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Liberia: Action/B'ground Docs,1
Date Distributed (ymd): 960411
Since the weekend's breakdown of the Liberian peace agreement, events have moved rapidly. Despite reports of a renewed ceasefire early in the week, as of this posting heavy fighting was still continuing and the West African peacekeeping force had not yet taken action to stop the fighting. The action and background information in this posting and the next, from the Friends of Liberia and the Africa Faith and Justice Network, provide information that is still relevant for anyone concerned about Liberia. While the media, particularly in the United States, are putting their primary focus on the evacuation of foreigners, there is urgent need to refocus on what can be done to restore the fragile peace. For more up- to-date information please be in contact with FOL or AFJN.
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Friends of Liberia (FOL)
A Time For Action
Write to President Clinton and Key Government Officials
A Message from FOL's Working Group for Peace
Friends of Liberia's Working Group for Peace has requested that the U.S. government take effective action in response to the urgent humanitarian and security situation in Liberia. On April 8, FOL made its request known to nine key government officials including President Bill Clinton. We encourage FOL members and all persons concerned about Liberia to write (and fax) letters to President Clinton, other officials of government identified below, and your congressional representives.
The following list of nine officials have been contacted by FOL. We present their fax numbers and encourage you to let them know that the U.S. government must take effective action to restore security and peace in Liberia. For your reference we have included (after the list) the text of the FOL Press Release, letter to President Clinton, and the e-mail address for requesting FOL's position paper.
So pick up your pen (or tap away on your keyboard) and express your feelings about Liberia and the need for effective U.S. engagement in the peace process! It is most effective if you use your own words and not just copy a form letter. Remember, every minute counts, so don't delay.
President Bill Clinton 1600 Pennsylvania Ave Washington, D.C. 20500 FAX: 202-456-2883
Senator Nancy Kassebaum SR-302 Russell Senator Office Bld Washington DC 20510 FAX: 202-224-3514
Senator Paul Simon SD-462 Dirksen Senator Bld Washington, DC 20510 FAX: 202-224-0868
Senator Russell Feingold SH-502 Hart Senate Office Bld Washington, D.C. 20510 FAX: 202-224-2725
Congressman Benjamin Gilman Chair, Committee on International Relations US House of Representatives 2449 Rayburn House Office Bld Washington, D.C. 20515 FAX: 202-225-2035
Congressman Donald Payne Chair, Congressional Black Caucus 2244 Rayburn House Office Bld Washington, D.C. 20515 FAX: 202-225-3436
Ms. Susan Rice Senior Director for Africa National Security Council Old Executive Office Building Washington, D.C. 20506 FAX: 202-456-9261
MacArthur Deshazer, Director African Affairs National Security Council Old Executive Office Building Washington, D.C. 20506 FAX: 202-456-9260
Mr. George Moose Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Department of State Washington, D.C. 20520 FAX: 202-647-6301
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FOL Resource Material Follows
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FOL's Press Release - April 9
NOTE: The FOL Position Paper - Placing the Peace Process Back on Track, A Critical Time for Action (March 16, 1996) outlines the weaknesses in the peace process that contributed to the current conflict in Monrovia and makes specific recommendations for placing the peace process back on track. This position paper is available upon request by contacting kgeorge@interramp.com
Friends of Liberia 1616 North Fort Myer Driver, 12th Floor Rosslyn, Virginia 22209 703-528-8345 Fax: 703-528-7480 [It is also available, with other documents, news from the Pan African News Agency and background information, on the Africa News Web site: http://www.afnews.org/ans/.
STATEMENT
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Date: April 9, 1996 Contact: Kevin George 703-528-8345, Fax: 703-528-7480
Critical Situation in Liberia Requires Urgent Attention of U.S. Government
Friends of Liberia, an 800 member organization of Americans supporting peace in Liberia, is gravely concerned about the deteriorating security situation in Monrovia.
