By Jim Fisher-Thompson
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- Students, human rights activists, and congressional staff members demonstrated outside the State Department May 31, calling for greater U.S. action to help bring an end to civil conflict in Sierra Leone.
A first step, they all agreed, would be to stop the trade in illegal diamonds that fuels rebel activity. But Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Howard Jeter has told U.S. lawmakers (May 9) that the Clinton administration will take no action that "puts at risk the national interests and economic welfare of Botswana, South Africa, and Namibia." He added that the administration will continue to "weigh options to tighten regional law enforcement, harmonize customs, and enhance exchange of information" regarding the region.
The 75 men and women demonstrators carried placards that read "Stop Rebel Trade in Diamonds," "Justice for Sierra Leone," "Diamonds Are a Rebel's Best Friend," and "Sierra Leone is Dying for Diamonds." They also chanted several slogans, including "No justice, no peace, no diamonds for a thief! " and "Albright, Albright Take a Stand, U.S. Justice We Demand!"
For Zainab Jalloh, a Sierra Leonean medical assistant who graduated from Howard University and has lived in the United States since 1993, the last two years of conflict in her native land have been devastating. She told a State Department Washington File reporter, "I lost three members of my family who were killed in our home in Freetown by RUF [Revolutionary United Front] soldiers, and they are now buried in our compound."
Adotei Akwei, Africa director for Amnesty International, a sponsor of the demonstration, said: "We are outraged at the lack of leadership on the part of the [Clinton] administration over the crisis in Sierra Leone. We are particularly upset that they have not been able to convince Congress to release funding for peacekeepers, and we would specifically like them to support a commission of inquiry and aggressively halt the sale of diamonds."
An Amnesty press release stated that in Sierra Leone "diamonds are mined in areas controlled by RUF, which is reportedly selling the diamonds through Liberia, Cote d'Ivoire, and Guinea. Currently, the origin of diamonds is not identified, as traders declare the last country of shipment and not the country from which the diamonds are extracted."
That would change if legislation now making its way through Congress is passed. Called "the CARAT Act" (short for the Consumer Access to a Responsible Accounting of Trade Act), and sponsored by Representative Tony Hall, the measure would make it illegal to sell diamonds in the United States whose origin is in question. The aim, said Robert Zachritz, Hall's senior legislative assistant, who was at the demonstration, is "to cut off the main means of support for the rebels, who are illegally selling diamonds to buy weapons and other supplies and equipment,
Asked how the bill was doing, Zachritz said, "We are seeing a lot of interest and movement on the Hill for the bill, and we are basically looking for an item [a legislative item] to attach it to."
Commenting on the recent diplomatic mission to West Africa by Special U.S. Envoy Jesse Jackson, Amnesty International's Akwei said, "Well, Jackson may have been able to shore up support for the [Sierra Leone] peacekeeping mission, but his statements have been contradictory. On the one hand he has advocated a role for Mr. Foday Sankoh [leader of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF)], and we believe Mr. Sankoh should be investigated for human rights abuses and brought to justice. We would like to see a more consistent line and more follow-up to Jesse's visit."
As for the release of 350 United Nations hostages captured by RUF after Jackson met with Liberian President Charles Taylor during his May 19-20 visit to Monrovia, Akwei said, "One can credit President Taylor, who seems to have a direct line to the rebels, and certainly Mr. Jackson did make that part of his itinerary."
Asked what the United States could do to help resolve the crisis, Mohamed Kosia, a Sierra Leonean who recently graduated from Howard University, said: "I definitely believe the U.S. has intelligence about the dealing of RUF and other rebel groups because there are so many rumors about how they are getting weapons from the Ukraine and other places. I think the U.S. has the power to tell the arms dealers, 'We know what you're doing in this small country,' and, 'Stop the flow of arms to those rebels.'"
Kosia, who hails originally from Kailahun district, touched on another sore point with many Sierra Leoneans -- the inclusion of RUF leader Foday Sankoh in a reconstituted Lome Peace process: "This guy [Sankoh] whom the U.S. asked the Sierra Leonean government" to share power with "has now shown what he is capable of doing and now he's arrested. I hope no one is going to ask the Sierra Leone government to release him [Sankoh]. They have to make sure he goes to trial.
"The United States should show its leadership, like it did in Kosovo, and help solve this problem once and for all," he asserted.
(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)