Ceasefire Campaign

1
Ceasefire Campaign

• submission on the
• NCAC Amendment Bill
• Rob Thomson

2
Ceasefire Campaign

• Aims and Objectives
• To contribute to disarmament and peace in South
  and Southern Africa
• To work towards the demilitarization of society
  and for human rights
• To campaign for a reduction in military spending
  and the transfer of resources to development and
  poverty eradication.

3
Agenda

• Conventional arms
• Foreign military assistance

4
Conventional arms

• s.1 controlled items
• s.8 delegation and assignment
• s.9 Auditor Generals scope
• s.14 end-user certificate
• s.17 reports by the NCACC
• s.20 exemptions
• other sections

5
Conventional arms s.1 controlled items
6
Conventional arms s.1 controlled items

• Problems with proposed definition
• Regulatory capture
• Excessive administrative discretion
• Submission
• Spell out the intentions in the Act
• Include current and intended items
• Leave the details fo regulation

7
Conventional arms s.8 delegation and assignment
8
Conventional arms s.8 delegation and assignment

• Problem with amendment to s.11
• Case-by-case requirement
• e.g. China-Zimbabwe arms shipment
• Submission
• Make delegation subject to case-by-case
  assessment by Committee

9
Conventional arms s.9 Auditor-Generals scope
10
Conventional arms s.9 Auditor-Generals scope

• Problems with amendment to s.12
• Reduces the scope of Auditor-Generals
  responsibility
• Reduces transparency and accountability
• Exacerbates regulatory capture
• Submission
• Delete financial

11
Conventional arms s.14 end-user certificate
12
Conventional arms s.14 end-user certificate

• Problems with proposed s.17(3)
• Undermines the purpose of EUCs
• Undermines s.15 i.r.o. end user
• Submission
• Must be subject to s.15 i.r.o. end user

13
Conventional arms s.14 end-user certificate
(ctd.)

• Problems with proposed s.17(4)
• NCACC must avoid contravention of EUCs issued
• NCACC wont know
• Submission
• Amend s.15 to avoid contravention
• The competent authority must inform the NCACC

14
Conventional arms s.17 reports by the NCACC
15
Conventional arms s.17 reports by the NCACC

• Problem with proposed s.23(1)
• SA not complying with UN requirements
• Submission
• Retain the current provisions of s.23(1)(a)

16
Conventional arms s.17 reports by the NCACC
(ctd.)

• Problems with deletion of s.23(1)(b)
• NCACC has been delinquent in reporting
• Transparency/accountability delayed is
  transparency/accountability denied
• Submission
• Retain the current provisions of s.23(1)(b)

17
Conventional arms s.17 reports by the NCACC
(ctd.)

• Problems with proposed s.23(3)
• Conflict with requirements of transparency
• Transparency accountability should be improved,
  not reduced
• Public must have the right to know
• Confidentiality clauses cannot prohibit
  compliance with the intentions of the law
• Military commercial secrets are not greater
  than the requirements of the law

18
Conventional arms s.17 reports by the NCACC
(ctd.)

• Submission
• In lieu of the proposed s.23(3)(3) (numbering
  duplicated), amend the current s.23(1)(b)(ii) by
  deleting except if disclosure is prohibited in
  terms of a confidentiality clause in the contract
  of sale

19
Conventional arms s.17 reports by the NCACC
(ctd.)

• Problems with proposed s.23(4)
• Seeks to cover the NCACC with a blanket of
  secrecy
• Proposed that, in general, access to information
  should be denied
• Contrary to open democracy
• Submission Retain the current provisions of
  s.23(3)

20
Conventional arms s.20 exemptions
21
Conventional arms s.20 exemptions

• Problems with proposed s.25A
• serious qualifications of the NCACC process
• Submission
• Emergencies should be treated as such
• Delete the proposed s.25A

22
Conventional arms other sections

• s.3(c) textual problem
• s.5 no motivation
• s.7 no motivation
• s.10 textual problem
• s.11 textual problem

23
Foreign military assistance Problems

• Problems
• Separate acts unnecessary, difficult to read
• NCAC Act focuses Committees function on
  controlled items, not mercenary activities
• Poorly integrated into legislation e.g.
• criteria in s.15 of NCAC Act different from s.9
  of PMA Act
• different provisions re fines
• permit in the NCAC Act excludes authorisation
  in the PMA Act

24
Foreign military assistance Submission

• Replace both Acts with a new combined Act,
  focusing on both the control of conventional arms
  and the prohibition of mercenary activity.
• Tighten the provisions of s.15 of the NCAC Act
  and s.9 of the PMA Act so as to achieve
  consistency.

25
Ceasefire Campaign

• submission on the
• NCAC Amendment Bill
• Rob Thomson