Hundreds of thousands of civilians including almost 500 U.S. citizens and dozens of international relief workers are in immediate danger as fighting and looting go unchecked into a fourth day. It is particularly disturbing that ECOMOG, the West African Peacekeeping Force, has failed to intervene in the fighting or indeed to contain it in the first place, when it was limited to eastern Monrovia. Many of the ULIMO-J combatants, who undoubtedly have since rearmed, were in ECOMOG custody just two weeks ago.
We understand that a U.S. military team has arrived in Monrovia to evaluate the safety needs of U.S. citizens. It is our hope that this evaluation will lead the United States government to take effective steps, including the precautionary movement of troops to the region to protect the lives of U.S. citizens. The U.S. government should also afford protection to other nationals who are working with the United Nations or the NGO's engaged in providing humanitarian assistance. News reports on the number of people in the U.S. Embassy compound and estimates of the number who are scattered throughout the city and hostage-taking by factions make this a potentially precarious operation. It is essential that the resources be made available to ensure the effectiveness of the operation that is established to protect U.S. citizens.
The failure of the peacekeeping operation in Liberia should not serve as an excuse for the withdrawal of the U.S. government from the effort to bring peace to Liberia. That would play into the hands of faction leaders who may welcome the withdrawal of world interest. U.S. withdrawal would result in the complete collapse of peace efforts and contribute to an already dangerous regional situation. Any downgrading of U.S. government involvement in the process to bring peace and democracy to Liberia will be strongly objected to by Liberia's many supporters in the United States.
FOL believes that the U.S. government has a critical role to play given the ineffectiveness of ECOWAS and the United Nations in averting the current crisis. In a letter delivered to the White House on Monday, Friends of Liberia requested that President Clinton take two immediate steps as part of the proactive response of the U.S. government to the situation in Liberia.
First, the U.S. government should make an urgent request for ECOMOG to fulfill its mandate to protect civilians in Monrovia. If that means supplying the transportation for troops from other ECOWAS nations, we should assist in that effort. We should be prepared to provide to ECOMOG the resources necessary to effectively conduct an operation that protects civilians and isolates groups of combatants.
Second, U.S. Special Envoy Dane Smith should be the point person for a well-focused U.S. effort that strengthens the capability of ECOWAS to regain control of a peace process that has gone dangerously astray.
An analysis of the situation in Liberia is inadequate unless it takes into account the strong desire of the vast majority of Liberians for an end to the conflict and a transition to a democratic form of government. These very civilians whose lives are at risk today would lose any chance for democracy tomorrow should the world fail to intervene.
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Relevant documents posted previously on the Africa Policy
Electronic Distribution list include the following:
Liberia: U.S. Policy (part 1) (950916)
<URL=gopher://gopher.igc.apc.org:7040/00/docs95/lib9509.1>
Liberia: U.S. Policy (part 2) (950916)
<URL=gopher://gopher.igc.apc.org:7040/00/docs95/lib9509.2>
Liberia: More U.S. Support Needed (951022)
<URL=gopher://gopher.igc.apc.org:7040/00/docs95/lib9510>
Name=Liberia: UN Report (excerpts) (960129)
<URL=gopher://gopher.igc.apc.org:7040/00/docs96/lib9601>
These documents can be found at the addresses indicated on the World Wide Web, or retrieved by e-mail using the WebMail or Agora servers. Response times from these and other mail servers may vary significantly depending on your location and network traffic.
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In each case, for [url], substitute the precise URL
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Africa Faith and Justice Network (AFJN)
401 Michigan Ave. NE
Washington, DC 20017
Phone: (202)832-3412 Fax: (202) 832-9051
E-mail: afjn@igc.apc.org
Excerpts from posting of April 9, 1996; omissions indicated by ... The full text is available on the africa.news conference in the APC networks. Others wanting the full text please contact AFJN.
