October 29, 2001
A United Nations Panel of Experts has recommended additional sanctions against Liberia for its continuing relationship with Sierra Leone's RUF rebels and for its role in the illicit diamonds-for-arms trade in the sub-region.
In March, the Security Council voted to broaden an arms embargo against the Liberian government. It also imposed additional measures, including a ban on the sales of diamonds and restrictions on travel by senior Liberian officials, which took effect in May after Liberia failed to convince the Council that it had taken steps to comply with the U.N. demands.
In its 135-page "name and shame" report released on Monday, the Panel recommended maintaining the diamond ban, and placing an embargo on Liberian round logs. It also called for placing revenues from Liberia's shipping register in escrow after finding that the country's Commissioner of Maritime Affairs had directed payments totaling some $925,000 to persons with ties to known arms traffickers. "For as long as there is an arms embargo on Liberia, the funds from the registry will need to be protected from bureau misuse," the panel said.
The panel recommended, however, that a U.N.-ordered grounding all Liberian-registered aircraft be lifted after finding that the registry had been cleansed of shadowy aircraft. But increased sanctions on Liberia may be unlikely, given opposition by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. In his October 11 report to the Security Council, Annan insisted that sanctions on timber could hurt tens of thousands of ordinary Liberians, and deprive the government of a substantial part of its tax revenues, making it more difficult to import goods or pay government workers.
The Panel of Experts found that the flow of illicit diamonds from Sierra Leone through Liberia had all but stopped, but it said RUF rebels had found alternate routes to smuggle diamonds out of the country. Nearly every nation in the sub-region was guilty of sanctions-busting, the panel said.
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