However, because it addresses so many types of weapons, it could be harder to enforce than the landmine treaty.

“In every situation you have the good and the bad guys and I guess the bad guys will always take advantage when they find loopholes. Now with the treaty, we’re hoping that exporting countries will be more careful because they will only export after having assessed the risk associated with the transfer according to the treaty provisions. And this may change the situation drastically,” he said.

Bout

Amoa lent his support to the treaty because of his work in Liberia and Sierra Leone when those countries were engulfed in civil war.

Last year, suspected Russian Arms dealer Viktor Bout was convicted of conspiring to sell missiles and other weapons in Thailand. He was arrested in a sting operation by U.S. and Thai authorities and is now in prison in New York. Bout has been accused of helping to fuel conflicts in West Africa, but has not been tried on those allegations.

However, Amoa said Bout left a legacy in the region.

“I can say that if one looks at the situation in Nigeria, (if) one looks at the situation in other states like Cote d’Ivoire and so on and so forth, these are countries that cannot be listed or said to be major arms producers. Yet, the kind of sophisticated weapons that were found in these countries and prolonged conflict was definitely the work of somebody, who had impunity to move weapons all over the place. And this could be associated with some of the fallout of Viktor Bout’s activities,” he said.