Since April 6, 1996, the capital of Liberia, Monrovia, has witnessed an intensive renewal of fighting. The fighting erupted following the refusal of Roosevelt Johnson, leader of the United Liberia Movement for Democracy - ULIMO-J a breakway faction of the parent group by the same name headed by Alhadji Kromah and now known as ULIMO-K, to surrender to the police. Mr. Johnson was accused by the ruling Council of State (COS), Liberia's third transitional government since the civil war, of murder and therefore wanted him arrested. Mr. Johnson contends that the COS had no right to issue an arrest since all of the heads of the warring factions are automous pending national elections that were slated for August 1996. Additionally, Mr. Johnson said that he would not surrender to members of the Police since they were all members of the National Patriotic Front of Charles Taylor and therefore incapable of rendering justice. ...
Please find below a report which would give additional background to the present conflict. A member of AFJN staff is in contact with the author of the report and has spoken to him several times since the Easter fighting erupted. Feel free to contact AFJN for additional information or clarification.
JUSTICE AND PEACE COMMISSION
NATIONAL CATHOLIC SECRETARIAT
Phone 224010/226930/223050
Fax 231-225217
P.O.Box 10-3569 1000
Monrovia 10 LIBERIA
STATEMENT ON DEVELOPMENT IN THE PEACE PROCESS
April 3, 1996
September 1, 1995, witnessed the seating of the Liberia National Transitional Government (LNTG-II), composed of heads of Warring Parties. At the seating, there was rejoicing that the inferno was nearing an end and peace would finally be restored. The belief was, with the factions in control of their fighters they could easily cease all hostilities, disengage their troops, stop the mayhem and terror against the civilians and effect disarmament once they were given political power.
Since the seating of this Government (LNTG-II), developments have demonstrated the lack of commitment and expected progress to the dictates of the Abuja Agreement and its Schedule for Implementation.
Recent developments in the Peace Process suggest a lack of commitment on the part of factions leaders to implement the military aspect of the Abuja Agreement and correct distortions in the political arrangement. The issues of cessation of hostilities, disengagement of forces, dismantling of checkpoints and their subsequent taking over by ECOMOG to facilitate free movement and then subsequent disarmament and demobilization; mass dismissals, demoralization of the civil service among others still remain unattended. Except for cosmetic attempts, empty rhetoric and, sometimes feeble directives, no substantial progress has been made in the direction of disarmament. Indications have instead been pointing towards massive preparations for the build up of war machines, more destruction and territorial conquest.
Testimonies of fleeing victims of brutality as well as the indelible scars they bear speak of the severity and the gruesome nature of hostilities still raging in the hinterland, and capital of our country, all of which bring into sharp question the sincerity of our leaders in fulfilling the peace mandate of the Abuja Agreement.
A catalogue of the major events reflects not only a breach of the Abuja Peace Pact but conspicuous evidences that the war is far from over and peace remains illusive.
THE ULIMO-J ATTACK ON THE PEACEKEEPERS
Consistent with the terms of the Abuja Peace Agreement as spelt out in section G. Article 8, Sub-Section 2, relative to ceasefire violations and their investigations, a team of the Ceasefire Violation Committee conducted an investigation into the ECOMOG/ULIMO-J fighting in Bomi. In their findings, the Ceasefire Violations Committee indicted ULIM0-J for unprovoked attacks on the Peace Keepers in Gbarma and Tubmanburg.
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The Justice and Peace Commission strongly condemns this unprecedented attack on the peace keepers and the civilian population, in Tubmanburg, Klay and other areas in Bomi County as this is counter productive to the search for peace. We pay tribute to those gallant men and women of ECOMOG as well as civilians who lost their lives in that senseless battle.
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THE COUNCIL OF STATE'S INTERVENTION AND DECISIONS REGARDING THE ULIMO-J LEADERSHIP CRISIS
While we welcome the decision of the Council Of State to intervene in the ULIMO-J conflict the extent, however, to which the Council went in taking decisions on the matter appears counter productive to the resolution of the conflict and thus undermines the entire Peace Process.
