I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4001

To impose sanctions on the governments who violate the arms embargo,

participate in the exchange of weapons for resources, for aiding and

abetting the civil war in Liberia, and to bring to justice Liberian war

criminals.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

AUGUST 2, 1996

Mr. PAYNE of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. CAMPBELL, Mr. FLAKE, Mr. FOGLIETTA, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. OWENS,

and Ms. NORTON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on International Relations, and in addition to the Committees

on the Judiciary, and Banking and Financial Services, for a period to

be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee

concerned

A BILL

To impose sanctions on the governments who violate the

arms embargo, participate in the exchange of weapons

for resources, for aiding and abetting the civil war in

Liberia, and to bring to justice Liberian war criminals.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Liberian Peace and

5 Democracy Act’’.
2

•HR 4001 IH

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND STATEMENT OF POLICY.

2 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress of the United States

3 makes the following findings:

4 (1) An estimated 150,000 people have died

5 from war-related causes in the Liberian civil war

6 begun in 1989, while an estimated 1,000,000 Libe7 rians have been forced to flee to neighboring coun8 tries and many others displaced internally.

9 (2) War crimes have been committed by all fac10 tions, including rape, torture, summary executions of

11 innocent civilians, ritual murder, and cannibalism,

12 with the goal of terrorizing the Liberian civilian pop13 ulation.

14 (3) The Abuja Accord signed by Liberia’s war15 ring factions in August 1995 led to the creation of

16 a Transitional Government after several years of

17 fighting and political instability in Liberia.

18 (4) The peace process has been derailed and the

19 transitional arrangement disrupted when factional

20 fighting erupted once again in the Liberian capital,

21 Monrovia, in early April 1996.

22 (5) The Economic Community Monitoring

23 Group (ECOMOG), a West African peacekeeping

24 force, originally intervened in August 1990 to sta25 bilize the situation in Liberia.
3

•HR 4001 IH

1 (6) ECOMOG forces have provided relative

2 peace and stability intermittently to the capital,

3 Monrovia, despite financial and logistical difficulties

4 in a very hostile peacekeeping environment.

5 (7) The United States Government has pro6 vided an estimated $5,000,000 in support of the

7 ECOMOG’s peacekeeping efforts over the past sev8 eral years, $15 of which arrived in early February

9 and has made commitments for additional

10 $30,000,000.

11 (8) The United States has provided over

12 $100,000,000 in humanitarian and development as13 sistance to Liberia since 1994.

14 (9) The factional fighting that again erupted in

15 the capital of Liberia in April 1996, has forced thou16 sands to flee the capital to neighboring countries.

17 (10) ECOMOG’s failure to contain the April vi18 olence has been widely criticized by the international

19 community, including the United States.

20 (11) The United States evacuated an estimated

21 2,300 American and foreign nationals to neighboring

22 countries during April’s factional fighting in the Li23 berian capital.

24 (12) United States troops entered Liberia on

25 April 11, 1996, equipped for combat for the purpose
4

•HR 4001 IH

1 of evacuating American citizens and to protect

2 American embassy personnel and property.

3 (13) An estimated 2,500 American troops are

4 currently deployed in and near Liberia.

5 (14) The governments of Cote d’Ivore, Burkina

6 Faso, and Guinea have contributed to the political

7 instability and violence in Liberia by providing fi8 nancial, political, and material support to the Libe9 rian factions since the war erupted in 1989.

10 (15) The behavior of the above mentioned gov11 ernments has directly contributed to the death, tor12 ture, and displacement of hundreds of thousands of

13 innocent civilians.

14 (16) The governments of the above mentioned

15 countries have ignored pleas from the international

16 community and the United States to cease their de17 structive activities.

18 (17) The war crimes committed by all factions

19 in Liberia are of such an egregious nature as to

20 warrant total and complete isolation of those respon21 sible for these crimes.

22 (18) The United States and the international

23 community should bring those responsible for war

24 crimes to justice and prevent these individuals and
5

•HR 4001 IH

1 their associates from holding positions of responsibil2 ity in government.

3 (b) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It shall be the policy

4 of the United States to help bring about lasting peace and

5 stability in Liberia and to work toward establishing a just

6 and democratic society.

