Recent info. on Sierra Leone

US Congress
Date: Fri, 05 May 2000 11:16:05 GMT
Subject: Hall's statement on Sierra Leone news...

Extension of Remarks of
>U.S. Rep. Tony P. Hall
>
>May 4, 2000
>
>
>       Mr. Speaker, I rise today in outrage at the news that rebels in
>Sierra Leone  murdered seven United Nations peacekeepers on May 3, and
that
>more than 40 others remain hostages.
>
>       By coincidence, on that same date this House approved the thoughtful
>legislation proposed by our colleague, Mr. Gejdenson.  His bill, which I

>was
>honored to co-sponsor, is an investment in Sierra Leone's peace process 
>that
>is overdue and one which, I hope, will help end the violence there.  It
>funds the effort other nations have joined to disarm and rehabilitate
the
>soldiers - many of them young children - who battled each other for
eight
>long years until the July 1999 peace agreement.  It funds a truth and
>reconciliation commission that aims to heal the wounds of civilians who 
>have
>been caught up in this war but have no hope for justice under the peace
>agreement.  And it takes other needed steps.
>
>       Mr. Speaker, I visited Sierra Leone last year with Congressman Frank
>Wolf.  We were both horrified by the butchery of innocent people who had
>lost their hands, legs, ears and noses to machete-wielding rebels. 
Neither
>of us will ever forget what we saw in the capital's amputation camp; I
am
>particularly haunted by one charming toddler who will struggle all her
life
>because one of the rebels chopped off her hand.
>"Give us a hand," the country's president had said in his election 
>campaign.
>Rebels, driven by greed for the nation's tremendous diamond wealth and
for
>power, twisted President Kabbah's campaign slogan around, telling their
>victims as they dismembered them, "go and ask Kabbah for your hand."
>
>       We also were dismayed to learn of the United States' role in
>pressing Sierra Leone's elected government to sign a peace agreement
that
>indemnified the rebels who had committed these atrocities.  Not only
would
>no one be prosecuted for war crimes, the leader of the rebels would be
put
>in charge of the nation's considerable wealth - wealth he had diverted
into
>the coffers of his rebel forces.
>
>       No one, save a regional coalition led nobly by Nigeria, had come to
>Sierra Leone's aid in any significant way during this war.  We sent 
>bandages
>and food, of course, but our country failed to expend the effort needed
to
>stop this war.  We had lots of excuses - "we were busy in Kosovo," a 
>country
>no less middle-class than Sierra Leone.  Or, "it was Africa, and we
still
>feel the loss of our men and our prestige in Somalia."  It may have been
>clever political calculus for our government to figure this peace
agreement
>was the best Sierra Leone's people could get, but the day we made that
>decision was a dark one for America's honor.
>
>       Most observers have been awed by Sierra Leoneans' willingness to
>accept peace without justice.  I too was persuaded by the people I heard
>there and in this country.  Perhaps Sierra Leoneans knew best that this
was
>their best hope for peace; if they could live with this shameful
agreement,
>our country should not stand in their way.
>
>       But now Sierra Leoneans have neither justice nor peace.  Atrocities
>against civilians continue, with well-documented instances of girls
being
>kidnaped to serve as sex slaves and domestic servants; of villages being
>attacked and looted; of random murders.  U.N. peacekeeping troops have
not
>been immune from the on-going violence: they have been stripped of their
>weapons - of armored personnel carriers, helicopters, and
rocket-propelled
>grenades, as well as rifles and ammunition.  In fact, the Kenyans who
died
>yesterday were trying to resist rebels' attempt to grab still more
weapons.
>
>       It is clear to me, Mr. Speaker, that as long as rebels can continue
>stealing Sierra Leone's natural resources - its diamonds - they will
>continue their attacks.  Diamonds transformed this band of 400 ruffians 
>into
>a well-equipped fighting force 25,000 strong, a force that one retired 
>Green
>Beret told me was one of the best in the world.  Diamonds still drive
rebel
>troops and commanders and despite the 10-month-old peace agreement that 
>bans
>continued mining, diamonds are still being mined today.  And, despite
all
>they know about how rebels are using their profits, diamond traders
still
>look the other way and buy the rebels' stones -- and they still
transform
>them into symbols of love and commitment for unsuspecting Americans to
>treasure.
>
>       When we returned in December, Mr. Wolf and I called for the United
>Nations to sanction these bloody diamonds - as it did when rebels in
Angola
>broke the peace agreement they had signed.  This step is needed not only
to
>punish the rebels; it is also essential to protecting the U.N.
peacekeepers
>who are the victims of this diamond wealth.
>
>       While the United States contributes no troops to this U.N. effort,
>we are paying tens of millions of dollars for it and we have an
obligation
>to insist that it be well equipped, adequately manned, and protected to
the
>full extent of the United Nations' ability.   However, although we got
kind
>words from the Secretary General and Ambassador Holbrooke and don't
doubt
>their efforts to bring lasting peace to Sierra Leone, the United Nations

