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15% of the population in Macedonia possesses weapons
Celebratory shots are the most dangerous
According to the data on weapons in Macedonia, there are 165 thousand registered pieces of legal weapons and another 170 thousand that are kept illegally at home. According to the estimations, every second person in the country keeps a gun under his pillow and every third family owns some kind of weapons. According to the statistical data, thousands of people die of small weapons every day and 50 are victims of accidents.
In the world there are about 640 million pieces of small weapons, that is, a piece to ten people. Out of them, 59% is in the hands of the civil population. In spite of the fact that state institutions carry out actions for weapons destruction, non-governmental organizations consider the efforts for control and dealing with illegal weapons to be extremely difficult due to the fact that borders and organized criminal are passable. The main reason for possessing weapons is the desire to protect themselves and their families, instead of asking the police to do it. The condition and figures of illegal weapons have not changed this year, when traditionally, on 21st September, the Peace Day will be celebrated and the non-governmental organization “Civil” will proclaim it a peace month.
The condition with weapons is worrying
According to the data by the United Nations Development Program – UNDP, 330 thousand people, or 15% of the population possess weapons in the country. Only 160 thousand of them possess it legally. This is also the figure that the Ministry of Interior has, but they say that the number of possessed weapons is much smaller and ranges from 80 to 120 thousands of pieces. According to the statistics by the Ministry of Interior, in 2005 there were 355 criminal acts against illegal possession of weapons and 395 people were sanctioned, and about 1.000 pieces of weapons were confiscated, along with about 28.000 pieces of ammunition and 11kg explosive. For the first three months of 2006 there were 63 criminal acts against illegal possession of weapons and charges were brought against 71 person and 138 pieces of weapons and over 3.500 pieces of ammunition were confiscated.
In the Ministry of Interior there is data that of lost bullet in public places in the course of 2005 and in the first five months of this year three people lost their lives and eight were injured. At the promotion of the mutual campaign of UNDP and the Ministry of Interior: “Are you next – say no to weapons”, promoted in July this year, it was stated that most of the incidents, six in total, happened during family celebrations. During this, last action, about 1.200 pieces of weapons were destroyed, in spite of the fact that estimations are that the number of illegal weapons possessed by the citizens is about 100 times higher than this figure. Last year the police, on the same day, 9th July, organized two destructions of confiscated weapons against which there was a criminal procedure. 5.313 pieces of weapons were destructed in total.
People buy weapons for personal security
Cold-blooded murders that have intensified in the country, as the latest in the settlement of Cair, have shown that citizens more often take the justice in their hands and rarely rely on the police to solve the problems. The most frequent reason why people purchase and buy weapons is their personal security, inter-ethnic mistrust, hatred, intolerance, distrust of police and court authorities etc.
The most sold weapon is the gun “zastava”, whose price is affordable and is about 100 Euro. The price of weapons, according to the experts, is now doubled due to the conditions with weapons control. For example, “Kalashnikov” can be purchased at a price of 400 and 500 Euro. Experts say that in Macedonia it is not a problem to purchase weapons due to the borders porosity. Smuggled weapons in Macedonia come from Serbia, Bulgaria and Albania or Kosovo and it is difficult to control.
“The motive to possess a gun at home is not a tradition, but people purchase it for security reasons. The problem is even bigger as in our country weapons have become part of our culture. Incidents have become so frequent that we, as a non-governmental organization cannot follow them all, and even react upon them. The problem is in the total erosion of values”, says the president of the non-governmental organization “Civil”, Dzabir Derala.
According to him, the condition of possessing weapons in the country is alarming, taking into consideration the data received by their questionnaire in secondary schools. Out of 1.000 pupils included in the questionnaire, 16 have been selected for participation in a workshop, and only one child of them has not had any contacts with weapons. He warns that non-governmental organizations do not have the power to deal with weapons in the country and literally everyone could buy it. According to him, the so far actions of collecting weapons have not been very successful, as it is estimated that at most 10 thousand pieces have been collected, which is neither one tenth of the figures that occur in the public.
