[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 142 (Saturday, October 10, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H10433-H10434]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CONDEMNING THE TERROR, VENGEANCE, AND HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES AGAINST
SIERRA LEONE
Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the
resolution (H.Res. 559) condemning the terror, vengeance, and human
rights abuses against the civilian population of Sierra Leone, as
amended.
The Clerk read as follows:
H. Res. 559
Whereas the ousted Armed Forces Revolutionary Council
(AFRC) military junta and the rebel fighters of the
Revolutionary United Front (RUF) have mounted a campaign of
terror, vengeance, and human rights abuses on the civilian
population of Sierra Leone;
Whereas the AFRC/RUF violence against civilians continues
with at least 1,200 persons having hands or feet amputated by
rebels (and the International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC) estimates that every victim who makes it to medical
help is only 1 of 4 who have been mutilated);
Whereas the AFRC/RUF continues to abduct children and
forcibly train them as combatants, in numbers estimated by
UNICEF to exceed 3,000 since March 1998;
Whereas the humanitarian consequences of this campaign have
been the flight of more than 250,000 refugees to Guinea and
Liberia in the last 6 months and the increase of internally
displaced Sierra Leoneans to over 250,000 in camps and towns
in the north and east;
Whereas the governments of Guinea and Liberia are having
great difficulty caring for the huge number of refugees, now
totaling 600,000 in Guinea and Liberia, and emergency appeals
have been issued by the United Nations High Commission for
Refugees (UNHCR) for $7,300,000 for emergency food, shelter,
sanitation, medical, educational, psychological, and social
services;
Whereas starvation and hunger-related deaths have begun in
the north with more than 500 people dying since August 1,
1998, a situation that will only get worse in the next
months;
Whereas the humanitarian community is unable, because of
continuing security concerns, to deliver food and medicine to
the vulnerable groups within the north and east of Sierra
Leone;
Whereas the Economic Community of West African States
(ECOWAS) and its military peacekeeping arm called ECOMOG are
doing their best, but require additional logistic support to
either bring this AFRC/RUF rebel war to a conclusion or force
a negotiated settlement;
Whereas arms and weapons continue to be supplied to the
AFRC/RUF in direct violation of a United Nations arms
embargo;
Whereas United Nations Under Secretary for Humanitarian
Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Sergio Viera de
Melo, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Refugees
International, following May through June 1998 visits to
Sierra Leone, have condemned, in the strongest terms, the
terrible human rights violations done by the AFRC/RUF rebels
to civilians; and
Whereas the Special Representative of the United Nations
Secretary General for Children and Armed Conflict, Olara
Otunu, following a May 1998 visit to Sierra Leone, called
upon the United Nations to make Sierra Leone one of the pilot
projects in the rehabilitation of child combatants: Now,
therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) urges the President and the Secretary of State to give
high priority to solving the conflict in Sierra Leone and to
bring stability to West Africa in general;
(2) urges the State Department to give the needed
logistical support to ECOMOG and the Government of Sierra
Leone to bring this conflict to a rapid conclusion;
(3) condemns the use of children as combatants in the
conflict in Sierra Leone;
(4) urges the establishment of a secure humanitarian
corridor to strategic areas in the north and east of Sierra
Leone for the safe delivery of food and medicines by the
Government of Sierra Leone and humanitarian agencies already
in the country mandated to deliver this aid;
(5) urges the President and the Secretary of State to
strictly enforce the United Nations arms embargo on the Armed
Forces Revolutionary Council and Revolutionary United Front
(AFRC/RUF) rebel forces;
(6) urges the President and the Secretary of State to work
with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)
nations to ensure there are sufficient African forces and
arms provided to its military peacekeeping arm ECOMOG;
(7) urges the President and the Secretary of State to
support the United Nations High Commission for Refugees
(UNHCR) appeal for aid to the Sierra Leonean refugees in
Guinea, Liberia, and other countries;
(8) urges the President and the State Department to support
the United Nations agencies and nongovernmental organizations
working in Sierra Leone to bring humanitarian relief and
peace to the country;
(9) urges the President and the State Department to support
the Government of Sierra Leone in its demobilization,
disarmament, and reconstruction plan for the country as peace
becomes a reality; and
(10) encourages and supports, Olara Otunu, United Nations
Special Representative of the Secretary General for Children
and Armed Conflict, to continue in his efforts to work in
Sierra Leone in the establishment of programs designed to
rehabilitate child combatants.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New
York (Mr. Gilman) and the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Clement) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman).
General Leave
Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on
this measure.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from New York?
There was no objection.
Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
(Mr. GILMAN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to support this resolution
offered by the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Ehlers) and cosponsored by
the distinguished chairman of our Subcommittee on Africa, the gentleman
from California (Mr. Royce).
Mr. Speaker, the situation in Sierra Leone is horrifying. Rebel
soldiers are terrorizing the civilian population, killing and maiming
innocent people, including women and children. The instability in
Sierra Leone has overflowed its borders and is impacting on neighboring
Liberia and Guinea. Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced
from their homes and are foraging for sustenance or relying on the
generosity of the international community.
Mr. Speaker, there is a peacekeeping force in Sierra Leone known as
the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group, ECOMOG,
made up of soldiers from other African nations. In many cases ECOMOG is
all that stands between innocent civilians and ethnic atrocities. This
resolution
[[Page H10434]]
will put the Congress on record supporting ECOMOG and other positive
institutions in Sierra Leone. Accordingly, I urge my colleagues to
support this measure.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. CLEMENT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I support this resolution. The United States must take steps to stop
the killing, human rights abuses and humanitarian disaster that is
taking place in Sierra Leone. This resolution puts the House on record
behind a series of actions that would help. It sends an important
message to all parties to the conflict as well as to our
administration. I urge my colleagues to support the resolution.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Tennessee for his
supporting remarks.
Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman
from Michigan (Mr. Ehlers), the author of this resolution.
Mr. EHLERS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for his support of the
bill and thank him also for bringing the bill to the floor.
While our Nation and many nations are very concerned about bloodshed
and potential warfare in the Balkans, we tend too often to ignore the
problems in Africa, a continent that is in danger of drowning in an
ocean of blood if further action is not taken.
A good example of that is the nation of Sierra Leone, a peace-loving
nation, which unfortunately on May 27, 1997 suffered a coup in which
the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council seized power from Sierra Leone's
democratically elected government. It, together with another armed
group, the Revolutionary United Front, began a nine-month regime
characterized by abuse of power and misgovernment.
The neighboring nation of Sierra Leone decided to take action to end
the bloodbath and to restore the democratically elected government.
This organization, the Economic Community of West African States,
better known as ECOWAS, and its military peacekeeping arm, called
ECOMOG, led a West African peacekeeping force in February 1998. This
force sought to restore the democratically elected government of Sierra
Leone.
Since the civilian government was restored successfully, the deposed
military junta has engaged in a campaign of terror against the
government, the civilian population and ECOMOG. They have fled into the
bush, particularly in the eastern part of the country, and continue
their battle of terror from that region.
As a result of this conflict, thousands of civilians have become
victims of gross violations of human rights, mostly at the hands of the
rebels, the AFRC/RUF. Abuses include physical mutilation, torture,
murder. Hundreds of men, women and children have been abducted, raped,
sold into forced labor. Worst of all, young children are being inducted
into combat and taught to kill before they are old enough to recognize
what they are doing.
Approximately one-quarter million refugees from Sierra Leone have
fled into neighboring Guinea and Liberia. The location of the refugee
camps does not allow for provision of adequate relief, and it is
essential that the ECOMOG forces be able to conquer the rebel forces,
which unfortunately are receiving arms from some unknown sources.
There is poor security, a lack of resources and minimal access to
these camps, resulting in hundreds of deaths simply because the aid
forces are not able to reach those needing relief. Arms and weapons
continue to be supplied to the rebels in direct violation of the United
Nations arms embargo. The international community has simply failed to
respond vigorously and adequately to this growing humanitarian crisis
within and outside of Sierra Leone.
Therefore, this resolution urges in the strongest terms that the
President and Secretary of State of our Nation give high priority to
solving the conflict in Sierra Leone and to bring stability to West
Africa in general. It also urges the State Department to give
logistical support to ECOMOG and to the government of Sierra Leone. It
also condemns the use of children as combatants, and urges the
establishment of a secure humanitarian corridor for the safe delivery
of food and medicine to all those who are suffering.
{time} 1510
Furthermore, the resolution urges the President and Secretary of
State to strictly enforce the United Nations armed embargo on rebel
forces. It also urges the President and Secretary of State to work with
West African states nations to ensure that there are sufficient African
forces and arms provided for peacekeeping.
It is a very serious situation and has resulted in considerable human
suffering, and I urge that this resolution be adopted, and once again I
thank the gentleman for taking this bill up and yielding this time to
me.
Mr. CLEMENT. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I want to commend the gentleman from Michigan (Mr.
Ehlers), who is not a member of our committee, for bringing this
critical situation to the attention of the floor at this time, and we
commend him.
Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back
the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman) that the House suspend the rules
and agree to the resolution H. Res. 559, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor
thereof) the rules were suspended and the resolution, as amended, was
agreed to.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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