Recommendations
UN Security Council should:
- Maintain the current embargoes on Liberian timber and diamonds until it can be demonstrated that timber and diamonds no longer contribute to conflict and that government control meets the requirements for lifting sanctions as found in Security Council Resolution 1521 (2003) and renewed by Security Council Resolution 1579 (2004).
- Strengthen the mandate of the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) and its Civilian Police (CivPol) to ensure that they have the ability to carry out effective law enforcement, in coordination with local law enforcement agencies to help rebuild state capacity. This should be made explicitly clear for policing areas rich in diamonds, timber, gold and rubber, as well as key border crossing points.
- Delay the planned drawdown of UN peacekeeping forces in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) until the end of 2005, to maintain the level of troops necessary to ensure continued security for Sierra Leone and the Special Court for Sierra Leone given the upcoming elections in Liberia and Côte d'Ivoire. Also increase the numbers of UNMIL troops as requested for the period surrounding Liberian elections.
- Grant Chapter VII use of force authority to UNMIL, UNAMSIL and the UN Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI) to arrest Charles Taylor should he return to Liberian, Sierra Leonean or Ivorian territory, respectively.
- Publicly support Charles Taylor being moved to face trial at the Special Court for Sierra Leone.
- Apply additional financial and/or travel restrictions to individuals or governments found to be financially or militarily supporting armed non-state actors in Liberia and the region.
The UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) should:
- Strengthen its deployment strategy to help the Liberian government build law enforcement capacity and restore and maintain control over its borders and areas rich in natural resources. This should include implementing the Kimberley Process expert mission recommendation to deploy UNMIL troops to monitor and police diamond-mining areas, as well as include closer coordination with the Liberian Forestry Development Authority (FDA) to support the deployment of FDA foresters and help prevent violations of current logging regulations.
- Coordinate with UNOCI to better deploy UN peacekeeping troops on a more permanent basis at key border crossings, to prevent cross-border movement of mercenaries, weapons and natural resources.
- Engage in stronger intelligence sharing and strategic planning among the UN's regional peacekeeping missions and offices, to develop better flow of information and a stronger integrated regional strategy.
- Mainstream ethical purchasing policies for timber products used for reconstruction and development into all UN activities, to ensure that no illegally-sourced or conflict-funding timber is being used.
The National Transitional Government (NTGL) of Liberia should:
- Ensure that the FDA and the reforms espoused in the Liberia Forest Initiative (LFI) are given full political and administrative support and carried out in a timely fashion. Before restarting any logging activities, a forest value assessment should be conducted followed by Participatory Land Use Planning, and the public should have ready access to documents concerning the forestry sector including all regulations, operating licenses, fees paid and ownership information should. All companies should have a valid contract, a management plan and have conducted an Environmental Social Impact Assessment (ESIA).
- Monitor the logging industry and its ongoing relationship with local populations to identify, prosecute and prevent future violations of domestic forest-use and human rights laws, and to sever any links between the Liberian logging industry and destabilising actors.
- Appoint an independent forest monitor to monitor the logging industry and the relevant government agencies to provide independent oversight of the reform process' progress.
- Fully implement the recommendations as regards implementation of diamond control laws as made by the Kimberley Process expert mission report.
- Continue deploying government representation throughout the country, providing them with adequate staffing, financing, logistics and law enforcement support.
- Join and implement the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) with the full participation of Liberian civil society and in accordance with the EITI minimum criteria.
The Donor Community should:
- Mainstream revenue transparency conditionality into all donor policies relating to Liberia, and ensure better financial and management oversight of current and planned projects to prevent misappropriation of donor funds.
- Ensure that a complete independent, retrospective and internationally verifiable audit of the Liberian logging industry is carried out as a priority, looking to both improve accounting systems and identify the methods by which revenue was previously misappropriated. This should be required as part of assistance provided for forest sector reform, and all results should be made accessible to the public.
- Further ensure that a complete independent, retrospective and internationally verifiable audit of Liberian government finances is conducted, to improve accounting systems, identify the methods by which revenue was previously misappropriated and locate misappropriated money. All findings should be made accessible to the public.
- Make sure that the rehabilitation and reintegration phase of Liberia's Disarmament, Demobilisation, Rehabilitation and Reintegration (DDRR) process has the necessary numbers of programmes fully financed, properly designed and implemented as soon as possible and maintained for as long as necessary.
- Ensure that UNMIL, the World Food Programme (WFP), UNHCR and other aid agencies are fully supported logistically and financially.
- Ensure that the Liberia Forest Initiative (LFI) receives strong political and financial support, and that pressure is placed on the NTGL to follow through with necessary forestry sector reforms in a timely manner.
