[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 124 (Friday, October 6, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1720-E1721]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          LIFE IN THE AFTERMATH OF SIERRA LEONE'S DIAMOND WAR

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. TONY P. HALL

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 6, 2000

  Mr. HALL of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to draw our colleagues' 
attention to the moving statement of someone who testified to Chairman 
Ed Royce's Africa Subcommittee. The event was an extraordinary one, an 
opportunity to see some of the real people who are affected by our 
government's policies and our consumers' purchases. It is one of many 
organized by Chairman Royce, who has been tireless in his efforts on 
behalf of Sierra Leone's people, and I commend him and his staff for 
the critical work they do.
  Muctar Jalloh, who is 27, was caught by the rebels in the diamond-
mining region in April 1998. He was targeted because he was a student 
and seen as an enemy of rebel forces trying to gain control of Sierra 
Leone's mineral resources. Using a machete, AFRC/RUF rebels cut off his 
right arm above the wrist and his right ear. Mr. Jalloh currently lives 
at the Murry Town amputee camp in Freetown, and is a leader of the 
amputees group. His statement needs no embellishment. I hope my 
colleagues will give it the consideration it deserves.

      Statement of Muctar Jalloh--Amputee Victim From Sierra Leone


  Africa Subcommittee of the International Relations Committee, U.S. 
     House of Representatives, Washington, DC--September 26, 2000.

       Thank you for inviting my friends and me to speak to you 
     this morning. We have traveled a long way from Sierra Leone 
     thanks to the generosity of Americans from all over the U.S., 
     and especially from Baltimore, Maryland and Staten Island and 
     Brooklyn, New York. This afternoon we leave for New York to 
     begin several months of medical treatment, fittings and 
     training with artificial limbs.
       Today, I ask you not to dwell on the horrible injuries that 
     I have suffered personally.

[[Page E1721]]

     I will be glad, if you wish, to describe the terrible ordeal 
     and torture that I went through. I lost my right hand and my 
     right ear when a rebel chopped them off with a machete.
       No, I want instead to direct your attention to my young 
     colleagues who traveled with me from the Murry Town Amputee 
     Camp in our capital city of Freetown. Unlike me, they have 
     suffered much even before they could begin really formalizing 
     their dreams for a bright future. The two youngest with us 
     are only four years old. And these three girls here are only 
     eight, nine and ten years old.
       Since I read and write in English I sometimes see articles 
     in foreign newspapers or magazines stating that the war in 
     Sierra Leone must be a tribal war, or maybe a religious war. 
     Religion and tribal affiliation have nothing to do with why 
     we are now without our limbs.
       If it were a tribal war, you would not see in front of you 
     representatives of our country's major ethnic groups, 
     including Temne and Mende. Those amputated by the rebels 
     include every ethnic group in Sierra Leone. If it were a 
     religious war, you would not have both Christians and Muslims 
     sitting here in front of you. Christians and Muslims have 
     suffered equally at the hands of rebel forces.
       The war is not tribal, and it is not religious. It is 
     simply largely a war over control of diamonds. Little pieces 
     of rock that people around the world like to wear on their 
     fingers and hang from their ears. As you can see, because of 
     these rocks I no longer have an ear or five of my fingers. 
     And the victims you see in front of you are examples of what 
     has happened when the people and the democratically elected 
     government of Sierra Leone did not allow the rebels to keep 
     control of the entire country.
       Twenty thousand men, women and children have suffered the 
     same excruciating pain and suffering as the eight of us 
     sitting before you. Imagine the kind of people who would do 
     this to Memunatu or Mohammed. What in the world did they do 
     to anyone? Or Bintu, Damba or Fatu here? Or any of the rest 
     of us? How can human beings do this to other human beings? 
     And how can humanity allow this to continue to go on?
       At home in Freetown, our hopes rise and fall with news of 
     announcements from the United States, Europe or the UN. 
     However, while Congressional committees and the parliaments 
     of the world discuss and debate the issue of Sierra Leone, 
     the suffering continues to spread. Children like those before 
     you--Memunatu and Mohammed and Bintu and Damba--these are the 
     victims of inaction and delay.
       I am here to ask you for help in bringing the killing and 
     maiming to an end. I am here to ask you to do everything in 
     your power to protect the youngest and most innocent of God's 
     creation from this terrible manifestation of man's worst 
     greed. For if you allow this new form of systematic and 
     widespread terrorism to be tolerated in Sierra Leone, it can 
     happen again in some other country in the future.
       Since I am not a politician, my goal is not to engage in 
     politics. My interest is in helping the children of my 
     country have a chance to live normal, healthy lives. This is 
     a right that has been brutally taken away from those you see 
     in front of you today. We will need help in rebuilding these 
     as well since all of our schools and hospitals have been 
     damaged or destroyed. But the rebuilding process cannot begin 
     in earnest until we can begin living without fear.
       Again, I thank you for the chance to come to Congress to 
     plead the case of Sierra Leone's amputees. May God bless you 
     and show you the way to help us.

     

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