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[House Document 107-24]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

107th Congress, 1st Session - - - - - - - - - - - House Document 107-24

 
   PROHIBITION OF THE IMPORTATION OF ROUGH DIAMONDS FROM SIERRA LEONE

                               __________

                             COMMUNICATION

                                  from

                   THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

                              TRANSMITTING

HIS REPORT ISSUING A NEW EXECUTIVE ORDER THAT PROHIBITS THE IMPORTATION 
                  OF ROUGH DIAMONDS FROM SIERRA LEONE

January 20, 2001.--Referred to the Committee on International Relations 
                       and ordered to be printed
                               __________

                    U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
89-011                     WASHINGTON : 2001

                                           The White House,
                                      Washington, January 19, 2001.
Hon. J. Dennis Hastert,
Speaker of the House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Speaker:Pursuant to section 204(b) of the 
International Emergency Economic Powers Act, 50 U.S.C. 1703(b) 
(IEEPA), and section 301 of the National Emergencies Act, 50 
U.S.C. 1631, I hereby report that I have exercised my statutory 
authority to declare a national emergency in response to the 
unusual and extraordinary threat posed to the foreign policy of 
the United States by Sierra Leone's insurgent Revolutionary 
United Front's (RUF's) illicit trade in diamonds from Sierra 
Leone to fund its operations and procurement of weapons and by 
the RUF's flagrant violation of the Lome Peace Agreement of 
July 7, 1999, between the Government of Sierra Leone and the 
RUF. I also have exercised by statutory authority to issue an 
Executive Order that prohibits the importation into the United 
States of all rough diamonds from Sierra Leone except for those 
importations of rough diamonds that are accompanied by a 
Certificate of Origin or other satisfactory documentation 
demonstrating that the rough diamonds were legally exported 
from Sierra Leone with the approval of the Government of Sierra 
Leone. These actions are mandated in part by United Nations 
Security Council Resolution 1306 of July 5, 2000.
    The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the 
Secretary of State, is authorized to issue regulations in 
exercise of my authorities under IEEPA and the United Nations 
Participation Act, 22 U.S.C. 287c, to implement this 
prohibition. All Federal agencies are also directed to take 
actions within their authority to carry out the provisions of 
the Executive Order.
    I am enclosing a copy of the Executive Order I have issued. 
The order was effective at 12:01 a.m. eastern standard time on 
January 19, 2001.
    I have authorized these measures in response to the RUF's 
illicit trade in diamonds from Sierra Leone to fund its 
operations and procurement of weapons and in response to the 
actions and policies of the RUF in failing to fully abide by 
the terms of the Lome Peace Agreement of July 7, 1999. The 
people of Sierra Leone have suffered the ravages of the brutal 
civil war for nearly a decade. The world's conscience has been 
shocked by the horrific actions of the RUF in Sierra Leone 
during this conflict. The widespread crimes against humanity 
perpetrated by RUF forces include mass amputations, rape, 
summary execution, and forced labor.
    In late May 2000, United Nations Secretary General Annan 
encouraged the U.N. Security Council to consider taking 
measures to prevent the RUF from reaping the benefits of its 
illicit trade in diamonds that had been plundered from Sierra 
Leone. On July 5, 2000, the U.N. Security Council adopted 
Resolution 1306. The resolution determines that the situation 
in Sierra Leone continues to constitute a threat to 
international peace and security in the region, expresses 
concern at the role played by the illicit trade in diamonds in 
fueling the conflict in Sierra Leone, and decides that all 
states shall take the necessary measures to prohibit the direct 
or indirect importation of all rough diamonds from Sierra Leone 
to their territory. The resolution, in recognition of the 
economic importance of the legitimate diamond trade to Sierra 
Leone, further decides that rough diamonds controlled by the 
Government of Sierra Leone through a Certificate of Origin 
regime shall be exempt from the trade embargo.
    Military forces of the Government of Sierra Leone and 
Military Observer Group forces provided by the Economic 
Community of West African States were engaged in military 
operations in Sierra Leone against the RUF until mid-1999. At 
that time, the Government of Sierra Leone and the RUF signed 
the Lome Peace Agreement, which provides for an end to 
hostilities and the disarmament, demobilization, and 
reintegration of the insurgent RUF forces. The United Nations 
Security Council in U.N. Security Council Resolutions 1270 and 
1289 established the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone 
(UNAMSIL) to facilitate implementation of the Lome Peace 
Agreement and to provide security at key locations and 
government buildings and at all sites of the disarmament, 
demobilization, and reintegration programs, among other tasks. 
The Lome Peace Agreement brought an end, sadly only 
temporarily, to the killings and the atrocities perpetrated by 
the RUF.
    RUF forces have repeatedly violated the terms of the Lome 
Peace Agreement throughout this spring, when they engaged in 
deliberate and unprovoked armed attacks on U.N. peacekeepers 
and committed serious abuses against civilians and 
international and national aid workers. In May 2000, as UNAMSIL 
expanded its efforts to establish monitoring and disarmament 
sites in or near RUF-controlled territory, RUF forces initiated 
military activity in those areas, killing U.N. peacekeepers and 
capturing or isolating hundreds of UNAMSIL personnel. These 
actions brought the disarmament, demobilization, and 
reintegration processes agreed to in the Lome Peace Agreement 
to a virtual standstill and represent a direct hostile 
challenge to U.S. foreign policy objectives in the region, 
which include restoration of peace in Sierra Leone and 
promotion of democracy and the rule of law throughout the 
region. Failure to respond to this challenge would encourage 
other potential rogue organizations to transgress the rule-
based international order, which is crucial to the peace and 
prosperity of the United States.
    For the reasons discussed above, the RUF's illicit trade in 
diamonds from Sierra Leone and its flagrant violation of the 
Lome Peace Agreement constitute an unusual and extraordinary 
threat to the foreign policy of the United States. The measures 
we are taking will serve to bring an end to the illicit arms-
for-diamonds trade through which the RUF perpetuates the tragic 
conflict in Sierra Leone. They also reflect our outrage at the 
RUF's repeated, widespread, and serious violations of the Lome 
Peace Agreement and the RUF's continuing hostilities against 
the people of Sierra Leone and UNAMSIL personnel.
            Sincerely,
                                                William J. Clinton.
                            Executive Order