>has
>not yet seriously considered this step.
>
>       Next week, in honor of the peacekeepers who have died in Sierra
>Leone, and in hope of protecting more from meeting that fate, I plan to
>introduce a Sense of the Congress resolution:
>
>*      abIt will condemn rebels for murdering the Kenyan troops serving as
>U.N. peacekeepers, and the countless Sierra Leonean civilians who
continue
>to suffer death and gross human rights violations at rebels' hands.
>
>*      abIt will call on our country's diplomats to remind the rebels'
>leaders that last year's peace agreement does not provide them amnesty
for
>war crimes committed since it was signed.
>
>*      abAnd it will call for the United States to bring before the United
>Nations Security Council a resolution sanctioning the sale of diamonds
by
>Sierra Leone's rebels.
>
>       Sierra Leone is a country blessed by its natural resources, by its
>fertile land, and by its hard-working people.  Until there is real
peace,
>though, its diamonds will be a curse - and Sierra Leone will be a ward
of
>the international community, dependent on the charity of Americans and
>others.  In a country as rich as Sierra Leone, there should be no need
for
>the charity of outsiders.
>
>       In the past decade, more than $10 billion in diamond wealth has
>fallen into the hands of rebel forces in Sierra Leone and three other
>African nations.  At the same time, these same forces were using their 
>money
>to inflict suffering that our country spent $2 billion to ease.  
Clearly,
>we cannot stop Sierra Leone's suffering with food and medicine alone. 
We
>have to end the deadly trade in conflict diamonds if we don't want to
see
>this "gemocide" continue.  As the consumer of 65 percent of the world's
>diamonds, we owe it to Africans to help them break this terrible link. 
As
>stewards of our own government's funds, we owe it to American taxpayers
to
>cut off the funding for the weapons that have inflicted Sierra Leoneans'
>wounds - and the death blows to seven U.N. peacekeepers.
>
>       I urge our colleagues to join me today in my outrage, and to join me
>next week in supporting this Sense of the Congress resolution.
>
>       Thank you, Mr. Speaker.



******************
> >Subject: Sierra Leone Analysis
> >Date: Fri, 5 May 2000 16:03:16 -0400
> >
> >U.S. Committee for Refugees
> >May 5, 2000
> >
> >For Immediate Release
> >Contact: Eleanor Bedford
> >(202) 347-3507 x 3136
> >weekend: (202) 588-1068
> >
> >Analysis
> >
> >Sierra Leone Peacekeeping Crisis Was Predictable;
> >Firm UN Response Needed to Latest Challenge
> >
> >     The current peacekeeping crisis in the West African country of
> >Sierra Leone was predictable and has been brewing ominously for
months.  
>It
> >should not have taken UN officials by surprise.
> >
> >     A firm international response to this newest challenge is necessary
> >if the peacekeeping operation in Sierra Leone has any hope of success
and
> >the country's nearly 1 million uprooted people are to return home
safely.
> >Sierra Leone has produced Africa's largest refugee population.
> >
> >     Combatants in Sierra Leone have regularly confronted UN troops since
> >the peacekeepers began arriving last December to help disarm the 
>country's
> >fighters in accordance with a fragile 1999 peace accord.  In three 
>January
> >ambushes, for example, Sierra Leonean rebels and their allies
confiscated
> >from UN peacekeepers more than 100 rifles and rocket-propelled grenade
> >launchers, several armored personnel carriers, and communications 
>equipment.
> >Sources on the ground say that similar incidents have occurred
frequently
> >but have remained unreported.
> >
> >     It appears to be no coincidence that the latest crisis, which has
> >left at least four UN peacekeepers dead, began just hours after a West
> >African intervention force known as ECOMOG-in Sierra Leone since the 
>early
> >1990s-officially completed its withdrawal from the country on April
30,
> >handing over all peacekeeping duties to UN troops.  Sierra Leoneans
have
> >long expressed fear that, when challenged by rebel forces, UN 
>peacekeepers
> >would not respond as         forcefully as ECOMOG troops.
> >
> >     The U.S. Committee for Refugees (USCR) predicted last December that
> >"success of the peacekeeping mission and the entire peace process will
be
> >tested when UN troops begin to move into diamond-mining areas
controlled 
>by
> >RUF rebels."  USCR warned that peacekeepers "should be prepared to use
> >appropriate force in response to rebel challenges."
> >
> >     To date, the UN has deployed more than 8,000 troops and military
> >observers in Sierra Leone, including some 3,000 from Nigeria, more
than
> >1,600 from India, about 800 from Kenya, nearly 800 from Ghana, and 700

>from
> >neighboring Guinea.  While most news reports indicate that rebels have
> >abducted about 90 UN soldiers in the past week, sources in Sierra
Leone 
>have
> >told the U.S. Committee for Refugees that a significantly higher 
>number-as
> >many as 500 peacekeepers-may have been disarmed and are currently
being 
>held
> >hostage.
> >
> >     In a clearly orchestrated campaign, the abductions of UN
> >peacekeepers have occurred in numerous locations across the country:
the
> >western town of Kambia, a large urban center close to the border with
> >Guinea; the northern provincial capital, Makeni, a traditional rebel
> >stronghold and a key UN site; the eastern towns of Kuiva and Kailahun,
> >strategically located on the doorstep to the lucrative
rebel-controlled
> >diamond-mining region; and the centrally located town of Magburaka.
> >
> >     Some 22,000 combatants have voluntarily disarmed since December, but
> >the past week's renewed insecurity will likely discourage additional
> >disarmament and might prompt some ex-combatants to re-arm themselves.
> >
> >     The situation is potentially explosive over the May 6-7 weekend.
> >Sierra Leoneans remain concerned about possible violence that could
> >accompany demonstrations against Revolutionary United Front (RUF) in
> >Freetown, the capital.  Residents express alarm that many
"ex-combatants"
> >now reside in the city and are a potential source of further
instability
> >unless UN troops rapidly exert control of the deteriorating situation
> >outside the capital.
> >
> >     The UN mission in Sierra Leone urgently requires a mandate for peace
> >enforcement rather than peacekeeping at this time.
> >
> >     End.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>

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