It can be recalled that on March 5, 1996, the Council of State of the Liberia National Transitional Government with an attendance and a total of four members, reached a number of decisions among which are:
- The temporary recognition of a new leadership of ULIMO-J led by Gen. William Karyee; - The suspension of Gen. D. Roosevelt Johnson from his Ministerial post at the Ministry of Rural Development; - The dismissal of the Governor of the National Bank of Liberia; and, an order to ECOMOG to search the home of Gen. Johnson for arms, ammunition and other war-like materials.
The Council, in making the decision to recognize Gen. Karyee as the new Leader of ULIMO-J said their decision was based on Gen. Johnson's refusal to attend a call of the Council to discuss the leadership crisis within ULIMO-J.
We call on ULIMO-J to take immediate steps aimed at resolving the internal fracas which continue to create a state of fear in an already fluid military situation as we find ourselves in today.
We call on the ECOWAS authorities, the United Nations Observer Mission (UNOMIL), the Inter-faith Mediation Committee, the Council of State and all well meaning individuals to intervene in the deepening ULIMO-J fracas so as to bring sanity to the peace process. We are convinced that a negotiated settlement and not a verdict, is a better approach for the resolution of the conflict.
STOCKPILING OF WEAPONS
There are widespread reports that there is a massive stockpile of weapons in Monrovia. These weapons are owned by the various factional leaders and their representatives. Every home in Monrovia and other safe-havens in Liberia, should and must be searched. The search of Gen. Johnson' residence and the subsequent retrieval of weapons and other war-like materials is very welcomed but must extend to all other Factional Leaders indiscriminately if Monrovia is to be free of arms.
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The Abuja Accord imposes upon ECOMOG the responsibility to provide security for the entire Liberian citizenry, including the Councilmen. This, according to the Accord, should be done by ECOMOG in concert with the national security institutions. To have factional leaders and their loyalists carrying arms and building arsenals under the guise of protecting themselves does not only contravene the Agreement but places Monrovia and its civilian population at risk, especially against the fact that body-guards of factional leaders hate been on the rampage flogging, extorting people and illegally evicting citizens from their homes.
We therefore call on ECOMOG and UNOMIL to launch a massive house to house search of weapons so as to restore the safe haven nature of Monrovia and save the lives of thousands of people that stand to be destroyed if the buildup of weapons and other war-like materials are allowed to continue unchecked.
THE NPFL ATTACK ON ULIMO-J POSITIONS
On March 8, 1996, Forces of the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) launched an attack on positions of ULIMO-J in Kakata, Bong Mines and Todee, over running those positions. Rumors abound of NPFL planned advance on Monrovia
All of these are in contravention of the Abuja Peace Agreement which stipulates that all warring factions must maintain their respective positions as of the signing of the Abuja Agreement and cease all aggressions on other factions. ...
THE BOMI FIGHTING
The JPC also condemns the attack on Tubmanburg and other places in Bomi and Lower Lofa Counties and calls on the aggressors said to be ULIMO-K forces, to cease their aggression as this is a gross violation of the Abuja Peace Agreement. We are very concerned about the loss of lives as a result of these fightings and hold responsible the attackers and all others committing atrocities for those heinous crimes against the people. Faction Leaders and their fighters are under oath to abide by the terms and dictates of the Abuja Peace Agreement to which they affixed their signatures.
It is only ECOMOG which has been given enforcement powers under the Abuja Peace Agreement, Section G. Article 8, 3 which clearly stipulates that "Should the violating party not take the required corrective measures, the ECOMOG shall thereupon resort to the use of its peace enforcement powers against the violator." No faction or group of factions therefore have the authority to force other factions into compliance. The tendency is to produce more chaos and prolong our bloodbath. ...
