[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.
____________________