Countering diversion of arms

Diversion of arms has a negative impact on human rights in both conflict and non-conflict situations. It vastly increases the widespread and uncontrolled availability of arms, thereby increasing the risk that the arms will be directed to, or come into the hands of, those who use them to commit human rights violations or abuses.

The overwhelming majority of illicit firearms in the hands of non-State actors were manufactured legally and prepared for commercial distribution before being diverted at some stage in the supply chain. There were approximately 750 million diverted firearms in the hands of civilians in 2017.

Diverted ammunition can also cause considerable harm as the main charge in improvised explosive devices, including victim-operated improvised explosive devices that function as anti-personnel landmines, which our office has regularly identified as a primary cause of civilian casualties in Afghanistan.

We have addressed this topic in a number of annual reports, in particular:

• A/HRC/44/29
• A/HRC/42/21
• A/HRC/35/8
• A/HRC/32/21