Liberia is "Epicenter of Conflict" in West Africa, Former President Says
(Two prominent Liberians appear at U.S. Institute of Peace) (1170) By Charles W. Corey Washington File Staff Writer Washington -- It is now abundantly clear that Liberia is "the eye of the hurricane" or the "epicenter of conflict" which can now be found across West Africa, says Amos C. Sawyer formerly president of Liberia from 1990-1994. Speaking December 9 at a U.S. Institute for Peace seminar on Liberia, Sawyer said the violence in his country has spread to Sierra Leone and Cote d'Ivoire, causing thousands of deaths. In the case of Liberia and Sierra Leone, Sawyer said both countries now suffer from a "significant problem" -- the disintegration of the social fabric, which has long held these countries together. The lack of social fabric with particular regard to Liberia, he said, "deprives us of the kinds of building blocks" needed in order to rebuild and reconstruct those countries. Looking at the situation in his own war-torn country, Sawyer told his audience that one can see the "evil that can come from human beings in the absence of institutions...." Unfortunately, he said, "evil triumphant is indeed on the ascendancy" there. The processes of peacemaking and the reconstruction of a functioning social and political order in Liberia, he lamented, require a much deeper understanding of the nature of human dynamics and conflict and a "far deeper commitment of time, effort and resources" than many have been prepared to offer. Looking ahead to possible elections in 2003, Sawyer said "once again, we are looking for elections to take us out of war. My sense is that we very well may be planning to make another false start," he predicted. Liberia is still at war on a number of levels, he told his audience. While the "shooting war" -- between the Taylor government troops and Liberians United For Reconciliation And Democracy (LURD) -- is often the focus of everyone's attention, there are also many "non-shooting wars" or feuds that are ongoing and "just as potent politically," he explained. Underlying all of this, he said, is the fact that many Liberians have a "substantial problem" identifying what they have in common with each other. To help bring peace to Liberia, Sawyer said, an international stabilization force must be deployed to that country, but he offered few details as to its make-up. "The security of Liberia is linked to the security of the sub-region and has to be seen as a major international concern," he stressed. He called this a "major issue" that must be addressed. A secure environment must be established, he said, so Liberians can fashion a way forward for their country. Liberia's President Charles Taylor, Sawyer emphasized, "cannot help us to provide such an environment." As an option for peace, Sawyer said "we have an excellent opportunity based on what has happened in Sierra Leone to ensure his indictment and his trial by the special court in Sierra Leone." Unfortunately, he told his audience, "Liberia has become an explosive device in the sub-region -- the fuse of that device (making an implied reference to Taylor) needs to be removed. "That," he explained, "should be a major task of Liberians and the international community at this point because Liberia cannot become an active part of the process of rebuilding or constituting order in the sub-region with the kind of leadership that we have at this time." Prior to any further elections, Sawyer said, Liberia needs some kind of "interim governing device or mechanism " which he said is important to help the country move forward. Another panelist, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who placed second in a field of thirteen candidates in the country's 1997 presidential election, called the present-day Liberia a "dysfunctional, autocratic, kleptocracy [government by theft]." After more than five years of the Taylor government, Sirleaf said there is no electricity, no running water -- even in the capital. Schools have not reopened, she said, and the country's economic and social infrastructure have so deteriorated that they ensure that one man rule is all that governs the country, based on patronage and intimidation. While current basic economic statistics are not available for Liberia, she said, Gross Domestic Product figures for 2000 totals $463 million and per-capita income has declined to $141.00 -- that -- for a country that was once a middle-income country by World Bank standards in the 1980s. Sirleaf called particular attention to the severe environmental damage now being done to Liberia's rainforest. She reminded everyone that Liberia is one of the few countries that still has a rainforest as a precious natural resource. Since the 1997 election of the Taylor government, Sirleaf said, logging production in the rainforest has increased by 1003%, producing annual revenue of $49 million for the Taylor government. Revenues from diamond trading and maritime licensing have also enriched the Taylor regime, she said, and generated income that could be used to purchase more arms for the country. Meanwhile, she said, human rights abuses continue and young children have been abducted to be sent to the war front and villages. "All of this is being done to create an environment of total fear and intimidation as a means of total control of a population," she noted. Sirleaf, who just returned from Liberia, said the whole atmosphere in her country is poisoned with a plethora of guns, and a lack of discipline and respect for the law. "No one can claim to be totally safe," in this kind of environment, she said. Public office has degenerated into unabashed graft and corruption, with the constitution being observed only when convenient for the Taylor government, she added. Most disturbing, she said, has been the transformation of a country meant to be a haven for those fleeing persecution to one that is now "the epicenter of the conflict that has engulfed West Africa." Sirleaf predicted that if nothing is done with the Taylor government, the problems that have now spread to Cote d'Ivoire will spread to Ghana within a year. "If you don't deal with that cancer...if it is not dealt with properly..." the disease of disorder, she warned, will continue to spread. Sirleaf told the Liberians in the audience that the primary responsibility to change Liberia rests with Liberians themselves. "We must go and do what needs to be done," she said, with Liberians seeing their country for what it is and developing a "common agenda" to help the country resolve its problems. "Until you can see wrong within your own group and you can say it is wrong -- until you can stand up when an African leader has wronged his own people -- until you can take a position and say it is wrong -- you can't ask the international community to do that job for you. So we Liberians -- when we see wrong and evil in our midst -- must be brave enough to condemn the wrong and evil on all sides...." (The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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