IV

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 102

Concerning the efforts to end the civil war in Liberia.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 17, 1993

Mr. TORRICELLI (for himself, Mr. COSTELLO, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr.

DIAZ-BALART, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. WASHINGTON, Mr.

HUGHES, Mr. WYNN, Mr. GLICKMAN, Mrs. CLAYTON, Mr. INSLEE, Mr.

DEUTSCH, Mr. MFUME, Mr. BALLENGER, Ms. MCKINNEY, Mr. TUCKER,

Mr. REYNOLDS, Mr. BLACKWELL, Mrs. MEYERS of Kansas, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, and Ms. BROWN of Florida) submitted the following

concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign

Affairs

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Concerning the efforts to end the civil war in Liberia.

Whereas civil war has torn Liberia since 1989, when forces

of the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) attacked the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) for control of

the country;

Whereas the civil war in Liberia has caused over 1⁄2 of the

2,700,000 Liberians to become refugees or displaced persons within their own country and has resulted in the

rape, torture, and execution of innocent Liberian civilians, with the civilian death toll reaching over 13,000 individuals;
2

•HCON 102 IH

Whereas the civil war in Liberia threatens the stability of

neighboring countries in West Africa;

Whereas the United States has long supported the Economic

Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in its efforts to quell the civil war in Liberia;

Whereas in 1991 in Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast, ECOWAS,

NPFL, and the interim Liberian Government headed by

Amos Sawyer signed several accords which outline plans

for a cease-fire, the disarmament and encampment of

warring factions, and the holding of free and fair elections in Liberia;

Whereas NPFL has failed to honor its commitments to the

Yamoussoukro Accords;

Whereas West African Economic Community Monitoring

Group (ECOMOG) peacekeeping forces have been deployed in Liberia since August 1990 and have enforced

a cease-fire from December 1990 to October 1992;

Whereas ECOMOG is a force of 11,000 troops from Ghana,

Guinea, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone, with the majority of

such troops coming from Nigeria;

Whereas, since ECOMOG forces secured Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, an interim government and humanitarian

aid organizations have been able to operate out of the

city;

Whereas, due to the presence of such forces in Monrovia, the

number of malnourished Liberians has dropped from 80

percent to 4 percent since 1990, and economic activity

has resumed, including the opening of banks and restoration of international trade;

Whereas such forces are becoming increasingly involved in

the fighting in Liberia as NPFL forces continue to vio-
3

•HCON 102 IH

late the Yamoussoukro Accords and launch offensives

against the ECOMOG forces; and

Whereas ECOMOG forces are gaining territory in their effort

to combat offensives by NPFL forces and the ECOMOG

forces have reduced the NPFL’s territorial control from

90 percent to 45 percent of Liberia: Now, therefore, be

it

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring), That the Congress—

3 (1) praises the Economic Community of West

4 African States (ECOWAS) and the West African

5 Economic Community Monitoring Group

6 (ECOMOG) for their efforts to provide a regional

7 approach toward ending the civil war in Liberia;

8 (2) commends ECOMOG for its efforts to se9 cure areas of Liberia in order to ensure that critical

10 humanitarian assistance reaches the needy masses;

11 (3) supports ECOMOG in its efforts to combat,

12 disarm, and encamp National Patriotic Front of Li13 beria (NPFL) forces and all other armed factions

14 for the purpose of ending civil war and calling for

15 free and fair elections in Liberia in accordance with

16 the Yamoussoukro Accords;

17 (4) endorses United Nations Security Council

18 Resolutions 788 (November 4, 1992) and 813

19 (March 26, 1993) relating to peacekeeping efforts in

20 Liberia, welcomes the appointment of Trevor Living-
4

•HCON 102 IH

1 ston Gordon-Somers as the Secretary General’s Spe2 cial Representative on Liberia, and encourages the

3 United Nations and the international community to

4 take concrete steps to support ECOWAS efforts to

5 implement the Yamoussoukro Accords;

6 (5) urges the President to become more actively

7 involved in assisting ECOWAS in its effort to pro8 mote a peaceful resolution to the civil war in Liberia

9 and to implement the Yamoussoukro Accords; and

10 (6) urges the President, the United Nations,

11 and the international community to continue to sup12 port ECOWAS in its effort to provide a regional ap13 proach to peaceful conflict resolution in West Africa.

Æ