[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 67 (Thursday, May 25, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4500-S4501]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE REGARDING THE CRIMES AND ABUSES 
              COMMITTED AGAINST THE PEOPLE OF SIERRA LEONE

  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate now 
proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 315, submitted 
earlier by Senator Helms for himself and others.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will state the resolution by title.

       A resolution (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.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, Sierra Leone is a failed state and merely 
hoping that a few new Bangladeshi or Indian peacekeepers will turn the 
situation around is irresponsible. The President should bear this in 
mind as he decides U.S. policy in Sierra Leone--especially the extent 
of U.S. military involvement there or support for a U.N. or regional 
peacekeeping or peacemaking operation.
  All of us--100 Senators--must remind ourselves that the rebels in 
Sierra Leone--the Revolutionary United Front (RUF)--cannot be dealt 
with as if it were a political party. The Revolutionary United Front 
has terrorized 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.
  At some point the downtrodden people of Sierra Leone must find a way 
to hold their own leadership responsible. But it's impossible to 
overlook the fact that Liberian President Charles Taylor provides 
succor to the sadistic Revolutionary United Front.
  Taylor (with enthusiastic participation of regional leaders, 
including Maummar Qadhafi) provides leadership, weapons and safe haven 
while the RUF digs diamonds using slave labor in payment for services 
rendered.
  It's shameful that President Clinton's hand-picked emissary hugs the 
godfather of the RUF like a brother and contemplates negotiating with 
his henchmen. Or had it not been for certain Congressional objections, 
the U.S. Government would be shoveling foreign aid to Charles Taylor.
  Mr. President, the Resolution I offer, along with Senators Biden, 
Frist, and Feingold, speaks for itself. The Administration should take 
note, as it attempts to formulate U.S. policy, that at this stage of 
the game there is bipartisan ``concern'' (and I use that world in the 
most understated diplomatic fashion) about the policy of the United 
States and the sorry performance of the United Nations.
  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, the showdown in Sierra Leone between the 
Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and the United Nations peacekeepers 
they have taken hostage, robbed, killed and humiliated has enormous 
implications for the future of the United Nations. It is a sort of 
Midway Island for UN peacekeeping: a loss there could doom future 
operations across the continent, and possibly further afield. However, 
a frantic effort to salvage the UN operation there by reinstating the 
unjust peace accord may win the battle for peace keeping operations in 
the short run, but it could be devastating for the UN and for Sierra 
Leone in the long run.
  The Clinton administration and the United Nations have staked an 
unusual amount of capital on a successful UN mission in Sierra Leone. 
After the UN's shocking withdrawal from Rwanda in the days before the 
genocide began, a success in African peacekeeping became a must for the 
embattled Kofi Annan, who oversaw that withdrawal and later became 
Secretary-General.
  The Clinton administration's motives for backing a massive UN 
peacekeeping operation agreement is harder to understand beyond a 
history of making multilateralization itself a foreign policy goal. 
With an almost mantra-like regularity, they have touted ``African 
solutions for African problems.'' Yet two ``African solutions'' to the 
conflict in Sierra Leone were abandoned. In 1995-96, 300 South African 
mercenaries drove rebels from the capital and the major diamond fields, 
brought them to the negotiating table and set the stage for elections. 
Predictably, under donor pressure, they were forced to leave and the 
war resumed. Later, Nigeria led a West African intervention force and 
again restored peace by aggressively pursuing the sadistic but cowardly 
RUF.
  Both of these ``African solutions'' were dropped because they 
conflicted with the dreamy notion that says a UN mission can end a war 
of unspeakable barbarity without getting its hands dirty. The West 
African regional force cost a fraction of the UN mission and actually 
brought a modicum of peace to Sierra Leone, yet the administration 
never even requested from Congress the $25 million needed to continue 
their presence. Instead, the Nigerians were given blue helmets and 
impotent rules of engagement then ``reinforced'' with Kenyan, Indian 
and Zambian troops that have been robbed of their weapons and taken 
hostage. The U.S. portion of the price tag for this disaster soared to 
$118 million for next fiscal year alone.
  The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Sierra Leone and the 
frantic effort to salvage it now would be defensible if the Lome accord 
had ever been a viable peace. The agreement rewarded the rape, 
mutilation, forced conscription of children and killing campaign of the 
RUF with the vice-presidency, cabinet positions and exclusive domain 
over the diamond fields. Literally the only portion of the agreement 
implemented since it was signed in July of last year is the most 
outrageous and inexplicable: recognition of the RUF as a political 
party and a part of the government.
  With the Lome accord the RUF was given the privilege of reaping both 
the benefits of peace and the benefits of war simultaneously. It was a 
tragic and shameful contradiction that was obvious from the beginning. 
Because a successful UN peace agreement and peacekeeping operation had 
itself become the goal, rather than stability for Sierra Leone and 
defeat of the RUF, the contradiction was ignored. It was this self-
delusion that was the West's greatest disservice to Sierra Leone, far 
exceeding our refusal to send our own troops.
  Because the potential failure of the UN in Sierra Leone has made it 
high noon for all peacekeeping in Africa, including Congo, we may be in 
the process of repeating the mistakes of Lome simply to win a short 
term battle for multilateralism. Making a deal with the devil once is 
unwise, making it twice is unforgivable. Trying to force the reality of 
the brutality and recidivism of the RUF and the failure of the Lome 
accord to conform to our sense of order and to our desire for ``clean 
hands'' verges on international sociopathy.
  I am not suggesting that we end the peace mission in Sierra Leone, 
but we cannot repeat the mistakes of the Lome accord by again rewarding 
the RUF. To do so would set up a repeat of the current tragedy for 
Sierra Leone and indignity for the UN. Whether under the auspice of the 
UN or Nigeria, the rules of engagement in Sierra Leone must be 
realistic and aggressive. Most of all, we must seek accountability for 
the horrific war crimes committed there. It will be bloody and hard to 
watch, but not as horrific as the RUF has proven to be. For the sake of 
the suffering Sierra Leoneans we are supposed to be helping, 
accountability

[[Page S4501]]

for criminals and justice for their victims cannot again be sacrificed 
to our own intellectual impulses.
  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the resolution be 
agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid 
upon the table, and any statements relating to the resolution be 
printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 315) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                              S. Res. 315

       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.

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