Res. No. 1848 Title Resolution condemning war crimes committed by rebel groups in the course of the civil war in Sierra Leone, and calling on the United States government to increase its support for peacemaking and peacekeeping efforts there. Body By Council Members Robinson, The Speaker (Council Member Vallone), Oddo, Malave-Dilan, Linares, Marshall, Michels, Moskowitz and Abel; also Council Members Espada, Foster, Leffler, Lopez, O'Donovan, Perkins and Rodriguez Whereas, Ten years ago, Sierra Leone's Revolutionary United Front (RUF) instigated a civil war whose fighting continues to this day and has resulted in the death, displacement and mutilation of countless civilians and the continued suffering of a nation and a people; and Whereas, The fighting has already created more refugees than any other conflict in Africa, about 500,000 people, and a population of internally displaced persons numbering over two million; and Whereas, The rebel RUF forces have embraced tactics of brutal terror, none more enthusiastically than the practice of mutilation and amputation, which has left more than 10,000 Sierra Leoneans with diminished capacities and damaged lives; and Whereas, Combined with widespread and entrenched poverty, the war in Sierra Leone has created a humanitarian disaster that many international observers have deemed much worse than that in Kosovo; and Whereas, Despite the signing of the Lome Peace accords in 1999, the RUF has re-ignited the conflict by launching a series of new offensives that began in May of 2000; and Whereas, Despite the ongoing horror of the situation, the response by the international community has been marked by apathy, indifference and sloth; and Whereas, Those efforts that have been made, largely by private individuals, have made a significant contribution to the lives of many victims of the RUF terror campaign and the war; and Whereas, Such efforts, which have included the installation of British and international observers, the donation of prosthetic limbs to victims of mutilation, and ad hoc humanitarian aid, are clearly not enough to stem the tide of violence engulfing the people of Sierra Leone; and Whereas, There is a productive role to be played by the United States in the peacemaking process in Sierra Leone, whether as a leader of international opinion, an honest broker of armistice negotiations or as a guarantor-by-arms of future peace settlements; and Whereas, It is unconscionable to stand idly by while these brutal crimes continue apace; now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York condemns the war crimes committed by rebel groups in the course of the civil war in Sierra Leone, and calls on the United States government to increase its support for peacemaking and peacekeeping efforts there. SF:bg LS#4071 4/4/01 |10
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