DATE=9/7/2000
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=NIGERIA/SIERRA LEONE
NUMBER=5-46985
BYLINE=WILLIAM EAGLE
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
CONTENT=
(NOT VOICED)
/// EDS: THIS BACKGROUND REPORT CAN BE USED AS A COMPANION
PIECE WITH 2-266227 U-S/NIGERIA/MILITARY ///
INTRO: U-S troops are in Nigeria training soldiers to
help end the rebel insurgency in neighboring Sierra
Leone. William Eagle in Washington has this background
report.
TEXT: The soldiers are from the U-S Army Special
Forces, based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. They are
in Nigeria to train and equip five battalions of
troops - each with about 800 soldiers.
Upon completion of the training, scheduled for the
middle of next year, the Nigerian troops will join the
13 thousand-strong United Nations force backing up the
Sierra Leone government, in its fight against a rebel
insurgency.
The goal, according to United States officials, is to
help the Sierra Leonean government gain full control
over its territory and its natural resources. Many
interpret that to include the rebel-held diamond areas
used by the Revolutionary United Front, R-U-F, to fund
its struggle against the government.
The military assistance will also eventually include some
military hardware, including mortars and machine guns, but
no tanks or heavy artillery.
Retired Nigerian Major General Ishola Williams
welcomes the training. General Ishola is head of the
Africa Strategic and Peace Research Group in Lagos and
a board member of the anti-corruption group
Transparency International.
//// 1st WILLIAMS ACT //
I believe this is a very good step. The Americans are
doing what we call assisting Africans in finding
solutions to African problems. And it's a vindication
for those saying that in Africa - in order to resolve
conflicts - you may need to use a bit of force [such
as] bringing in special forces to train West African
troops in jungle warfare and in all techniques needed
to apply force against the [Sierra Leonean rebels, the
Revolutionary United Front].
/// END ACT ///
General Williams says those techniques include
training in guerrilla warfare tactics, which will be
new for African soldiers.
/// 2nd WILLIAMS ACT ///
Most African armies have got to think about a new
doctrinal approach to conflicts in Africa. I believe
the training the Americans are going to do with the
troops going to Sierra Leone will change the doctrine
troops have been using in Africa - which is based on
what they were taught in Western staff colleges. What
is going to happen now is you will have to concentrate
on surviving in the jungle.
/// END OPT /// /// END ACT ///
While human rights activists support the efforts to
bring peace to Sierra Leone, they are expressing
reservations about the training for the Nigerian armed
forces.
Adotei Akwei [pron. AD-oh-tay ah-KWAY] is the Africa
advocacy director for Amnesty International in
Washington, D-C.
/// 1st AKWEI ACT ///
We completely understand the need for a peacekeeping
capacity in Sierra Leone. This is a good thing
because the people of Sierra Leone need an effective
force to help re-establish peace there. [However} our
concerns are with the other [U-S] interactions with
the Nigerian military, like the U-S initiative to help
restructure and rebuild the Nigerian military over a
five-year period. And, the recent announcement of the
granting of U-S patrol boats to the Nigerian navy in
the Niger Delta implies it will be military to
military as usual - which we do not want.
/// END ACT ///
Mr. Akwei would like the United States to carefully
screen out Nigerian soldiers who have been accused of
human rights abuses. And, he would like the U-S State
Department - and the Government of Nigeria - to
include Nigerian-based human rights groups in the
training initiative:
/// 2nd AKWEI ACT ///
We would like groups like the Civil Liberties
Organization and the Constitutional Rights Project -
groups that have been monitoring security force
activities - to monitor the training. It is a hard
call to have groups from the outside monitor what
units do after training, but groups within Nigeria can
do that. They should have some say in designing a
syllabus so [training and military reform] begins to
fall more under the authority of Nigeria's elected
government and not just to the Nigerian military. In
other words, the problem has been the Nigerian
military's treatment of its own population, /// REST
OPT /// not its treatment of the U-S military or the
U-S Congress, so we want to make sure the National
Assembly has oversight and is reported to regularly.
That is how you begin to strengthen civilian control
over the military and make the process more
transparent.
/// END ACT ///
Human rights activists have expressed hope that the
Nigerian troops will remain disciplined once they are
deployed in Sierra Leone. In the past, Nigerians
serving there have been accused of human rights abuses
- including attacks on civilians when the troops were
overrun by rebels in Freetown last year.
Critics note that the senior U-N representative in
Sierra Leone is Nigerian and wonder how well the
troops will be monitored once they're deployed. They
question whether unbiased assessments of the soldiers'
behavior will be forthcoming.
The Pentagon has confirmed that U-S embassy officials
will screen all troops the American soldiers train, to
make sure there are no human rights abusers or child
soldiers among the trainees. (SIGNED)
NEB/BE/FC
07-Sep-2000 16:44 PM EDT (07-Sep-2000 2044 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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