7 SEC. 3 REMOVING OBSTACLES TO PEACE AND STABILITY.

8 (a) POLICY STATEMENT.—The governments of Cote

9 d’Ivore, Burkina Faso, and Guinea have contributed to the

10 continuing violence in Liberia by providing financial, polit11 ical, and other types of assistance to Liberia’s factions

12 since the civil war erupted in 1989.

13 (b) AUTHORIZATION.—Not later than 45 days after

14 the date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall

15 take the following measures against Cote d’Ivore, Burkina

16 Faso, and Guinea:

17 (1) VISA RESTRICTIONS.—The Secretary of

18 State shall deny a visa to, and the Attorney General

19 shall exclude from the United States, any alien who

20 the Secretary of State determines is a senior official,

21 or a spouse, minor child, or agent of a senior official

22 of such countries.

23 (2) DENIAL OF LOANS.—The President shall

24 instruct the United States executive directors of
6

•HR 4001 IH

1 international financial institutions to vote against

2 any loans or grants for such countries.

3 (3) PROHIBITION.—The President shall pro4 hibit exporting or otherwise providing (by sale, lease

5 or loan, grant, or other means), directly or indi6 rectly, any defense articles or services, or licensing

7 of defense articles or services under the Arms Ex8 port Control Act to such countries.

9 (c) WAIVER.—The President may waive any of the

10 above mentioned measures if the President certifies to

11 Congress that Cote d’Ivore, Burkina Faso, and Guinea

12 have halted their assistance to Liberian factions, or upon

13 an explicit finding that such measures would not be in the

14 national interest of the United States.

15 (d) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 90

16 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Presi17 dent shall submit a report to the appropriate congressional

18 committees detailing the activities of the governments of

19 Cote d’Ivore, Burkina Faso, and Guinea and the status

20 of the Liberian civil war.

21 SEC. 4. ENDING THE CIVIL WAR AND BRINGING WAR CRIMI22 NALS TO JUSTICE.

23 (a) POLICY STATEMENT.—It is the policy of the

24 United States to help bring lasting peace to Liberia by—
7

•HR 4001 IH

1 (1) continuing financial, logistical, and technical

2 support for peacekeeping purposes;

3 (2) continuing humanitarian and development

4 assistance through private and indigenous groups;

5 (3) encouraging regional actors to become more

6 actively engaged in Liberia to bring lasting peace;

7 and

8 (4) identifying and providing material assist9 ance to groups in Liberia which are genuinely com10 mitted to restoring governance and effective rule of

11 law.

12 (b) AUTHORITY.—The President should use any

13 measures necessary to bring to justice Liberian war crimi14 nals and their associates.

15 (c) REQUEST FOR INVESTIGATION.—The President

16 should request the United Nations Security Council to in17 vestigate war crimes committed by any Liberian faction

18 leaders (and their associates) who may be responsible for

19 the eruption of violence and the continuation of the civil

20 war.

21 (d) ENFORCEMENT OF UNITED STATES LAWS.—The

22 President shall instruct all United States Government offi23 cials who engage in official contracts with the governments

24 of Cote d’Ivore, Burkina Faso, or Guinea, to raise on a

25 regular basis the extradition of or rendering to the United
8

•HR 4001 IH

1 States all persons residing in such countries who are

2 sought by the United States Department of Justice for

3 crimes committed in the United States.

4 (e) BLOCKING OF ASSETS.—The President shall

5 block all transactions in the United States of persons sus6 pected to have committed war crimes in Cote d’Ivore,

7 Burkina Faso, and Guinea. The President shall seek the

8 cooperation of other countries in blocking the assets of

9 such individuals.

10 SEC. 5 SENSE OF THE CONGRESS LAYING THE FOUNDA11 TION FOR A DEMOCRATIC LIBERIA.

12 It is the sense of the Congress that—

13 (1) The scheduled upcoming elections in Liberia

14 should be postponed until demobilization disar15 mament of all faction leaders has occurred and a

16 commitment to work with the democratic process.

17 (2) The faction leaders should recommit them18 selves to the Abuja Accords.

19 (3) The elections should be free and fair with20 out violence and interference and intimidation.

21 (4) The United States should provide technical

22 assistance to Liberia in the areas of good govern23 ance, formation of a broad-based civilian led transi24 tional government.
9

•HR 4001 IH

1 (5) The international community should assist

2 and aid Liberia to effectuate democratic reforms and

3 institute elections at the appropriate time.

Æ