PRESS BRIEFING BY SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR LIBERIA

Press Briefing

PRESS BRIEFING BY SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR LIBERIA

At a Headquarters press briefing this afternoon, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Liberia, Tuliameni Kalomoh, updated correspondents on the work of the United Nations Observer Mission in Liberia (UNOMIL). He said the Liberian operation -- the first joint operation of the United Nations and the regional peacekeeping operation, the Economic Community of West African States' Monitoring Observer Group (ECOMOG) -- had been "a success story" and indeed challenging. Rules of engagement had not been clear, nor initial confidence between those partners, but ultimately the operation had worked out well.

Recent elections in Liberia concluded smoothly, with a massive turnout, he said. The primary challenge would begin after the inauguration of the new Government, however. That was in fact the challenge of reconstruction. Approximately 700,000 Liberian refugees were "scattered around the world", he said. As well, there were a great number of internally displaced persons. The level of destruction in the countryside was high and had created problems for the resettlement of both refugees and internally displaced persons.

Mr. Kalomoh said he had participated in the Ministerial Meeting of the Special Conference on Liberia, held last Friday, 3 October, at United Nations Headquarters. He found the meeting encouraging, with strong expressions of support for the new Government in Liberia. Some scepticism regarding the potential course to be followed by the new Government was also voiced at the meeting. Mr. Kalomoh himself considered the new Government's policies to be fine. "If you wait too long for the Government to do the right things, or deny them the tools to do those right things, we may create a problem on the ground", he added. Liberia presently contained too many unemployed people and too many idle former combatants who needed to be reintegrated into society. The international community should remain engaged in Liberia and support not only the new Government, but civil society and non-governmental organizations in the country.

Current conditions in Sierra Leone had "an immediate negative impact" on security in Liberia, he said, with the potential to destabilize "a very fragile situation". It would be desirable for the situation in Sierra Leone to be resolved, in order to reduce insecurity in Liberia.

The Liberian people had "voted decisively for peace", he added. Leaders in the country understood that fact and had made "reasonably good" appointments to establish an inclusive Government. Moreover, they had committed themselves to the rule of law and respect for human rights. They had created a legal and political environment which would allow an independent

human rights commission to operate, and had created a commission on reconciliation. While challenges before Liberia were "awesome" and "daunting", an environment sufficient to earn support of the international community had been created by the Government. The onus remained on Liberia to demonstrate its respect for human rights, its transparency, and an environment which would facilitate recovery and resettlement programmes.

In a subsequent question-and-answer session, Mr. Kalomoh was asked by a correspondent if a special programme had been created to assist child soldiers. Mr. Kalomoh said most such children were illiterate and could not be reintegrated into the army. No special programme existed specifically for children, but rather a general programme of reintegration. A special programme for children would be desirable, in order that they might obtain literacy and be kept busy. For, as the situation in Sierra Leone had demonstrated, children would be tempted by recruitment offers from various factions.

As to the number of child soldiers, he said figures varied. No census had been taken, due to the lack of a formal settlement in Liberia. An estimate between 20,000 and 24,000 had been provided by a demobilization unit, but that had been drawn from the number of people who had surrendered weapons.

Asked if factions in Liberia were potentially renascent, Mr. Kalomoh said factions did not have formal structures and had been demobilized. However, informal loyalty to some factions remained. Now that elections had been held, the possibility of factions reviving was diminished. One faction, the ULIMO K, "may have a potential for mischief", he said. Although it had recognized the election results and had taken up its seats in the Liberia legislature, ULIMO K was "not really fully reconciled to the massive defeat which was inflicted on them" electorally.

To a follow-up question about the status of ECOMOG, he said that six months after the inauguration of the new Government and attendant restructuring of the Liberian army and security agencies, the Government would either "negotiate a new life for ECOMOG, or they will pack up their bags and go". It had been agreed that ECOMOG would remain at a strength of 11,600 persons.

Asked how the "brain drain" from Liberia might be reversed, Mr. Kalomoh said the Government must create an appropriate environment to do so. Presently, among Liberians, there was "a depth of suspicion and fear and mistrust" of Charles Taylor and his party, both within and outside the country. The Government must demonstrate that no "witch hunt" would be forthcoming. It had already made statements to that effect and must effectuate them. The Government must also show ordinary Liberians that they, too, would have a role to play in the reconstruction of the country.

Liberia Press Briefing - 2 - 7 October 1997

To a question about the collection of weapons in Liberia, he said periodic discoveries of weapons had been made by ECOMOG, but those were few in number. Liberia's borders with both Côte d'Ivoire and Sierra Leone were "porous" and long, and difficult to seal off. Yet there were effectively no weapons entering Liberia, nor substantial weapons use by the police.

He added that two categories of weapons were collected during disarmament: those which had been surrendered by factions and had been kept in joint custody by UNOMIL and ECOMOG, and which amounted to "junk"; and those which had been recovered by ECOMOG and which had not been surrendered. The latter weapons were of higher quality and some were new. Because those weapons had not been surrendered by factions, UNOMIL did not have joint control over them and did not know their number. Rather, they were in the custody of ECOMOG. There was consensus among Liberians and ECOMOG that the weapons be classified and that those which were serviceable be salvaged, the others destroyed.

Asked how Mr. Taylor envisaged the role of women in the new Government, Mr. Kalomoh said Mr. Taylor had, in practice, done very well so far, having appointed women to the positions of Chief Justice and Minister of Planning, among others. "He could do more, but which African country has done better, or which country in the world, anyway?" he asked.

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