Some Governments were able to sign only the Convention at this stage. I hope that they will soon be able to sign the two protocols as well. As you know, there is also a third Protocol in preparation on the trafficking in firearms. It will, I am sure, be completed next month by the same Ad Hoc Committee that drafted the Convention and the other two Protocols. The firearms Protocol is a much needed instrument.
Small arms are a greater threat to human security than big guns.
They kill more people worldwide in criminal and other violence. Both the Protocols and the Convention itself incorporate a new element that reflects today's thinking on how to fight organized crime. For the first time, specific articles address the prevention of crime. Linkages between crime and poverty are explicitly mentioned, and the importance of public opinion as a prevention tool is stressed. I have spoken at some length about the nature of the Palermo Convention because, in my view, it is the cornerstone of an emerging international strategy to combat transnational organized crime.