PRESS CONFERENCE BY SIERRA LEONE

The Government of Sierra Leone did not trust President Charles Taylor of Liberia to carry out all the assurances he had given regarding the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), Sierra Leone’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Sama S. Banya, told correspondents at United Nations Headquarters today. 

Referring to the recent address to the Security Council made by Monie R. Captan, the Foreign Minister of Liberia, Mr. Banya said that, while he had been impressed by the “eloquence and the rhetoric”, he had heard it so often before.  “If you have nothing to do with the RUF, how can you be distancing yourself from them?” he asked.  Sierra Leone believed that measures proposed by the Security Council against the Government of Liberia must be applied.  They could then be revisited after six months.  He emphasized that his Government was not pressing for sanctions, because it thought they would hurt ordinary citizens.

Among the other issues addressed by Mr. Banya during his press conference were the plight of Sierra Leone refugees, deployment of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) troops along the border with Guinea, Sierra Leone’s diamond certification regime, the Government’s relationship with the RUF, the establishment of an independent special court in the country, and the situation of child soldiers.

The Minister, who was in New York to attend a now-postponed meeting of ECOWAS ministers with the Security Council, was introduced by Sylvester Rowe, Deputy Permanent Representative of Sierra Leone to the United Nations.

At the outset of the press conference, Mr. Banya said the complexity of problems in Sierra Leone and its neighbours represented an extraordinary challenge that required extraordinary actions.  Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, the President of Sierra Leone, had said the current situation in the subregion was such that the international community could not afford to be complacent.  It was for that reason that ECOWAS had decided to deploy two battalions along the borders of Guinea and Liberia to halt further armed incursions.

He said the current situation in the subregion and its devastating repercussions had brought him to the United Nations and, specifically, to the Security Council, as the ECOWAS ministerial group prepared to address it.  The recent cross-border incursion by rebel forces from the territories of Liberia and, purportedly, from Sierra Leone into Guinea in December 2000 had given his Government considerable cause for concern. 

The bulk of refugees who had fled Sierra Leone into Guinea at the outbreak of RUF incursions had gone to southern Guinea, he said.  There were currently more than 300,000 of them, two thirds of whom were completely cut off and could get no humanitarian assistance.  His Government was at pains to repatriate its people and was asking the international community to assist.

In view of the links between the trade in Sierra Leone diamonds and arms, his Government was pleased that the country's certification system had been effectively put into place, he said.  The system was working, he stressed.

His Government sincerely appreciated the credible findings of the detailed report of the panel of experts appointed pursuant to resolution 1306 (2000), he said.  Having noted that the Government of Liberia had been actively supporting the RUF at all levels, Sierra Leone agreed with the recommendations of the panel, particularly regarding the Security Council taking effective and appropriate mandatory measures to deal with "this serious threat to international peace and security".

His Government, he said, would like the Council to seriously consider endorsing the panel's recommendations in a binding resolution under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter.  The reputation of the United Nations was at stake.  People were beginning to doubt that there would be any effective action, which was not good for the Organization.  While there was no actual fighting in the country, the rebels still occupied the diamond-mining areas, and all knew what they did with the proceeds.

Responding to a question, Mr. Banya said that all were aware what had happened last year when United Nations personnel were abducted by the RUF.  The United Nations might well be anxious to avoid such situation in the future.  The Sierra Leone army, trained and fully equipped by the United Kingdom and others, was now in a position to support the United Nations and provide security.

Liberia definitely had links to the RUF, he said in response to a follow-up question.  Charles Taylor had played an active role in the formation of what was now the RUF.  The problems in the subregion had started in Liberia.  When ECOWAS had seen the carnage and destruction in that country, it had decided to intervene.  Because of its proximity, Sierra Leone had been chosen to be used as the landing pad for Economic Community of West African States' Monitoring Observer Group (ECOMOG) activities.  Mr. Taylor had said then that, because of that action, he would see that Sierra Leone "tasted the bitterness of war". 

From that time, whenever the RUF had been pressed back out of Sierra Leone, they had sought sanctuary in Liberia, he said.  The majority of the first fighters who had entered Sierra Leone in March 1991 had been Liberians, he added. 

Since India and Jordan had decided to withdraw their forces from the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), there had been no movement in the way of deployment, the Minister said in response to another question.  The United Nations troops were in the country to be deployed, but it was taking a long time.  That was dangerous.

The Guinea conflict was not spreading into Sierra Leone, he told another correspondent.  His Government had never been involved in incursions into Guinea or into Liberia, he stressed.

The diamond certification system was working, but it was not perfect, he said.  There was a definite slowdown in any efforts to divert diamonds.  Many members of the international community were willing to participate, and his Government was quite satisfied with the preliminary results. 

The ECOWAS had not stated a position on sanctions, he noted.  It had decided many months ago that it wished to find out the reasons behind the resurgence of fighting and also to investigate the relationship between diamonds and the activities of the Government of Liberia and the RUF.  No report had yet been made. 

President Kabbah had been very patient with the RUF, taking a number of initiatives to communicate with them, the Minister said following another correspondent's question.  Recently, however, there had mainly been dialogue between UNAMSIL and the RUF. 

Responding to a further question, he said that the apparent stalemate could not go on indefinitely.  The country had been scheduled to hold elections at the end of the month, but had decided to postpone them until conditions permitted everybody to participate.  The Government hoped that the requisite conditions would be put in place by year's end. 

His Government was concerned about the funding of the proposed independent special court for Sierra Leone, he said.  The funding should not be left to voluntary contributions, as halfway through there might be donor fatigue.  Mandatory contributions should be in place, so that the process could move forward. 

Regarding the prosecution of child soldiers, he noted that some of them had been 10 years old when they started and were now 20 -- where could the line be drawn?  He was a strong advocate of the rights of the child, and his Government was very concerned about the issue.  The question was whether or not such individuals should testify.  The aim was not to make criminals of them, but they could be key witnesses and should participate in the actions of the court.  The stories of both the perpetrators and the victims must be taken into account, he stressed.

If it had not been for the timely intervention of ECOWAS in Sierra Leone, there would have been no democratically elected Government, he said.  However, funding was limited, and that was one of the areas that the Community wished the international community to address.  African countries were ready to contribute troops to deal with situations in Africa -- the only obstacle was funding.

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