‘Sindbad’ the Floating Military Arsenal

| by L.Annadoure

( October 25, 2012, Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian)  A commercial container vessel or floating armoury named Sind bad  flying Sri Lankan National flag  has been impounded  by the coast Guards Abu Dhabi a few days ago. This vessel is said to belong to Avant Garde Maritime Services a private limited company which has been registered as a limited company on 24^th June 2011with registered address at, Kotte, Sri Lanka and the said company has become a signatory on the 1^st day June 2012 to the International Code of Conduct for Private Security Providers (ICoC) which has been convened by the Swiss Government. 

The arms and ammunition supplied by the Defence Secretary Gothabaye Rajabakshe is being transported by the  Avant Garde Maritime Services  to various destinations . To whose accounts the amounts derived out of sale of arms and ammunition is being credited,  for whom the arms and ammunitions are being sold and to whom Defence Secretary is selling the arms and ammunitions?

The Chairman of the Board of Directors is Nissanka Senadhipathi who is said to be an Ex -Military officer. It is also learnt that the company has some more commercial container vessels. The company is incorporated with limited liability. The share capital contributed by each of the Directors could be known only by going through the company’s Memorandum, Articles of Association and submission of forms like Declaration of Compliance, Consent to Act as a Directors and the list of Persons who have Consented to be Directors and other particulars.

The letter, which has been submitted by the aforesaid Nissanka Senadhipathi requesting to make the company a signatory to the Code, would read that the aforesaid Company has been ‘fully authorized by the Ministry of Defence of Sri Lanka to supply Sea Marshals and weapons to any kind of vessels that seek security and protection during their voyages to any destination in the World’ and  that the company has been ‘fully authorized by Ministry of Defence to handle and control all weapons and ammunition issued by the Government of Sri Lanka in any Sea port of the World’.  The Avant Garde Maritime Services Pvt Ltd  company states that it  has signed agreements to control weapons in 07 armouries in 07 cities in other countries. 

The Lanka -e -news has reported that defence Secretary Gothabaya Rajabakshe is engaged in illicit arms deal and that his floating arsenal has been impounded by Abu Dhabi and  the news agency has raised a queries as to whom  and where the said weapons are destined to and who has paid for the purchase of the arms and weapons and it has articulated grave concern  over the illegal Armoury of Defence Secretary who is the architect of this grave jeopardy which is going to pose serious threats to the national security of the country in the future. 

Athirvu.com website has come to publish a news item recently as regards the impounding of Sindbad military Floating armoury and of the involvement of Defence Secretary in illicit trafficking in arms and ammunitions under the garb of supplying arms and ammunitions to 35 security providers.

