    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 21 (Monday, May 28, 2001)]
    [Pages 795-797]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Message to the Congress Reporting on Action Prohibiting the Importation
    of Rough Diamonds From Sierra Leone

    May 23, 2001

    To the Congress of the United States:

        Pursuant to section 204(b) of the International Emergency Economic
    Powers Act, 50 U.S.C. 1703(b) (IEEPA), and section 301 of the National
    Emergencies Act, 50 U.S.C. 1631, I hereby report that I have exercised
    my statutory authority to expand the scope of an existing national
    emergency in response to the unusual and extraordinary threat posed to
    the foreign policy of the United States by the Government of Liberia's
    complicity in the illicit trade in diamonds from Sierra Leone by the
    insurgent Revolutionary United Front of Sierra Leone (RUF) and by the
    Government of Liberia's other forms of support for the RUF. I also have
    exercised my statutory authority to issue an Executive Order that
    prohibits the importation into the United States of all rough diamonds
    from Liberia, whether or not such diamonds originated in Liberia. These
    actions are mandated in part by United Nations Security Council
    Resolution 1343 of March 7, 2001.
        The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of
    State, is authorized

    [[Page 796]]

    to issue regulations in exercise of my authorities under the IEEPA and
    the United Nations Participation Act, 22 U.S.C. 287c, to implement this
    prohibition. All Federal agencies are also directed to take actions
    within their authority to carry out the provisions of the Executive
    Order.
        I am enclosing a copy of the Executive Order I have issued. The
    Order was effective at 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on May 23, 2001.
        I have authorized these measures in furtherance of Executive Order
    13194 of January 18, 2001, and in response to the Government of
    Liberia's continuing facilitation of and participation in the RUF's
    illicit trade in diamonds from Sierra Leone and its other forms of
    support for the RUF. The Government of Liberia's actions in this regard
    constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the foreign policy of
    the United States because they directly challenge United States foreign
    policy objectives in the region and the rule-based international order
    that is crucial to the peace and prosperity of the United States.
        In Executive Order 13194, President Clinton responded to the RUF's
    illicit arms-for-diamonds trade that fuels the brutal, decade-long civil
    war in Sierra Leone by declaring a national emergency and, consistent
    with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1306, by prohibiting the
    importation into the United States of all rough diamonds from Sierra
    Leone except for those importations controlled through the certificate
    of origin regime of the Government of Sierra Leone. In a report issued
    on December 14, 2000, the United Nations Panel of Experts established
    pursuant to resolution 1306 found that diamonds represent a major and
    primary source of income for the RUF to sustain and advance its military
    activities; that the bulk of the RUF diamonds leaves Sierra Leone
    through Liberia; and that such illicit trade cannot be conducted without
    the permission and involvement of Liberian government officials at the
    highest levels. The Panel recommended, among other things, a complete
    embargo on all diamonds from Liberia until Liberia demonstrates
    convincingly that it is no longer involved in the trafficking of arms
    to, or diamonds from, Sierra Leone.
        On March 7, 2001, the Security Council unanimously adopted
    resolution 1343 to impose sanctions against the Government of Liberia.
    The resolution determined that the Government of Liberia's active
    support for the RUF in Sierra Leone and other armed rebel groups in
    neighboring countries constitutes a threat to international peace and
    security in the region and decided that all states shall impose an
    immediate arms embargo on Liberia and also shall impose travel and
    diamond bans on Liberia on May 7, 2001, unless the Council determined
    before that date that the Government of Liberia had ceased its support
    for the RUF and for other armed rebel groups and, in particular, had
    taken a number of concrete steps identified in the resolution. In
    furtherance of this resolution, the Secretaries of State, Commerce, and
    Defense have taken steps, under their respective authorities, to
    implement the arms embargo.
        With regard to the travel ban and diamond embargo, the Government of
    Liberia has failed, notwithstanding the two-month implementation period
    granted by resolution 1343, to honor its commitments to cease its
    support for the RUF and other armed rebel groups. As a result, the
    Security Council did not determine that Liberia has complied with the
    demands of the Council.
        In Proclamation 7359 of October 10, 2000, President Clinton
    suspended the entry as immigrants and nonimmigrants of persons who plan,
    engage in, or benefit from activities that support the RUF or that
    otherwise impede the peace process in Sierra Leone. The application of
    that Proclamation implements the travel ban imposed by resolution 1343.
        Finally, for the reasons discussed above and in the enclosed
    Executive Order, I also have found that the Government of Liberia's
    continuing facilitation of and participation in the RUF's illicit trade
    in diamonds from Sierra Leone and its other forms of support for the RUF
    contribute to the unusual and extraordinary threat to the foreign policy
    of the United States described in Executive Order 13194 with respect to
    which the President declared a national emergency. In order to deal with
    that threat, and consistent with resolution 1343 and this finding, I
    have taken action to prohibit the importation into the

    [[Page 797]]

    United States of all rough diamonds from Liberia, whether or not such
    diamonds originated there, in order to contribute to the international
    effort to bring a prompt end to the illicit arms-for-diamonds trade by
    which the RUF perpetuates the tragic conflict in Sierra Leone. This
    action, as well as those discussed above, also expresses our outrage at
    the Government of Liberia's ongoing contribution to human suffering in
    Sierra Leone and other neighboring countries, as well as its continuing
    failure to abide by international norms and the rule of law.
                                                    George W. Bush
     The White House,
     May 23, 2001.