United Nations Security Council Resolution 1343 – Liberia

The Security Council,

Recalling its resolutions 1132 (1997) of 8 October 1997, 1171 (1998) of 5 June1998, 1306 (2000) of 5 July 2000 and its other resolutions and statements of itsPresident on the situation in Sierra Leone and the region,

Welcoming General Assembly resolution A/RES/55/56 of 1 December 2000, inparticular its call for measures engaging all concerned parties including diamond producing, processing, exporting and importing countries as well as the diamondindustry to break the link between diamonds and armed conflict, and its call upon all States to implement fully Security Council measures targeting the link between thetrade in conflict diamonds and the supply to rebel movements of weapons, fuel orother prohibited materiel,

Taking note of the report of the United Nations Panel of Experts established pursuant to paragraph 19 of resolution 1306 (2000) in relation to Sierra Leone(S/2000/1195),

Taking note of the findings of the Panel of Experts that diamonds represent amajor and primary source of income for the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), that the bulk of RUF diamonds leave Sierra Leone through Liberia, and that such illicittrade cannot be conducted without the permission and involvement of Liberian government officials at the highest levels, and expressing its deep concern at the unequivocal and overwhelming evidence presented by the report of the Panel of Experts that the Government of Liberia is actively supporting the RUF at all levels,

Recalling the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)Moratorium on the Importation, Exportation and Manufacture of Small Arms andLight Weapons in West Africa adopted in Abuja on 31 October 1998 (S/1998/1194,annex),

Taking note of the measures announced by the Government of Liberia since the publication of the report of the Panel of Experts established pursuant to resolution1306 (2000), and welcoming the intention of ECOWAS to monitor their implementation in close cooperation with the United Nations and to report thereonafter a period of two months,

Recalling its concern already expressed in resolution 1306 (2000) at the roleplayed by the illicit diamond trade in fuelling the conflict in Sierra Leone and atreports that such diamonds transit neighbouring countries, including Liberia,

Reiterating its call made in the statement of its President of 21 December 2000(S/PRST/2000/41) on all States in West Africa, particularly Liberia, immediately tocease military support for armed groups in neighbouring countries and preventarmed individuals from using their national territory to prepare and commit attacksin neighbouring countries,

Determining that the active support provided by the Government of Liberia for armed rebel groups in neighbouring countries, and in particular its support for the RUF in Sierra Leone, constitutes a threat to international peace and security in theregion,

Acting under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations,

A

Recalling its resolutions 788 (1992) of 19 November 1992 and 985 (1995) of13 April 1995,

Noting that the conflict in Liberia has been resolved, that national elections have taken place within the framework of the Yamoussoukro IV Agreement of30 October 1991 (S/24815, annex) and that the Final Communiqué of the informalconsultative group meeting of ECOWAS Committee of Five on Liberia issued in Geneva on 7 April 1992 (S/23863) has been implemented, and determining therefore that the embargo imposed by paragraph 8 of resolution 788 (1992) should be terminated,

1. Decides to terminate the prohibitions imposed by paragraph 8 ofresolution 788 (1992) and to dissolve the Committee established under resolution985 (1995);

B

2. Demands that the Government of Liberia immediately cease its supportfor the RUF in Sierra Leone and for other armed rebel groups in the region, and inparticular take the following concrete steps:(a) expel all RUF members from Liberia, including such individuals as arelisted by the Committee established by paragraph 14 below, and prohibit all RUFactivities on its territory, provided that nothing in this paragraph shall oblige Liberiato expel its own nationals from its territory;

(b) cease all financial and, in accordance with resolution 1171 (1998),military support to the RUF, including all transfers of arms and ammunition, allmilitary training and the provision of logistical and communications support, andtake steps to ensure that no such support is provided from the territory of Liberia orby its nationals;

(c) cease all direct or indirect import of Sierra Leone rough diamonds which are not controlled through the Certificate of Origin regime of the Government of Sierra Leone, in accordance with resolution 1306 (2000);

(d) freeze funds or financial resources or assets that are made available by itsnationals or within its territory directly or indirectly for the benefit of the RUF orentities owned or controlled directly or indirectly by the RUF;

(e) ground all Liberia-registered aircraft operating within its jurisdiction until it updates its register of aircraft pursuant to Annex VII to the ChicagoConvention on International Civil Aviation of 1944 and provides to the Council the updated information concerning the registration and ownership of each aircraftregistered in Liberia;

3. Stresses that the demands in paragraph 2 above are intended to lead tofurther progress in the peace process in Sierra Leone, and, in that regard, calls uponthe President of Liberia to help ensure that the RUF meet the following objectives:

(a) allow the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) freeaccess throughout Sierra Leone;

(b) release all abductees;

(c) enter their fighters in the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration process;

(d) return all weapons and other equipment seized from UNAMSIL;

4. Demands that all States in the region take action to prevent armedindividuals and groups from using their territory to prepare and commit attacks onneighbouring countries and refrain from any action that might contribute to furtherdestabilization of the situation on the borders between Guinea, Liberia and SierraLeone;