“Whatever the reason, nothing can be measured with the danger of celebratory shots. Bullets fired up in the air have to get back to earth. Such bullets can kill someone”, pointed out the representative of the UNDP Program for Secure Communities, Alan Lapon, at the promotion of the campaign organized by UNDP and the Ministry of Interior on the warning of weapon risk. He adds that 75% of all cases of illegal possession of weapons are processed through the system.
Only 1,9% of the citizens feel safe
Only 1,9% of the citizens feel safe in any part of the country and 64,9% have always and all the time felt safe in their community, showed the latest UNDP report on early warning. One third of the citizens think that possessing weapons increases family safety. In the Polog region the percentage of citizens who think like that is 53,9% and in the Kumanovo region it is 49,5%. According to the questionnaire, 5,7% of the citizens have been victims of criminal or violence. The most endangered category of citizens for the last six months have been intellectuals, professors, journalists and publicists (11,1%); workers (8,5%); students (8,3%); businessmen (7,3%); and farmers and housewives (6,3%, that 6,0%). All other categories are under the average level of danger.
The most insecure regions according to the report are the Kumanovo and Povardarie region, where about 7,5% of the citizens do not feel safe. They are followed by the Polog and Skopje region, where over 6% of the citizens are scared for their lives. In the country, men feel more endangered than women, 7,4% versus 4,2%, in spite of the fact that attack on a person and citizens’ property decreases. According to the results of the UNDP research, rural population is more endangered than the urban, 9,3% versus 8,4% and Albanians are more threatened than Macedonians (14,8% versus 6,7%). One third of the citizens consider possessing weapons to increase family safety. In the Polog region the percentage of citizens who prefer this attitude is 53,9% and in the Kumanovo region 49,5%. In the other regions this percentage is under the general average.
Professor Ferid Muhic, who has worked at security in the latest UNDP report on early warning, estimates that there is a higher degree of safety danger of citizens and their families and although it is far from the critical, crisis point, it is not too far from it. Muhic points out that citizens consider the country to be uninterested in them and their problems, that is, inefficient in eradicating the factors of endangering them and selective in persecuting criminal.
How to solve the problem with weapons
From the Ministry of Interior they assure that they constantly take actions for finding illegal weapons. Stricter sanctions are expected with the new law on weapons, which projects a jail sentence from one to ten years.
UNDP data are calming. Their weapons research from last year shows that use of weapons for personal protection is decreasing. Thus, to the question whether they would take weapons, only 20% of the citizens answered positively, and 65% said that they would never take weapons. In 2005, compared with 2003, a total of 35% of the polled said they carried weapons for personal protection. According to the UNDP data, over 60% of the population see weapons at weddings and other celebrations, in spite of the fact that citizens know that use of firearms is dangerous.
“With consistent application of the Law on weapons in 2007, revision of illegal weapons and actions for their destruction, by application of legal reforms and police reforms, as well as control of weapons of the security agency, we can expect serious decrease in weapons demand”, says Derala. During the International Action Week Against Small Weapons, organized in May this year, as a response to the tragic incident in Cair, when three young people lost their lives in a shooting, he stated: “We have to put weapons under control and taking into consideration the fact that we are all responsible for what is going on, we have to cooperate with competent institutions, as it is a precondition for security and safety”, said Derala.
“Speak up on time because victims can’t call for help!” and “We need more space for games”, were the messages from the campaign against small weapons, which the non-governmental organization sent through leaflets. “Civil” has carried out the campaign in 15 towns and rural areas and it was organized in cooperation with the International Action Network for Small Weapons and UNDP. The campaign was also supported by the mayor of Skopje and the mayor of the municipality of Cair, Trifun Kostovski and Izet Medzeti, the Craftsmen Association “Esnaf”, support centers of the non-governmental sector in ten towns, as well as the non-governmental organization “Razbudi se”.
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