[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 315 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 315

  Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the crimes and abuses 
   committed against the people of Sierra Leone by the Revolutionary 
                 United Front, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 25, 2000

    Mr. Helms (for himself, Mr. Biden, Mr. Frist, and Mr. Feingold) 
 submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the crimes and abuses 
   committed against the people of Sierra Leone by the Revolutionary 
                 United Front, and for other purposes.

Whereas more than 1,000,000 of Sierra Leone's 5,200,000 population are 
        internally displaced and more than 500,000 are refugees as a direct 
        result of the civil war in Sierra Leone, at least 50,000 people have 
        been killed during the civil war, untold numbers of people have been 
        mutilated and disabled largely by the Revolutionary United Front, and 
        more than 20,000 individuals, including many children, are missing or 
        have been kidnapped by the Revolutionary United Front;
Whereas the Revolutionary United Front continues to terrorize the population of 
        Sierra Leone by mutilating their enemies and innocent civilians, 
        including women and children, by chopping off their ears, noses, hands, 
        arms, and legs;
Whereas the Revolutionary United Front continues to terrorize the population of 
        Sierra Leone by decapitating innocent victims, including children as 
        young as 10 months old and elderly men and women;
Whereas the Revolutionary United Front abducts women and children for use as 
        forced laborers, sex slaves, and as human shields during skirmishes with 
        government forces and the forces of the Economic Community of West 
        African States;
Whereas the Revolutionary United Front has kidnapped boys as young as 6 or 7 
        years old and used them to kill and steal and to become soldiers, and 
        its forces have routinely raped women and young girls as a terror 
        tactic;
Whereas the Revolutionary United Front has abducted civilians, missionaries, 
        humanitarian aid workers, United Nations peacekeepers, and journalists;
Whereas Charles Taylor, the President of Liberia, has provided and continues to 
        provide significant support and direction to the Revolutionary United 
        Front in exchange for diamonds and other natural resources and is 
        therefore culpable for the abuses in Sierra Leone;
Whereas the Lome Peace Accords did not hold the Revolutionary United Front 
        accountable for their abuses and, in fact, rewarded Foday Sankoh and 
        other Revolutionary United Front leaders with high government offices 
        and control of diamond mining throughout Sierra Leone;
Whereas the Revolutionary United Front in Sierra Leone is not a legitimate 
        political movement, entity, or party;
Whereas all sides in the civil war in Sierra Leone are guilty of serious human 
        rights abuses; and
Whereas the Revolutionary United Front led by Foday Sankoh is responsible for 
        breaking the Lome Peace Accords and for the violent aftermath that has 
        consumed Sierra Leone since May 1, 2000: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
            (1) the United States Government should do all in its power 
        to help ensure that the Revolutionary United Front and its 
        leaders, as well as other groups committing human rights abuses 
        in Sierra Leone, are held accountable for the crimes and abuses 
        committed against the people of Sierra Leone;
            (2) the United States Government should not condone, 
        support, or be a party to, any agreement that provides amnesty 
        to those responsible for the crimes and abuses in Sierra Leone; 
        and
            (3) the United States Government should not provide 
        incentives of any kind to regional supporters of the 
        Revolutionary United Front until all support from them to the 
        Revolutionary United Front has ceased.
                                 <all>