5. (a) Decides that all States shall take the necessary measures to prevent the sale or supply to Liberia, by their nationals or from their territories or using their flag vessels or aircraft, of arms and related materiel of all types, including weapons and ammunition, military vehicles and equipment, paramilitary equipment and spareparts for the aforementioned, whether or not originating in their territories;

(b) Decides that all States shall take the necessary measures to prevent any provision to Liberia by their nationals or from their territories of technical trainingor assistance related to the provision, manufacture, maintenance or use of the itemsin subparagraph (a) above;

(c) Decides that the measures imposed by subparagraphs (a) and (b) aboveshall not apply to supplies of non-lethal military equipment intended solely for humanitarian or protective use, and related technical assistance or training, as approved in advance by the Committee established by paragraph 14 below;

(d) Affirms that the measures imposed by subparagraph (a) above do notapply to protective clothing, including flak jackets and military helmets, temporarily exported to Liberia by United Nations personnel, representatives of the media and humanitarian and development workers and associated personnel, for their personal use only;

6. Decides further that all States shall take the necessary measures to prevent the direct or indirect import of all rough diamonds from Liberia, whether ornot such diamonds originated in Liberia;

7. (a) Decides also that all States shall take the necessary measures to prevent the entry into or transit through their territories of senior members of theGovernment of Liberia and its armed forces and their spouses and any other individuals providing financial and military support to armed rebel groups incountries neighbouring Liberia, in particular the RUF in Sierra Leone, as designated by the Committee established by paragraph 14 below, provided that nothing in thisparagraph shall oblige a State to refuse entry into its territory to its own nationals,and provided that nothing in this paragraph shall impede the transit ofrepresentatives of the Government of Liberia to United Nations Headquarters toconduct United Nations business or the participation of the Government of Liberiain the official meetings of the Mano River Union, ECOWAS and the Organization ofAfrican Unity;

(b) Decides that the measures imposed by subparagraph (a) above shall notapply where the Committee established by paragraph 14 below determines that suchtravel is justified on the grounds of humanitarian need, including religiousobligation, or where the Committee concludes that exemption would otherwisepromote Liberian compliance with the demands of the Council, or assist in thepeaceful resolution of the conflict in the subregion;

8. Further decides that the measures imposed by paragraphs 6 and 7 aboveshall come into force at 00.01 Eastern Daylight Time two months after the date ofadoption of this resolution, unless the Security Council determines before that datethat Liberia has complied with the demands in paragraph 2 above, taking intoaccount the report of the Secretary-General referred to in paragraph 12 below, inputsfrom ECOWAS, relevant information provided by the Committee established byparagraph 14 below and the Committee established pursuant to resolution 1132(1997) and any other relevant information;

9. Decides that the measures imposed by paragraph 5 are established for 14months and that, at the end of the period, the Council will decide whether the Government of Liberia has complied with the demands in paragraph 2 above, and,accordingly, whether to extend these measures for a further period with the same conditions;

10. Decides further that the measures imposed by paragraphs 6 and 7 aboveare established for a period of 12 months, and that at the end of this period theCouncil will decide whether the Government of Liberia has complied with thedemands in paragraph 2 above, and, accordingly, whether to extend these measuresfor a further period with the same conditions;

11. Decides also that the measures imposed by paragraphs 5 to 7 above shallbe terminated immediately if the Council, taking into account, inter alia, the reportsof the Panel of Experts referred to in paragraph 19 below and of the Secretary-General referred to in paragraph 12 below, inputs from ECOWAS, any relevantinformation provided by the Committee established by paragraph 14 below and theCommittee established pursuant to resolution 1132 (1997) and any other relevantinformation, determines that the Government of Liberia has complied with thedemands in paragraph 2 above;

12. Requests the Secretary-General to submit a first report to the Council by 30 April 2001 and thereafter at 6-month intervals from that date, drawing oninformation from all relevant sources, including the United Nations Office in Liberia, UNAMSIL and ECOWAS, on whether Liberia has complied with thedemands in paragraph 2 above and on any progress made towards the objectives setout in paragraph 3 above, and calls on the Government of Liberia to support UnitedNations efforts to verify all information on compliance which is brought to theUnited Nations notice;

13. Requests the Secretary-General to provide to the Council six monthsfrom the date of the adoption of this resolution:

(a) a preliminary assessment of the potential economic, humanitarian and social impact on the Liberian population of possible follow-up action by the Councilin the areas of investigation indicated in paragraph 19 (c) below;

(b) a report on the steps taken by the Government of Liberia to improve its capacity in air traffic control and surveillance in accordance with the recommendations of the Panel of Experts established pursuant to resolution 1306(2000) and any advice which may be provided by ICAO;

14. Decides to establish, in accordance with rule 28 of its provisional rules ofprocedure, a Committee of the Security Council, consisting of all the members ofthe Council, to undertake the following tasks and to report on its work to the Council with its observations and recommendations:

(a) to seek from all States information regarding the actions taken by them to implement effectively the measures imposed by paragraphs 5 to 7 above, and thereafter to request from them whatever further information it may consider necessary;

