09 May 2000
U.S. Official Outlines Position on Illicit Diamond Trade in Africa
(Amb. Jeter comments on RUF leader Foday Sankoh) (920) By Jim Fisher-Thompson Washington File Staff Writer Washington -- Commenting on the flood of illegal diamonds fueling conflicts in Sierra Leone, Angola, and elsewhere, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Howard Jeter told House Africa Subcommittee members May 9 that the Clinton administration will take no action that "puts at risk the national interests and economic welfare of Botswana, South Africa, and Namibia." But Jeter, who spoke at the subcommittee hearing on "Africa's Diamonds: Precious, Perilous Too?," added that the administration will continue to "weigh options to tighten regional law enforcement, harmonize customs, and enhance exchange of information" regarding the region. "We anticipate providing technical assistance, as warranted and welcomed by the southern African states, to support the initiatives of the Kimberley conference [in South Africa, May 10-11], and the subsequent African ministerial meeting planned for July," said Jeter, who is slated to become U.S. ambassador to Nigeria. Representative Tony Hall, who, along with other congressmen, is sponsoring a law aimed at keeping illicit diamonds out of the U.S. market (which accounts for 60-70 percent of diamond sales worldwide), said, "We have got to take the profit out of war." He said the measure, known as the "Carat Bill," will do that without jeopardizing legitimate trade from countries "whose economies depend on diamond mining." Hall recalled that "in the past 10 years, we have spent $2,000 million in humanitarian aid to Sierra Leone, Angola, Liberia, and Congo. But at the same time $10,000 million in profits from smuggling diamonds has poured out of these four nations and into the hands of rebels, who have bought more weapons with this money and inflicted more damage. Not even our rich country has enough money to keep patching up wounds, and it is irresponsible to try without also trying to get to the root of the problem: the diamonds." Meanwhile, the Embassy of Sierra Leone on May 9 released a document stating that "the people and the elected government of the Republic of Sierra Leone hereby endorse the Carat Bill." The document charged that the rebel movement, the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), and its leader Foday Sankoh "have committed, and continue to commit, egregious crimes against the people of Sierra Leone for no other reason than his determination to steal and smuggle Sierra Leone diamonds for supply to the international black market diamond trade." The Carat Bill, the document continued, will begin "to introduce accountability into the international diamond trade and thus reduce violence to the innocent people of Sierra Leone." Holding his hearing as news reports indicated that as many as 500 U.N. peacekeepers in Sierra Leone were missing and believed to have been abducted by the RUF, Subcommittee Chairman Ed Royce expressed strong doubts about the wisdom of continuing to deal with Sankoh, who achieved political legitimacy under the Lome peace agreement, which ostensibly ended Sierra Leone's civil war last year. Royce said: "I have expressed grave concerns repeatedly about this policy and cannot support on moral or practical grounds putting Foday Sankoh into what was a democratically elected government. The human rights groups were right to condemn this deal. Pragmatism has its limits, especially when it fails. So I look forward to hearing from the administration on how it plans to pick up the pieces in Sierra Leone, where the U.N. operation is on a lifeline." Asked by Royce, "Are we ready to change course on Sankoh?" Jeter said that "our first and foremost priority" is to get the release of U.N. hostages and detainees in Sierra Leone and to "enhance" U.N. forces on the ground. The diplomat acknowledged that the U.N. force commander may have made a mistake in sending units out to the countryside before his full complement of 11,100 peacekeepers was present. Jeter said, "It is clear that the problem we see in Sierra Leone at this moment was caused by Mr. Foday Sankoh. He has clearly violated the agreement and we condemn that violation. Our primary objective now, however, must be to get the peace process back on track and to do so by strengthening UNAMSIL (United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone)." The diplomat added: "I don't believe one can say that the U.S. forced this [Lome] agreement on anyone. We were present at the creation. We were there to facilitate. We were not the final and ultimate decision-makers. It was a sovereign decision made on the part of the government of Sierra Leone and one that I think made enormous sense when the agreement was concluded." He said, "Our hope back then was that the terms of the agreement would be honored" by the rebel factions in Sierra Leone's civil war. "Unfortunately, the terms of that agreement have not been honored and we are trying as best we can to put the pieces back together." Observing that the peacekeepers from Nigeria had been taking the brunt of RUF attacks before the latest U.N. intervention, Jeter said the West African nation has been at the center of regional efforts to solve cross-border and internal conflicts. "We applaud them and will try and help them as much as we can. [But] Mr. Chairman, we will need, certainly, the support of Congress to find the resources to do so." (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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