- Improve transparency and information-sharing with other governments and donor agencies, to prevent overlap and ensure proper coordination of activities. Billboard promoting US-Liberia cooperation, Monrovia, April 2005.
- Provide all necessary support and technical assistance to the implementation of the EITI and ensure that progress on EITI implementation becomes a benchmark for donor programmes.
The Kimberley Process should:
- Urge its members to provide technical and financial assistance to Liberia to ensure effective implementation and enforcement of Liberian laws to implement the Kimberley Process.
- Send another expert mission to verify whether Liberia has effectively implemented the recommendations outlined in the expert mission's report before admitting Liberia into the Kimberley Process.
The International Community should:
- Enforce UN Security Council travel bans and asset freezes, working with the banking sector and customs and immigration agencies to ensure full compliance and assistance to UN Security Council and Expert Panel requests for information.
- Use its overt and covert intelligence capacities to maintain heightened awareness of the activities and movements of Charles Taylor and his close associates.
The Governments of the United States (US), United Kingdom (UK) and others with information on Charles Taylor's ongoing activities should:
- Make available that evidence which demonstrates Charles Taylor's violation of UN sanctions, international law and his exile agreement with Nigeria to the Nigerian government, Interpol, the United Nations Panel of Experts for Liberia, Special Court for Sierra Leone and all relevant law enforcement authorities.
The Government of Nigeria should:
- As a member state of Interpol and member of the Management Committee of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, respect the international arrest warrant for crimes against humanity issued by the Special Court in 2003 and arrange for Charles Taylor to be transferred to the Special Court.
- Follow up on existing evidence and conduct its own investigation into violations of Charles Taylor's exile agreement.
The African Union (AU) and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) should:
- Ensure that their members' border control and immigration authorities do not allow Taylor, a fugitive from justice, to enter or otherwise transit through their countries in order to seek asylum or any other form of political indulgence.
- Encourage and help facilitate Charles Taylor's extradition to the Special Court.
- Ensure that all countries enforce the Liberian and Ivorian arms embargoes, and further adhere to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Moratorium on the Import, Export and Manufacture of Small Arms and Light Weapons.
- Continue its audit of NTGL finances and make public the results. Destruction of forest caused by logging road construction, 2001.
Executive Summary
Insufficient reform of Liberia's diamond and timber industries and failure to adequately control areas rich in natural resources have resulted in their continued exploitation and threat to regional peace and security. Recently there has been an explosion of diamond mining with little or no oversight; the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) lacks the capacity to enforce domestic forestry laws, enabling virtually uncontrolled logging by ex-combatants and businessmen; and numerous rubber plantations, which have been occupied by armed ex-combatants for some time, continue to tap and sell rubber. The failure of the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) and National Transitional Government (NTGL) government to adequately assume control of Liberia's interior and border regions has allowed for the continued cross-border movement of such resources in violation of UN sanctions, as well as the trafficking of weapons and mercenaries that is undermining an already tenuous regional peace. While the forestry and diamond industry reform programmes have progressed, the requirements set forth Security Council Resolution 1521 (S/2003/1521) have clearly not been fulfilled and as such timber and diamond sanctions should remain in place.
Despite the large number of UN forces in the region, totalling over 25,000 peacekeepers across Sierra Leone, Liberia and Côte d'Ivoire, West Africa remains highly unstable. Stability in Liberia itself is only guaranteed thought the presence of UNMIL, and the significant problems and failures of the ongoing DDRR process in Liberia have created a large population of disgruntled excombatants with the capacity and will to remain mercenaries for hire. There are continued reports of recruitment of ex-combatants throughout the region to fight in both Côte d'Ivoire and Guinea(1), with worrying reports that former Liberian President Charles Taylor was involved in an assassination attempt on Guinean President Conte(2), is building a small army to destabilise the region(3) and is further meddling in the political and economic affairs of Liberia in violation of his exile in Nigeria(4).