The JPC is disturbed over the recent shooting incidents which took place in Monrovia on March 20, 1996, involving troops loyal to Gen. Roosevelt Johnson and those of Gen. Armah Youlo, all of ULIM0-J, as well as the fracas which took place at the James Spriggs Payne Airport on the same day involving forces of the Liberia Peace Council and those of the NPFL. These two events, coupled with other maneuvers, undermine the Peace and stability of Monrovia, under cuts its security as a safe haven, jeopardizes the lives of thousands of civilians who, running away from the terror of the factional enclaves, have sought refuge in the safe haven of Monrovia. Simply put, they endanger the entire peace process.
We strongly condemn acts of banditry and lawlessness exhibited in recent times by ULIM0-J forces. Attempts on the lives of one another by ULIM0-J forces holding loyalty to either Gen. Johnson or Gen. Karyee pose a major security problem to Monrovia and its citizens. We are especially concerned and condemn the killing of Dweh Bawoh as a result of the Sinkor shooting incident involving the two splinter groups of ULIM0-J and call on the two groups to desist immediately from these brutal and barbaric acts.
Ladies and Gentlemen, tensions are running too high and there is a need to have them cooled as such flare of tension has the potential to derail the peace process.
THE GEN. JOHNSON ARREST ORDER
In response to the Sinkor shooting incident and the killing of Dweh Bawoh, the Council of State, on March 20, 1996, issued arrest orders on Gen. Johnson on charges of murder. The decision of the Council of State to have Gen. Roosevelt Johnson arrested for murder, if it is an honest recognition of the fact that banditry must be stopped and justice meted out to perpetrators of such dastardly acts, then it is welcome, as that should mark the beginning of the prosecution of those who have either directly or supervised war machines or directly participated in the scores of murders and other heinous crimes committed against the Liberian people since the genesis of our conflict. Selective justice, on the other hand, is counter productive to our search for peace in our beloved motherland. In fact it is not justice.
We therefore urge members of the Council of State and the entire LNTG to rise above factional politics and dedicate themselves to the honest resolution of the Liberian conflict. Let the fact that the various factional leaders have agreed to come together in a government of accommodation be enough reason to stop their undercutting of one another, stop the display of naked power and work together as compatriots in the search for peace and a better way of life for our people. Our country and people deserve peace, a better way of life and democracy.
Against this background, we support the call of the InterFaith Mediation Committee that a National Commission on Inquiry be constituted to probe the present incident involving Gen. Johnson of ULIMO-J and all other past, present and future acts of similar nature and character; and the alleged perpetrators brought to justice.
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THE PEACE PROCESS
The Peace Process in Liberia has once more come to a painstaking halt, despite the promises by the factional leaders that once they took over political power they would disarm their fighters.
Six months have come and gone since the much acclaimed Abuja Peace Agreement was signed; six months have come and gone since the seating of the faction composed government; six months have come and gone since the factional leaders' promise to the Liberian people that the carnage was over and peace would be restored.
After these six months, our children, our mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters continue to be killed and subjected to terror and excruciating suffering. After these six months the war continues unabated, ravaging the nation, and spilling the blood of the people.
Our leaders have not seen the need to ceasefire and stop all hostilities, to disengage their troops and to encamp them in preparation for disarmament. While they continue to kill, maim, loot and destroy, while they continue to use children into their fighting forces, they pass around Monrovia talking rhetoric of their commitment to peace, to the rights and welfare of children, etc. These are but empty and meaningless statements until they are buttressed by actions to disarm the children, take them to safety and create the enabling environment for them to go to school, to get health care and then to end the war so that they can live in peace.
We have information of rape, looting and restrained freedom of movement and cruel, inhumane and degrading treatments meted out against civilians in all parts of the Country. In Cape Mount and other areas, ULIM0-K and ULIM0-J atrocities, in the Central Region NPFL rages, in the Southeastern - LPC continues.
