S.Amdt. 323

SA 323. Mr. LEAHY submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 600, to authorize appropriations for the Department of State and international broadcasting activities for fiscal years 2006 and 2007, for the Peace Corps for fiscal years 2006 and 2007, for foreign assistance programs for fiscal years 2006 and 2007, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the appropriate place insert:

Whereas in 2000, the United Nations, with strong backing by the United States, created the Special Court for Sierra Leone to prosecute persons who have committed and “bear the greatest responsibility” for war crimes, crimes against humanity, other serious violations of international humanitarian law, and other atrocities that occurred in Sierra Leone during that country's brutal civil war during the period after November 30, 1996;

Whereas United Nations Security Council resolution 1315 stated that the Security Council is “[d]eeply concerned at the various serious crimes committed within the territory of Sierra Leone against the people of Sierra Leone . . . [and that] the international community will exert every effort to bring those responsible to justice . . .”

Whereas on June 4, 2003, the Special Court for Sierra Leone unsealed an indictment issued on March 3, 2003, against Charles Ghankay Taylor, former President of the Republic of Liberia, charging him with seventeen counts of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other violations of international humanitarian law;

Whereas, INTERPOL, of which Nigeria is a member, issued a Red Notice for Mr. Taylor for “crimes against humanity” and “grave breaches of the 1949 Geneva Convention.”

Whereas on August 11, 2003, Charles Taylor departed Liberia for Calabar, Nigeria, where he was granted asylum and, according to press reports, agreed to end his involvement in Liberian politics;

Whereas in September 2003 the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria warned Taylor that it would “not tolerate any breach of this condition and others which forbid him from engaging in active communications with anyone engaged in political, illegal or governmental activities in Liberia”;

Whereas, Jacques Klein, the UN Representative charged with rebuilding Liberia, reported that Charles Taylor has broken the terms of his exile by stating: “We know that there are people who commute basically between Monrovia and where [Taylor] is . . . Now, he's no longer giving the guidance he did by telephone, for obvious reasons, but the messengers still go back and forth. And so he still is a cloud that hangs over much of what we do.”

Whereas the job of promoting regional peace and security cannot be completed until Mr. Taylor appears before the Special Court for Sierra Leone to answer to the charges against him.

Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That--

(1) it is the sense of the Senate that--

(A) the United States shall use its voice and vote at the United Nations Security Council to bring about the transfer of Charles Taylor to the Special Court for Sierra Leone.

(B) The actions called for in subsection (A) include supporting a Chapter VII Security Council resolution that would provide for the immediate transfer of Charles Taylor.

(2) the Senate urges the United States government to formulate a comprehensive, inter-agency strategy, consistent with section 585 of Public Law 108-447, aimed at bringing about the transfer of Charles Taylor well before the Liberian elections scheduled to occur in fall, 2005.