Sierra Leone, 2000

May I, on behalf of

my delegation and the Government and people of the

Republic of Sierra Leone, add my vice to those before

me to offer warm felicitations on your election as

President of this epoch-making fifty-fifth session of the

General Assembly, the Millennium Assembly. Your

long and distinguished career in the service of your

country and on the international scene makes you

eminently suitable for election. My delegation is

confident that under your able guidance, our

deliberations will be smooth and productive. Indeed,

we have seen evidence of that in your insistence on

punctuality. I want to assure you, Sir, of my

delegation's fullest cooperation.

To our brother and colleague Mr. Theo-Ben

Gurirab of Namibia, I convey my delegation's gratitude

and appreciation for the able manner in which he

conducted the affairs of the fifty-fourth session of the

General Assembly.

I should like to thank Mr. Kofi Annan, the

Secretary-General of the United Nations, and his

colleagues and staff, whose dedication to duty deserves

the highest commendation. I extend our special

gratitude to Mr. Annan for his insight into the problems

in my country and the objective manner in which he

has reported his findings to the Security Council. The

United Nations Security Council has deployed over

13,000 peacekeeping troops in Sierra Leone, the largest

number in any country at any one time. In

collaboration with my Government, it is setting up a

special court to try all those who are guilty of the most

horrendous and atrocious crimes against humanity. In

furtherance of its interest in bringing stability to the

country, it has planned to send a high-level delegation

to Sierra Leone to assess the situation on the ground.

I should also like to extend a warm

congratulations to Tuvalu on its admission as the 189th

Member of this Organization.

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Following the unwarranted criminal abduction by

the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) of hundreds of

United Nations peacekeeping troops of the United

Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), a

peaceful demonstration by the members of civil society

of Sierra Leone was organized to appeal to Foday

Sankoh, the leader of the RUF, for the unconditional

release of the hostages and to prevail upon him to

cooperate in order successfully to implement the Lomé

Peace Agreement, especially the Disarmament,

Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) Programme.

As soon as the demonstrators reached his

residence, Mr. Sankoh's men opened fire on the

unarmed and defenceless crowd, gunning down 20 and

seriously wounding several others, two of whom later

died in hospital. Subsequent events have revealed that

the RUF had planned a bloody overthrow of the elected

Government on the following day, 9 May 2000. This at

first put the whole Lomé Peace Agreement in doubt,

especially Mr. Sankoh's role as leader of the RUF.

Under the Lomé Peace Agreement, Mr. Sankoh

was appointed Chairman of the Strategic Mineral

Resources Commission, with the status of a vice-

president; he used this position to open secret

negotiations with a number of people for the

exploitation and sale of Sierra Leone's diamonds,

without reference to any other person.

The Government of Sierra Leone had signed the

Lomé Peace Agreement in the belief that it would put

an end to the atrocities being inflicted on defenceless

civilians, especially women and children. Among other

things, it provided for the demobilization, disarmament

and reintegration of former combatants into society. It

provided for the repatriation and resettlement of

refugees and internally displaced people. It also

provided for the deployment of United Nations

peacekeepers (UNAMSIL) in the country. The RUF

leaders have forfeited their right to benefit from the

provisions of Lomé; however, because of its other

provisions, my Government will revive the Agreement,

particularly the DDR Programme.

My Government has already expressed

condolences to the Governments of those who lost their

lives during the hostage-taking. UNAMSIL is to be

congratulated for the professional manner in which it

freed the hostages. Another group of bandits, the so-

called “West Side Boys”, had seized and held captive 1

Sierra Leone soldier and 10 British servicemen who

were in Sierra Leone to train a professional army which

would be responsible to the democratically elected

Government of the country. That group refused to

release the hostages, despite the long and patient

negotiations, and was even beginning to threaten their

lives.

Mercifully, to everyone's relief, the hostages have

now been rescued. Unfortunately, one member of the

British rescue team lost his life, while another was

seriously wounded. My Government has already

congratulated the British Government for the

professionalism of the rescue team. At the same time,

we have expressed heartfelt condolences for the loss of

the life of a member of the team.

Another recent and very welcome resolution of

the Security Council is the ban on the sale of illegal

diamonds from Sierra Leone, the so-called “Blood

Diamonds”. As is well known, the proceeds from this

trade have been used to fuel the rebel war machine. I

would like to thank the Government of the United

Kingdom, the United States of America and Canada for

their perseverance in opposing this horrible activity,

calling things by their proper names and pointing

fingers in the right direction. My country is confident

that the new arrangements for the marketing of our

diamonds will not only end the illegal trade but will

also bring sanity into the system, to the benefit of the

country.

Thanks to the decisive actions of the Security

Council and the Economic Community of West African

States under the indefatigable leadership of President

Obasanjo of Nigeria and President Konare of Mali,

Sierra Leoneans now see a real light at the end of what

has been a long and tortuous tunnel. The forthcoming

trials of those who have committed such horrendous

and inhuman crimes against their fellow countrymen

will be a signal to would-be adventurers that such acts

will no longer go unpunished.

No words can sufficiently express the thanks and

gratitude of the people of Sierra Leone to the Security

Council, the international community as a whole and

troop-contributing countries. Following the occupation

and destruction of economic areas, the carting away of

our resources, the displacement of hundreds of

thousands of our people and the wanton destruction of

life and property, I would like to appeal to all our

friends to continue and intensify their humanitarian

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assistance and to support programmes for rebuilding

our country.

We have just entered a new millennium, bringing

with us many unresolved problems — problems which

have been discussed in this and other international

forums over the years and which appear to lack any

solution. We have only one world, and my delegation

believes that it is worth our love. We should therefore

demonstrate that love by adequately addressing

outstanding issues like general disarmament, nuclear

non-proliferation, peaceful settlement of disputes,

prohibition and control of small arms, prohibition of

landmines, poverty alleviation, affordable drugs and

treatment of debilitating and killer diseases such as

malaria and HIV/AIDS, advancing the Middle East

peace process in accordance with various Security

Council resolutions, equitable trade negotiations and,

of course, reform of the Security Council.