[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book II)]
[December 12, 1997]
[Pages 1765-1766]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Letter to Congressional Leaders on Additional Sanctions Against UNITA
December 12, 1997

Dear Mr. Speaker:  (Dear Mr. President:)
    Pursuant to section 204(b) of the International Emergency Economic 
Powers Act, 50 U.S.C. 1703(b), I hereby report to the Congress that I 
have exercised my statutory authority to take additional steps with 
respect to the actions and policies of the National Union for the Total 
Independence of Angola (UNITA) and the national emergency declared in 
Executive Order 12865.
    The circumstances that led to the declaration on September 26, 1993, 
of a national emergency have not been resolved. The actions and policies 
of UNITA pose a continuing unusual and extraordinary threat to the 
foreign policy of the United States. United Nations Security Council 
Resolution 864 (1993) imposed prohibitions against the sale of weapons, 
military materiel, and petroleum products to UNITA. United Nations 
Security Council Resolution 1127 of August 28, 1997, and 1130 of 
September 29, 1997, determined that all Member States shall impose 
additional sanctions against UNITA due to the serious difficulties in 
the Angolan peace process resulting from delays by UNITA in the 
implementation of its essential obligations as established by the Lusaka 
Peace Protocol of November 20, 1994.
    Accordingly, and pursuant to the requirements of United Nations 
Security Council Resolution 1127, I have issued an Executive order 
which: (1) orders the closure of all UNITA offices in the United States, 
and (2) prohibits: (a) the sale or supply in any form, by United States 
persons or from the United States or using U.S. registered aircraft, of 
any aircraft or aircraft components to UNITA, or to any location within 
Angola other than those specified by the Secretary of the Treasury in 
consultation with the Secretary of State; (b) the insurance, engineering 
or servicing by United States persons or from the United States of any 
aircraft owned or controlled by UNITA; (c) the granting of permission to 
any aircraft to take off from, land in, or overfly the United States if 
it is destined to land in or has taken off from any location in Angola 
not specified by the Secretary of the Treasury in consultation with the 
Secretary of State; and (d) the provision by United States persons or 
from the United States of engineering and maintenance servicing, the 
certification of airworthiness, the payment of new claims against 
existing insurance contracts, or the provision or renewal of insurance 
to any aircraft registered in Angola not specified by the Secretary of 
the Treasury in consultation with the Secretary of State or to any 
aircraft that entered Angola through any location not specified by the 
Secretary of the Treasury in consultation with the Secretary of State.
    In furtherance of the goals of United Nations Security Council 
Resolution 1127 and of the foreign policy interests of the United 
States, the authorization of exemptions for flights responding to 
medical emergencies or for essential humanitarian and peace process 
mediation needs is implicit in this order.
    Under the terms of this order, UNITA includes: (1) the National 
Union for the Total Independence of Angola; (2) the Armed Forces for the 
Liberation of Angola (FALA); and (3) any person acting or purporting to 
act for or on behalf of the foregoing, including the Center for 
Democracy in Angola (CEDA).
    The United Nations Security Council acted to impose these additional 
sanctions in response to the actions and policies of UNITA in failing to 
comply with its obligations under the Lusaka Peace Protocol and thereby 
jeopardizing the return of peace to Angola. The United Nations Security 
Council resolutions demand UNITA's compliance with those obligations, 
including demilitarization of all its forces, transformation of its 
radio station into a nonpartisan broadcasting

[[Page 1766]]

facility, and full cooperation in the process of normalization of 
government authority throughout Angola.
    The above measures will immediately demonstrate to UNITA the 
seriousness of our concern over its delays to the peace process. It is 
particularly important for the United States and the international 
community to demonstrate to UNITA the necessity of completing the peace 
process in Angola. The flight restrictions will further limit UNITA's 
capacity to import weapons and military materiel in violation of United 
Nations Security Council Resolution 864 (1993).
    When UNITA fully complies with its obligations and completes its 
transition from armed movement to unarmed political party, the United 
States will support measures lifting these sanctions.
        Sincerely,

                                                      William J. Clinton

Note: Identical letters were sent to Newt Gingrich, Speaker of the House 
of Representatives, and Albert Gore, Jr., President of the Senate. This 
letter was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on December 15. 
The Executive order is listed in Appendix D at the end of this volume.