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DISARMAMENT
Our beloved Country Liberia, this beautiful Nation which once served as a citadel of peace and an exemplary beacon of hope for troubled Africa and a safe haven for our African brothers and sisters fleeing persecution, has now become a nation of arms and of might. The guns now rule and ruin this nation
The biggest gun dictates the course of our lives and our destiny. Despite a peace agreement signed four months ago in which the warlords were given political power in exchange for disarmament they have refused point blank to disarm their fighters.
Instead of the cessation of fighting, they continue to beat drums of war, ordering fighters to battle on a daily basis. Instead of disengaging and encamping their troops, they continue to strengthen them. Instead of disarming and demobilizing, they continue to amass weapons, build new war machines and build new armies, they continue to erect check points and take up new positions, they continue to terrorize, maim and kill innocent and defenseless civilians and snatch away their meager food items.
Yet the factions continue to argue that they can not cease fire, disengage and disarm their forces because ECOMOG lacks the logistics promised by the International Community. But this argument is mute and is only a reckless attempt to evade the issue.
ECOMOG does not need to be deployed before a ceasefire can be effected, before disengagement of troops and before reduction in the number of checkpoints. ECOMOG does not need to be deployed before fighters stop harassing, torturing and obstructing free movement and free speech and raping our people etc. The inability of the factions to disarm, can only be interpreted as a gross lack of commitment and political will to implement the Abuja Accord.
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PEOPLE'S PARTICIPATION
Finally, we want to admonish all Liberians to realize that the scope of People's Power is an unbridled force of change in political history.
Now is the time to face the issues and chart a destiny for our country. The present situation concerns our survival and that of our native land. Our factional leaders have sufficiently proven their lack of commitment to give ss peace. Our friends in the outside World can only help us but they have repeatedly said that the problem is ours and it is us who must solve it.
The present Transitional Government and the Factions that it represent lack the will power and the commitment to effect disarmament and to address the many problems which confront us as a result of this protracted and brutal civil war they unleashed on the people. They have failed to deliver the goods. They have failed to honor their bargain of the social contract entered into with the Liberian people, the ECOWAS sub-region and the rest of the interested International Community. The moral and legal authority of the LNTG-lI to continue to govern appear to have collapsed. With just four months left within the twelve month tenure of the LNTG-II the government has failed to carry out its mandate of disarming, organizing elections and repatriation of our refugee brothers and sisters.
We are also concerned that the peace and security of the safe haven of Monrovia is being eroded and this City saturated with the jungle justice characteristic of the factional enclaves.
In view of all these, we call on the Council of State to immediately restore the sanctity of the Abuja Accord.
We call on ECOWAS, ECOMOG and the International Community to continue to persevere in their assistance and support to us as there are those of our kinsmen bent on inducing frustration and undermining the sustained efforts thus far. But you must hold faith and act because of the suffering civilian population. They depend upon you.
We call on the International Community to commence a process of gradual isolation of this government until some degree of commitment is demonstrated towards the peace process. They should not continue to enjoy the friendship of the civilized world while they continue to abuse the tenets of civilization, by killing, and disrespecting the wishes, and aspirations and rights of their people.
We also request the United States Government to renew its policy of denying visa and entry opportunities into the United States to obstructionists in our peace process. We hope that other civilized nations of the world will follow suit.
We also call on the ECOWAS authorities to urgently convene a meeting on Liberia in view of the deteriorating crisis situation. At this meeting, ECOWAS should set out what their approach will be when the factions refuse to implement the process. Some decisive actions need to be taken.
We call on the ECOMOG Peace Keepers to be decisive in enforcing compliance of the factions in healing ceasefire violations so as to save the Liberian Peace Process to which they have committed so much in human and material terms from collapse.
Signed:
Samuel K. Woods, II Director
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Message-Id: <199604111328.GAA27853@igc3.igc.apc.org> From: "Washington Office on Africa" <woa@igc.apc.org> Date: Thu, 11 Apr 1996 09:24:28 -0500 Subject: Liberia: Action/B'ground Docs,1
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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