                              ----------                              

    Prohibiting the Importation of Rough Diamonds From Sierra Leone

    By the authority vested in me as President by the 
Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, 
including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 
U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 
U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), section 5 of the United Nations 
Participation Act of 1945, as amended (22 U.S.C. 287c) (UNPA), 
and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, and in view of 
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1306 of July 5, 
2000,
    I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the United States of 
America, take note that the people of Sierra Leone have 
suffered the ravages of a brutal civil war for nearly 10 years, 
and that the United Nations Security Council has determined 
that the situation in Sierra Leone constitutes a threat to 
international peace and security in the region and also has 
expressed concerns regarding the role played by the illicit 
trade in diamonds in fueling the conflict in Sierra Leone. 
Sierra Leone's insurgent Revolutionary United Front's (RUF's) 
illicit trade in diamonds from Sierra Leone to fund its 
operations and procurement of weapons, the RUF's flagrant 
violation of the Lome Peace Agreement of July 7, 1999, and its 
attacks on personnel of the United Nations Mission in Sierra 
Leone are direct challenges to the United States foreign policy 
objectives in the region as well as a direct challenge to the 
rule-based international order which is crucial to the peace 
and prosperity of the United States. Therefore, I find these 
actions constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the 
foreign policy of the United States and hereby declare a 
national emergency to deal with that threat. In order to 
implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 1306 and 
to ensure that the direct or indirect importation into the 
United States of rough diamonds from Sierra Leone will not 
contribute financial support to aggressive actions by the RUF 
or to the RUF's procurement of weapons, while at the same time 
seeking to avoid undermining the legitimate diamond trade or 
diminishing confidence in the integrity of the legitimate 
diamond industry, I hereby order:
    Section 1. Except to the extent provided in section 2 of 
this order and to the extent provided in regulations, orders, 
directives, or licenses issued pursuant to this order, and 
notwithstanding the existence of any rights or obligations 
conferred or imposed by any international agreement or any 
contract entered into or any license or permit granted prior to 
the effective date of this order, the direct or indirect 
importation into the United States of all rough diamonds from 
Sierra Leone on or after the effective date of this order is 
prohibited.
    Sec. 2. The prohibition in section 1 of this order shall 
not apply to the importation of rough diamonds controlled 
through the Certificate of Origin regime of the Government of 
Sierra Leone.
    Sec. 3. Any transaction by a United States person or within 
the United States that evades or avoids, or has the purpose of 
evading or avoiding, or attempts to violate, any of the 
prohibitions set forth in this order is prohibited.
    Sec. 4. For the purposes of this order:
    (a) the term ``person'' means an individual or entity;
    (b) the term ``entity'' means a partnership, association, 
trust, joint venture, corporation, or other organization;
    (c) the term ``United States person'' means any United 
States citizen, permanent resident alien, entity organized 
under the laws of the United States or any jurisdiction within 
the United States (including foreign branches), or any person 
in the United States;
    (d) the term ``rough diamond'' means all unworked diamonds 
classifiable in heading 7102 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule 
of the United States; and
    (e) the term ``controlled through the Certificate of Origin 
regime of the Government of Sierra Leone'' means accompanied by 
a Certificate of Origin or other documentation that 
demonstrates to the satisfaction of the United States Customs 
Service (or analogous officials of a United States territory or 
possession with its own customs administration) that the rough 
diamonds were legally exported from Sierra Leone with the 
approval of the Government of Sierra Leone.
    Sec. 5. The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with 
the Secretary of State, is hereby authorized to take such 
actions, including the promulgation of rules and regulations, 
and to employ all powers granted to the President by IEEPA and 
UNPA, as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this 
order. The Secretary of the Treasury may redelegate any of 
these functions to other officers and agencies of the United 
States Government. All agencies of the United States Government 
are hereby directed to take all appropriate measures within 
their authority to carry out the provisions of this order.
    Sec. 6. This order is not intended to create, nor does it 
create, any right, benefit, or privilege, substantive or 
procedural, enforceable at law by a party against the United 
States, its agencies, officers, or any other person.
    Sec. 7. This order is effective at 12:01 a.m. eastern 
standard time on January 19, 2001.

                                                William J. Clinton.
    The White House, January 18, 2001.

                                  
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