The questions which arise for consideration now are ,1.whether the directors of the said company are the owners of those container ships,2. whether Sri Lankan Government is the owner of those ships ? 3.what could be the share of capital contributed by the Government in the company?, 4.In the event of arriving at a conclusion that neither the Sri Lankan Government is the owner and possessor of the vessels nor it has contributed anything towards share of capital in the said company then what could be the relationship or nexus between the company and the Defence secretary in having been authorized the Company to supply Sea Marshals and weapons to any kind of vessels that seek security and protection during their voyages to any destination in the World’ and to handle and control all weapons and ammunition issued by the Government of Sri Lanka in any Sea port of the World? 5.what are all the particulars of those cryptic or secretive 7 armouries and the names of 7 cities in other countries? Let us see what the National Law provides for in this aspect. Any Security agency which proposes to carry on the business in providing private security has to obtain necessary permission from the Ministry of Defence, Public Security, Law & Order under the provisions of Regulation of Private Security Agencies Act (No. 45 of 1998).  The Explosive Act  provides for issuance of Fire Arms within Sri Lanka under five categories and fifth relates to issuance of licences for firearms for private Security Agencies& the public Institutions and the scheme formulated under the Act and in  liaison with the District Secretaries / Government Agencies envisages the grant of authorization to  Private Security Agencies to possess ‘limited number of new firearms’ when it engages in providing security in the transportation of cash of the institutions alone and not for any other purpose. The Sec. 7 (1) of the Regulation of Private Security Agencies Act (No. 45 of 1998 stipulates that the holder of a licence issued under the aforesaid Act which has authorized him to carry on business of a Private Security Agency shall at all times conduct his business in such a manner as will safeguard the person and property of the persons who avail themselves of the services provided by such holder and not alone that but the holder of the licence is mandated to maintain such records and furnish such returns to the competent Authority created under the Act The International Code of Conduct for Private Security Providers (ICoC) envisages accountability of the industry by establishing an external independent oversight mechanism which looks after certification, auditing, monitoring and reporting accordance with the Code. There are some multilateral treaties which restrict the trade in conventional weapons including Small Arms and Light Weapons and they are the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe 1993, Principles Governing Conventional Arms Transfers, the European Union Code of Conduct on Arms Exports, the Central American Code of Conduct on Arms Transfers and  Wassenaar Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional Arms. Besides these, the General Assembly has adopted The United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized crime which came into force on 29 Sep.2003 and the said convention has been supplemented by three protocols amongst which the following are relevant which are the protocol against the illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, their parts and components and Ammunition, The UN Protocol against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Fire Arms, Their parts and components and Ammunition( Firearms Protocol)  and also  the Supplement to an agenda for Peace and culminated in 2001 UN Conference on Illicit Trade of Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects and finally  the UN Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All its Aspects(PoA) came to be adopted which in turn led to framing of The International Tracing  instrument (ITI) which mandates the states to identify and trace the illicit arms and light weapons. In the month of July 2012, there has taken place United nations conference on Arms Trade Treaty  in the General Assembly and the purport of the conference is  to bring in an effective Arms Trade Treaty but it ended in vain as America and China ceased to be cooperative. On behalf of Association of  South-East Asian Nations the representative for Myanmar spoke to the effect that illicit Arms trade hampered peace, stability and development of Nations and regions and  he continued to state that Arms treaty should aim to address the prevention and eradication of illicit transfers in Arms and in the 7th meeting of United Nations Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty July 2012 the representative for India spoke that the main goal of the treaty was to prevent the diversion of arms to illegal markets and similarly the representative for Benin stressed for effective Treaty in preventing weapons falling into the hands of non state actors and other groups.   Illicit trafficking  causes the flow of arms and ammunitions into the wrong hands which mean posing of serious threat to international peace and security  and therefore to prevent and curb the illicit brokering  the states have brought about  the programme of Action to prevent, combat and eradicate the illicit Trade in small Arms and Light weapons in All its Aspects and have agreed to develop national legislation and  procedures to regulate brokering  and  consequent to the resolution passed by General Assembly The Group of Governmental Experts has been constituted so as to enable the process of information sharing among states, mutual assistance and arrangements for the identification, investigation into possession of illicit  arms. Illicit weapon transactions  paves way for corruption, embezzlement of public funds, and abuse of political power.  The Firearms protocol requires the states to establish as criminal offences the illicit manufacturing of and trafficking in firearms as well as tampering with markings on firearms; it requires the states to implement a series of control measures on firearms and ammunition such as maintaining records on firearms markings and transactions, marking firearms for the purposes of identification and tracing and establishing effective export, import and transit licensing systems and above all there is a mandatory requirement for marking at the time of manufacture and as well at the time of import in order to facilitate identification and tracing of each firearm. Some countries have complied with such mandatory requirements such as Thailand. The impounded floating Military armoury Sindbad has been stacked with arms and ammunitions which are the properties of State of Sri Lanka because there has been no  arms procurements from Israel during the material point of time and it is also in the news that the captain of the vessel has refused to divulge the quantity of arms and ammunitions that have been there in the vessel.  The Private Security providers who are signatories to the International Code of Conduct for Private Security Providers (ICoC) are precluded from smuggling and trafficking in arms and ammunitions  and according to the code and United Nation’s Basic Principles of use of Force and Fire Arms by Law Enforcement official(1990), the private security provider  cannot carry or possess arms more than what are required for his self defence and unauthorised  transport of  arms and ammunitions in the ship should be considered as a war crime  and similarly supplying hawking and vending arms and ammunitions to various war groups should also be construed as war crime as illicit trafficking in arms ultimately reach the wrong hands. Quite obviously, as has been stated that during the material point of time there has not taken place any arms procurement from any other country. It is understood that the arms and ammunition that have been in the vessel have been sent from Sri Lankan Military Arsenal to replenish the 7 armouries that afloat in  proximity  to 7 cities and there can be no denying of the such a fact. Sri Lanka has no respect for the laws or it has no moral responsibility  for the body of National and International laws.

The arms and ammunition supplied by the Defence Secretary Gothabaye Rajabakshe is being transported by the  Avant Garde Maritime Services  to various destinations . To whose accounts the amounts derived out of sale of arms and ammunition is being credited,  for whom the arms and ammunitions are being sold and to whom Defence Secretary is selling the arms and ammunitions? are the issues and questions that need be answered and probed by the appropriate international authority and similarly a national probe needs to be initiated in the interest of the country ? Such illicit trafficking in arms ought to have been going on for some time. The Trade in Illicit Arms which is being done by the Sri Lankan Defence Secretary is serious threat to national security and stability of neighbouring India which must view this aspect very seriously because there was already an incident of smuggling of arms and ammunitions by Sri Lankan Nationals in a fishing Trawler meant for some groups in North East  and the Trawler was intercepted by the Indian Coast Guard off the coast of Gujarat and somehow the matter came to be hushed up. 

There should necessarily be an international probe pertaining seven armouries in Seven cities in other countries as the Defence secretary is smuggling arms and ammunitions from Sri Lanka  so as to replenish the said seven armouries or he should be smuggling in arms and ammunitions from Israel to sell them to warring  groups? 

The patriotic Sri Lankans must think for a moment whether the ever increasing state to state arms sales and procurement deals entered into with from Pakistan, Israel China, Russia really reach the Sri Lankan Military Arsenal or the volumes of such arms procurements find their way to those seven Arsenal interspersed over 7 seven countries directly or such arms procurements having been reached the Sri Lankan armouries  then are redirected to various destinations through the Avant Garde Maritime Services? The Lanka -e-news too carried a news item some time ago pertaining purchase of helicopters and it accused  Mahinda RajaPakshe having been in receipt of commission in the deal. Therefore one thing becomes crystal clear. That is one brother spends the tax payers money recklessly for procuring military wares which must be  considered as surplus in times of peace and the other brother makes money out of sale of the arms and ammunitions thus facilitating such huge quantities of arms and ammunitions reaching  the wrong hands. Who could be the real terrorist?  Who is the betrayer of  the nation? Who poses serious threat to peace and security? There should only be mala fide intention over the unprecedented allocation of  290 billion rupees ($US2.2 billion) for defence budget for the year 2013 because more the Defence spending is, more will be the payment of commission for such arms procurements and more amounts would be derived from and out the sale proceeds in the trade in illicit in arms and siphoning of the arms and ammunitions from the Sri Lankan Arsenal!

Sincere thanks to Athirvu.com, Lanka-e-news.