- There are continued violations of the timber and diamond sanctions
UN, diplomatic, military and NGO representatives in both Liberia and Côte d'Ivoire have stated to Global Witness investigators that they believe timber is crossing from Liberia into Côte d'Ivoire(5), in violation of the UN timber sanctions. There is evidence to suggest that shipments are going largely to the Ivorian-government controlled southern region, with some timber also crossing into areas controlled by the Forces Nouvelles(6). Both the Forces Nouvelles and pro-Ivorian government forces have used logging activities in western Côte d'Ivoire to aid their war efforts(7), and given the lack of border security Liberian timber could easily cross over and be mixed with Ivorian timber for local use or commercial export. Illegal mining diamond mining has also risen, with illegal exports understood to be shipped to Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire, Sierra Leone, and even directly to Belgium(8). (See Part I: TIMBER: The Threat Posed by Liberia's Natural Resource Industries, page 12)
- Illegal timber and diamond exploitation still serves as a key sources of revenue for armed ex-combatants
Non-state actors, many of them armed, are exploiting diamond, timber, gold and rubber resources with virtual impunity, generating significant income. The UN and NTGL's lack of control over resource-rich areas has resulted in increased levels of organised and unaccountable logging by ex-combatants and the former warring party commanders and businessmen who organise them; conservative estimates range from US$75,000-$100,000 of timber revenue generated per month, and just for those trucks whose movements were noted entering Monrovia. Diamond exploitation has also gone up, and is generating a Members of a pro-Liberian government militia, including child soldiers, 2003. conservatively-valued US$350,000 per month, with little to no Ministry of Mines presence in any of the key diamond mining areas. (See Part I: TIMBER: The Threat Posed by Liberia's Natural Resource Industries, page 12)
- Former Liberian President and indicted war criminal Charles Taylor continues to threaten regional peace
Despite the terms of his exile arrangements with Nigeria that forbade Charles Taylor from 'engaging in active communication with anyone engaged in political, illegal or governmental activities'(9) in Liberia, he continues to do so. Taylor has been accused by the Special Court for Sierra Leone as having been behind a coup attempt against Guinean President Lansana Conte in mid January 2005, and has been able to bribe Nigerian state security forces(10) to continue meeting in person and having telephone contact with various individuals related to his political, military and economic interests(11). He maintains significant influence over West Africa, and remains as much a threat to regional peace and security as he always was(12). (See Taylor's threat to West Africa, page 31)
- Recruitment of ex-combatants to fight in Côte d'Ivoire and Guinea continues
The failure of the DDR and DDRR processes in Sierra Leone and Liberia, respectively, to successfully demobilise and reintegrate ex-combatants and break down the chains of command of former warring parties has left those ex-combatants vulnerable to recruitment for neighbouring conflicts(13). There are numerous reports of recruitment within Liberia from former LURD, MODEL and former Government of Liberia (GOL) factions as well as ex-combatants from Sierra Leone and Guinea to fight in Côte d'Ivoire and Guinea.(14) West Africa's cycle of mercenary violence thus continues, highlighting the need for greater coordination between regional UN forces to secure borders and interior areas, harmonise disarmament programmes, and most importantly, learn lessons from past mistakes. (See Re-Recruitment of excombatants, page 27)
- Required fundamental reforms to the Liberian forestry sector have not been completed.
While the Liberian Forestry Initiative (LFI) programme of forest sector is moving steadily forward, much more work to be done before it can be said that the Liberian logging industry is no longer in a position to fuel insecurity and conflict as called for in Security Council Resolution 1521 (2003). The Managing Director of the FDA admits that his organisation does not have the capacity to fulfil its responsibilities, and the lack of money for salaries and insufficient fuel for cars or generators(15) certainly plays a role in that; however, internal management issues and unaccountable and confused processes further hinder the FDA's ability to do their job. Despite the recent completion of the concession review, fundamental elements of the reform process like a basic land-use plan have yet to be completed. Furthermore, issues such as what process will be employed to take forward possible granting of concessions, if the concession model is even one well-suited to Liberia given its failure elsewhere, what role local communities will play in the decision-making process, and other points have yet to be fully debated and action taken. (See Liberia's unreformed logging industry, page 21).
- Liberian diamond industry is still not in compliance with the Kimberley Process.
The Security Council passed resolution 1579 on 21 December 2004, extending diamond sanctions for 6 months, to be reviewed in three months following a Kimberley Process expert mission to Liberia, which was tasked to evaluate the reform process of Liberia's diamond industry and its ability to fulfil requirements to lift Security Council-imposed diamond sanctions. The findings of the expert mission clearly demonstrate that Liberia is far from having the diamond controls required to prevent diamonds from fuelling conflict and instability. Roadsign for Bureau of the Budget, Monrovia, March 2004. Although the NTGL has passed legislation designed to implement the Kimberley Process, the mission report concluded that the NTGL is unable to effectively implement, monitor or enforce the law to implement the Kimberley Process. The expert mission further identified the lack of security and government control over diamond-producing regions as a key obstacle preventing the NTGL from effectively enforcing its laws. (See Liberia's unreformed diamond industry, page 22)
- The NTGL is still not operating with minimum transparency and accountability, and has agreed to numerous business deals with insufficient oversight.
