste remains a country in transition. While it has stabilized in the post-independence period, the after-effects of the 2006 crisis continue to play an important role in the political debate and security atmosphere in the country. Communal violence remains at times a feature of life in rural areas, and small arms—left over from the pre-independence period and more recently leaked from defence and police forces—sometimes fuel both gang-related and community violence.

Jamaica’s murder rate—62 per 100,000 in 2009— is one of the highest in the world.

The small island grapples with violent crime within a context of gangs, guns, and allegations of political and police corruption.

A joint publication of the Danish Demining Group and the Small Arms Survey.

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By Robert Muggah, Discussion Paper 2004/7, Australian National University.

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Also available in French

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