[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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