The recent litany of opaque and unaccountable agreements which the NTGL has agreed to across various economic sectors, including iron ore and telecommunications, and the understanding that various members of the NTGL have misappropriated millions of dollars in state revenue, demonstrates the need for more vigilance, oversight and control by the international community. Such behaviour further undermines international donor confidence, as well as the confidence of Liberian citizens, that the NTGL is operating in the best interests of all Liberians. (See Cleaning out the coffers: resource deals and bad management, page 25)
- Lifting timber and diamond sanctions now would seriously undermine regional security, and not provide substantial economic benefit to the Liberian people.
Moving to lift the embargoes on Liberian timber and diamonds now, before the required reforms have been completed and safeguards put in place, would seriously jeopardise Liberia's peace and could return Côte d'Ivoire to active conflict. Lifting the export ban would be an invitation to unscrupulous loggers and miners, many of whom are armed excombatants, to boost output and generate even more revenue outside of government control; given inadequate upcountry security, logging companies would likely hire private security forces thereby re-arming even more ex-combatants. Timber and diamond exports going to both pro-government and Forces Nouvelles would also generate income that could be used to rearm and resume active conflict in both Liberia and Côte d'Ivoire. Moreover, given the current lack of control over the industry, it is unrealistic to think that the historical problems of extremely low wages, hazardous work environments, destruction of private property and abuse of local populations by logging company militias will be resolved if logging exports resume prior to the completion of key reforms(16). (See Background, Gains and Losses of Timber Sanctions, page 12)
Notes:
(1) Global Witness investigations April 2005; 'UN investigating recruitment of Liberian mercenaries in Côte d'Ivoire', Irinnews.org, 30 March 2005; 'Youth, Poverty and Blood: The lethal legacy of West Africa's regional warriors', Human Rights Watch, March 2005.
(2) Global Witness interview with former western military intelligence officer, April 2005; Special Court document dated January 2005 as obtained by Global Witness; Dino Mahtani, 'Taylor accused over attempt to kill Guinea leader', The Financial Times, 27 April 2005; Ryan Lizza, 'Charles at Large', The New Republic, 25 March 2005.
(3 ) 'Following Taylor's Money: A path of war and destruction', Coalition for International Justice, May 2005.
(4) Global Witness interviews with UN, diplomatic, military and civil society representatives, 2003-2005; confidential diplomatic correspondence dated April 2005 as seen by Global Witness; Dino Mahtani, 'Taylor accused over attempt to kill Guinea leader', The Financial Times, 27 April 2005; Douglas Farah, 'A Protected Friend of Terrorism', The Washington Post, 25 April 2005; Ryan Lizza, 'Charles at Large', The New Republic, 25 March 2005; 'Sixth progress report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Mission in Liberia' (S/2005/117), 17 March 2005.
(5) Global Witness research, April 2005.
(6) Global Witness interviews with UN, diplomatic, military and civil society representatives in Monrovia and Abidjan, 2005.
(7) Global Witness interview with UNOCI staff, April 2005; 'Civil war allows rampant illegal logging', Irinnews.org, 23 December 2004; 'Côte d'Ivoire: No Peace in Sight', International Crisis Group, July 2004.
(8) Global Witness research and investigations, 2004-2005.
(9) 'Taylor meddling in Liberian politics, diplomats say', UN Integrated Regional Information Networks, 17 September 2003.
(10) 'Following Taylor's Money: A path of war and destruction', Coalition for International Justice, May 2005.
(11) Global Witness interviews with UN, diplomatic, military and civil society representatives, 2003-2005; Dino Mahtani, 'Taylor accused over attempt to kill Guinea leader', The Financial Times, 27 April 2005; Douglas Farah, 'A Protected Friend of Terrorism', The Washington Post, 25 April 2005; Ryan Lizza, 'Charles at Large', The New Republic, 25 March 2005; 'Sixth progress report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Mission in Liberia' (S/2005/117), 17 March 2005.
(12) For more information on Taylor's current threat to regional peace and security, see: 'A Time for Justice: Why the international community, UN Security Council and Nigeria should help facilitate Taylor's immediate extradition to the Special Court for Sierra Leone', Global Witness, June 2005; available at www.globalwitness.org.
(13) Global Witness investigations, April 2005; 'Youth, Poverty and Blood: The lethal legacy of West Africa's regional warriors', Human Rights Watch, March 2005.
(14) Global Witness investigations, April 2005; 'UN investigating recruitment of Liberian mercenaries in Côte d'Ivoire', Irinnews.org, 30 March 2005.
(15) Global Witness interview with Romeo Quioh, FDA Deputy Managing Director for Commercial Forestry, 22 April 2005.
(16) For a detailed look at abuses committed by logging company militia members, see Global Witness reports, 'Logging Off: How the Liberian timber industry fuels Liberia's humanitarian disaster and threatens Sierra Leone', September 2002; available at www.globalwitness.org.
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