NGO Says Liberian Sanctions Should not be Lifted

United Nations sanctions on Liberian diamonds and timber should not be lifted until the government has gained full control over these resources, Global Witness has said in a recently released report.

“Under the leadership of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the new Liberian government has made significant progress towards reforming the natural resources sector and tackling corruption”, said Natalie Ashworth, Global Witness Campaigner. “However, much more needs to be done before Liberia can be said to have met the criteria for lifting sanctions.”

Global Witness’s new report, entitled “Cautiously Optimistic: the case for maintaining sanctions in Liberia”, demonstrates how Liberia has not yet complied with the UN criteria for lifting sanctions, due for review in June 2006. It stresses that maintaining sanctions should not be seen as a punitive measure but as a way of supporting the new government’s reforms.

“In the past revenue from both the diamond and timber industries have been used to fuel conflict which consumed Liberia and the region,” said Ashworth. “It is essential that long-term measures are put in place to prevent this from happening again and to ensure that Liberia’s natural resources are used for the country’s development and reconstruction.”

The Global Witness report warns against sacrificing the UN benchmarks for short-term political gains or gestures. Ashworth said, “In the long-term, peace and stability in Liberia will be the first casualties.”

Large areas of resource rich territory remain under the control of ex combatants, who are exploiting rubber and diamonds, generating significant illicit revenues. Currently the Liberian government and the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Liberia (UNMIL) have not developed a strategy to deal with this problem, says the NGO in a release.

Global Witness investigations in Liberia in March-April 2006 confirmed that ex-combatants were in control of two large rubber plantations – Guthrie and Sinoe. The ex-combatants organize the exploitation of rubber, directed by their former rebel command structures. Some of them told Global Witness that they had not been through the "Disarmament, Demobilisation, Rehabilitation and Reintegration" process organized by UNMIL. The rubber is generating significant unallocated and unrestricted revenue for these ex-combatants.

“President Sirleaf has recognized the risk presented by the ex-combatants’ presence in the rubber plantations, but the new government and security forces do not have the means to restore control without assistance,” said Ashworth. “UNMIL must urgently assist the government to remove the ex-combatants as part of a broader strategy which provides them with alternative sources of employment.”

The full Global Witness report, “Cautiously Optimistic: the case for maintaining sanctions in Liberia”, can be found at