(b) to consider, and to take appropriate action on, information brought to its attention by States concerning alleged violations of the measures imposed by paragraphs 5 to 7 above, identifying where possible persons or entities, including vessels or aircraft, reported to be engaged in such violations, and to make periodicreports to the Council;

(c) to promulgate expeditiously such guidelines as may be necessary tofacilitate the implementation of the measures imposed by paragraphs 5 to 7 above;

(d) to give consideration to and decide upon requests for the exemptions setout in paragraphs 5 (c) and 7 (b) above;

(e) to designate the individuals subject to the measures imposed byparagraph 7 above, and to update this list regularly;

(f) to make information it considers relevant, including the list referred to in subparagraph (e) above, publicly available through appropriate media, including through the improved use of information technology;

(g) to make recommendations to the Council on ways of increasing the effectiveness of the measures imposed by paragraphs 5 to 7 above and on ways tolimit unintended effects, if any, of these measures on the Liberian population;

(h) to cooperate with other relevant Security Council Sanctions Committees,in particular that established pursuant to resolution 1132 (1997) and that established pursuant to resolution 864 (1993);

(i) to establish a list of RUF members present in Liberia as referred to in paragraph 2 (a) above;

15. Calls upon the Government of Liberia to establish an effective Certificateof Origin regime for trade in rough diamonds that is transparent and internationallyverifiable and has been approved by the Committee established by paragraph 14above, to come into operation after the measures imposed by paragraphs 5 to 7above have been terminated in accordance with this resolution;

16. Urges all diamond exporting countries in West Africa to establish Certificate of Origin regimes for the trade in rough diamonds similar to that adopted by the Government of Sierra Leone, as recommended by the Panel of Experts established pursuant to resolution 1306 (2000), and calls upon States, relevant international organizations and other bodies in a position to do so to offer assistanceto those Governments to that end;

17. Calls upon the international community to provide the necessaryassistance to reinforce the fight against the proliferation and illicit trafficking oflight weapons in West Africa, in particular the implementation of the ECOWASMoratorium on the Importation, Exportation and Manufacture of Small Arms andLight Weapons in West Africa, and to improve air traffic control in the West Africansubregion;

18. Requests all States to report to the Committee established by paragraph 14 above, within 30 days of the promulgation of the list referred to in paragraph 14(e) above, on the actions they have taken to implement the measures imposed byparagraphs 5 to 7 above;

19. Requests the Secretary-General to establish, within one month from thedate of adoption of this resolution, in consultation with the Committee established by paragraph 14 above, a Panel of Experts for a period of six months consisting ofno more than five members, drawing, as much as possible and as appropriate, on the expertise of the members of the Panel of Experts established pursuant to resolution1306 (2000), with the following mandate:

(a) to investigate any violations of the measures imposed by paragraphs 5 to7 above;

(b) to collect any information on the compliance by the Government ofLiberia with the demands in paragraph 2 above, including any violations by the Government of Liberia of the measures imposed by paragraph 2 of resolution 1171(1998) and paragraph 1 of resolution 1306 (2000);

(c) to further investigate possible links between the exploitation of naturalresources and other forms of economic activity in Liberia, and the fuelling of conflict in Sierra Leone and neighbouring countries, in particular those areas highlighted by the report of the Panel of Experts established pursuant to resolution1306 (2000);

(d) to collect any information linked to the illegal activities of theindividuals referred to in paragraph 21 below and to any other alleged violations ofthis resolution;

(e) to report to the Council through the Committee established by paragraph 14 above no later than six months from the date of adoption of this resolution with observations and recommendations in the areas set out in subparagraphs (a) to (d)above;

(f) to keep the Committee established by paragraph 14 above updated on their activities as appropriate;and further requests the Secretary-General to provide the necessary resources;

20. Requests the Panel of Experts referred to in paragraph 19 above, as far as possible, to bring any relevant information collected in the course of itsinvestigations conducted in accordance with its mandate to the attention of theStates concerned for prompt and thorough investigation and, where appropriate,corrective action, and to allow them the right of reply;

21. Calls upon all States take appropriate measures to ensure thatindividuals and companies in their jurisdiction, in particular those referred to in thereport of the Panel of Experts established pursuant to resolution 1306 (2000), act inconformity with United Nations embargoes, in particular those established byresolutions 1171 (1998), 1306 (2000) and this resolution, and, as appropriate, takethe necessary judicial and administrative action to end any illegal activities by thoseindividuals and companies;

22. Calls upon all States and all relevant international and regional organizations to act strictly in accordance with the provisions of this resolution notwithstanding the existence of any rights or obligations entered into or any licence or permit granted prior to the date of adoption of this resolution;

23. Decides to conduct reviews of the measures imposed by paragraphs 5 to7 above not more than sixty days after the adoption of this resolution, and every sixmonths thereafter;

24. Urges all States, relevant United Nations bodies and, as appropriate,other organizations and interested parties to cooperate fully with the Committee established by paragraph 14 above and the Panel of Experts referred to in paragraph19 above, including by supplying information on possible violations of the measures imposed by paragraphs 5 to 7 above;

25. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.

Adopted by the Security Council at its 4287th meeting, on 7 March 2001.