Proliferation of weapons and armed violence in the private security sector in Latin America and the Caribbean: Challenges and opportunities for taking action

Abstract

The United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC) has been monitoring various media in 19 countries and has documented more than 100 newspaper articles on cases of armed violence and the proliferation of
firearms in the private security sector. The objective of this investigation is to analyze reported cases and systematize a typology regarding such cases, in order to prove the existence of problems in the private security sector which is a source and a victim of insecurity. This study reveals the frequency with which these cases occur, as well as the fact that they occur in different countries of the region, demonstrating that the cases being studied are not isolated cases and that they encourage the States and companies within the sector to address this disturbing reality.
Finally, this article presents a series of initiatives that can be implemented by competent national authorities on the subject, as well as by the companies within the sector, to face the challenges posed by the handling, ownership and use of firearms with the privatization of the security sector
in the region.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5377/rpsp.v4i2.1754