BUJUMBURA - Awash in a sea of hundreds of thousands of illegal weapons, Burundi has launched a campaign to disarm its civilian population, by force if necessary, officials said Thursday.
Under a decree signed late Wednesday by President Domitien Ndayizeye, authorities in Burundi are instructing citizens of the war-torn tiny central African nation to hand in their weaponry or face legal consequences.
"We are counting on a voluntary return of arms and on the denouncement of those who remain in possession of them," said Public Security Minister Slavator Ntihabose said.
The decree aims to enforce a little-used 1971 law that prescribes prison terms and even the death penalty for possession of illegal firearms, which will now be scrupulously adhered to, according to Ntihabose.
"Any person who refuses to turn in weapons or who obstructs the dismarmament operation will be punished in conformity with the law," the text of the decree says.
The operation will target anyone Burundian who is not part of the country's defence or security forces, including those previously licensed to carry firearms, it says.
Ntihabose, who heads the country's national disarmament commission, said the forceful collection of weapons was the only effective way to halt the rampant growth of Burundi's illegal arms trade.
"All countries that have tried to purchase illegally acquired arms from civilians have ended in failure," he said. "This system creates the arms trade."
"We don't want to get into that vicious cycle," Ntihabose said. "We do not want to encourage arm trafficking in Burundi."
According to official figures, there are some 300,000 illegal weapons in Burundi where authorities distributed arms to some 20,000 members of so-called "self-defense forces" in 1996 to help the army fight rebels.
05/05/2005 16:01 GMT