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UN Report clears Transdniester of weapons smuggling; Praises transparency and co-operation
A new report published by the United Nations confirms that Transdniester does not produce weapons. There is also no arms smuggling and trafficking. The report calls the country's policies open and transparent, and highlights the government's good levels of international co-operation in the field of arms control.
A detailed report published by the United Nations clears PMR of weapons production and arms tradingNEW YORK (Tiraspol Times) - In a new report published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Pridnestrovie - which is called Transdniestria in the text - gets high marks for openness and transparency in the field of arms control.
The report refutes earlier claims by Moldova that the country is a "black hole" or haven for arms production and illegal trafficking. Instead, the report points out that Transdniester, as the country is also known, is not involved in arms production or trafficking of any kind.
It states that evidence for the illicit production and trafficking of weapons into and from Transdniester has in the past been exaggerated. According to the published research, there could be some likelihood to presume that trafficking of light weapons might have occurred before 2001, but there is no reliable evidence of any kind whatsoever to claim that this still occurs.
The same holds true for the manufacture or production of such weapons, says the report, which is likely to have been carried out in the 1990s to equip the local law enforcement and border patrol authorities, but which are no longer produced; not even for local supply.
- Transparency and good levels of co-operations
In the UN published report, British weapons inspectors and arms experts working on behalf of the United Nations confirm that there is currently transparency and good levels of co-operation with the government of the Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublica (PMR) in the field of weapons control.
The text also notes that "Despite its unrecognised status, the Transdniestrian authorities regulate the use and possession of SALW according to their own internal laws and procedures," underscoring that the country is not a lawless anarchy and that possession of firearms is adequately controlled by country's police.
" - As we found out, Transnistria doesn't have a weapons problem," says one analyst closely involved with the study. "What it does have, however, is a huge image problem, due to years of false and misleading claims from Chisinau. Needless to say, no evidence was ever provided to back up the claims and when we started to look into the real situation, in depth, it all fell apart."
The research demonstrated that contrary to consistent claims by Moldovan "spin tanks" and Moldova's government-controlled media, there is no evidence of arms production in Transdniester or any arms trafficking from Transdniester.
" - This survey has been an important first step to build confidence and security in Moldova. By making this information on arms public, we hope that this will lead to effective demilitarisation and security sector reform measures being implemented," said Paul Eavis, Director of British government-funded Saferworld, and one of the experts behind the report.
" - We know now that the previous claims that Transnistria produces weapons are simply false, and have been false all along” added William Wood, an international attorney and former UN staffer. “Moldova must have a very weak case when they are forced to resort to bald-faced lies, especially against an unrecognized country which does not yet have a United Nations seat and therefore no voice in the international community with which it can defend itself. This is why, now more than ever, journalists, intellectuals and activists must set the record straight and not be afraid to voice opinions critical of the government of Moldova."
The latest findings echo previous declarations by Tiraspol that it is not involved in the manufacture or export of weapons, and matches earlier reports from a team of international arms inspectors which visited local factories in February and found no evidence of any kind of any weapons manufacturing.
The survey was commissioned and published by the United Nations Development Programme's South Eastern and Eastern Europe Clearinghouse for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (UNDP SEESAC). The research was conducted between September 2005 and June 2006 in both Moldova and Pridnestrovie.
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