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Note: This document is from the archive of the Africa Policy E-Journal, published
by the Africa Policy Information Center (APIC) from 1995 to 2001 and by Africa Action
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Angola: Sanctions Updates
Angola: Sanctions Updates
Date distributed (ymd): 000327
Document reposted by APIC
+++++++++++++++++++++Document Profile+++++++++++++++++++++
Region: Southern Africa
Issue Areas: +security/peace+
Summary Contents:
In January this year APIC issued a policy statement, noting
the need for international action to support peace in Angola
to address three simultaneous tracks: serious implementation
of sanctions against UNITA, pressure for accountability for
the use of Angola's wealth, and support for engagement of
civil society in the quest for peace. This statement is
available on the Africa Policy web site
(http://www.africafocus.org/docs00/ang0001.php>).
Two postings today contain new documents and links addressing
these issues. This posting contains several press releases
related to new developments in the implementation of
international sanctions against UNITA, as well as links to
longer recently released reports. The most important new
report, too long to be reposted here, is the UN's "Fowler
Report" on Violations of Security Council Sanctions against
UNITA (http://www.un.org/News/dh/latest/angolareport_eng.htm).
Also of interest, with additional details, in addition to the
citations in the press releases below from Global Witness and
Human Rights Watch, is the March 2000 report from Action for
Southern Africa (ACTSA), entitled "Waiting on Empty Promises:
The Human Cost of International Inaction of Angolan Sanctions"
(http://www.niza.nl/nl/campaigns/diamonds/docs/actsarep.htm).
A parallel posting concerns other current Angolan issues,
particularly accountability for oil revenues and defense of
the rights of free speech, as well as other links relevant to
peace and development in Angola.
+++++++++++++++++end profile++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
APIC Announcements and Reminders
The Africa Policy web page on Southern Africa Floods
(http://www.africapolicy.org/action/floods.htm) continues to
be updated. New documents or links added include announcement
of a new $50 million IMF loan, a U.S. congressional initiative
by members of the Congressional Black Caucus to cancel debts
of affected Southern African countries, analysis by Africa
News reporter Charlie Cobb of the slow U.S. response to the
crisis, and more.
APIC welcomes the support of readers willing to contribute to
support the continuation of these free services. To contribute
on-line or print out a membership form, go to
http://www.africapolicy.org/join.htm
Global Witness Press Releases
Information: Tel: +44 (0)20 7272 6731; Fax: +44 (0)20 7272
9425 E-mail: mail@globalwitness.demon.co.uk MOBILE: +44 (0)
7968 160 377 Web: http://www.oneworld.org/globalwitness/
Global Witness is a British based non-governmental
organisation which focuses on the links between environmental
and human rights abuses, especially the impacts of natural
resource exploitation upon countries and their people. In
December 1998 it published a report ,"A Rough Trade", which
raised issues about conflict diamonds and failures of the UN
embargo on unofficial diamonds from Angola.
Global Witness Press Release on De Beers Statement on Conflict
Goods
29 February 2000
De Beers' statement on conflict goods is a welcome first step
on a difficult journey De Beers' moves to guarantee to its
sightholders and, ultimately, to consumers that it is moving
away from its buying policies of the 1990s and will no longer
buy or supply goods from rebel armies in Africa is a very
welcome development. It shows that the company has listened to
criticism from the international community and is moving to
address consumer concern about the source of diamonds. "De
Beers has taken a lead that the rest of the diamond industry
must now follow. De Beers has clearly understood that it is no
longer acceptable to buy diamonds originating from conflict
areas and we commend this move as a major first step in the
difficult process of excluding conflict goods from the
legitimate marketplace." Said Charmian Gooch, of Global
Witness "The focus of attention must now be on the many
thousands of jewellery retailers worldwide, the key sector of
the diamond market most closely in contact with consumers, to
ensure that they also do not supply diamonds originating from
rebel held areas." There are still some points that need to be
clarified. Firstly, can De Beers give an absolute guarantee
that it will never again buy such conflict goods from rebel
areas? And secondly how will the company be able to audit its
guarantee? This is likely to be an issue because De Beers and
the Central Selling Organisation has spent decades claiming
that it has an essential role in buying just such unofficial
diamonds in order to maintain a stable world price for the
commodity.
Global Witness Press Release on Fowler Report
15th March, 2000
Global Witness welcomes report of the United Nations expert
panel into Angolan sanctions, however opportunities missed.
The naming and shaming of individuals involved in the illegal
trafficking of Angolan diamonds is welcomed as is the
criticism that the diamond industry, particularly in Antwerp,
has failed to police itself or implement meaningful controls
with regards to import and export controls. The forfeiture of
goods for those who cannot provide the legal origin of rough
goods is a necessary step and should be enacted immediately.
The recommendations do tackle some key problems but fail to
indicate a timetable for their implementation. The expert
panels are right to recommend the need for a conference to
define and set up a system of controls leading to transparency
and accountability in the diamond industry. Key to this is the
need to establish the country of origin of diamonds as this
has been a major loophole enabling the smuggling of Unita
goods via third party countries, whose documentation has acted
as a 'flag of convenience' to facilitate entry into countries
such as Belgium. The report, though focused on Angola, needs
to develop the ability of the UN to apply sanctions far more
effectively.
The report appears to sidestep the issue of De Beers'
involvement in buying Unita goods prior to the embargo. This
may have been considered to have been outside the panels
remit. This was a mistake because it is key to understanding
how Unita were able to rearm and undermine attempts at peace,
and illustrates why the international community has to take
immediate action to reform the way such conflict goods enter
into the market place. De Beers' PR machine is currently
trying to whitewash its past decade of buying on the open
market, not least it is trying to undo the admission by CEO
Gary Ralfe in October 1997 that goods of Unita origin had been
purchased by De Beers. If the company's current guarantee not
to sell conflict goods are to have any weight or long term
significance, De Beers must publicly state they will never
again buy such conflict goods.
The Angolan government has been let off lightly over its own
lack of meaningful controls within Angola, which as the report
confirms 'has greatly facilitated the smuggling of rough
diamonds, including those from Unita controlled areas' . It in
fact had a major role in undermining the initial effectiveness
of the diamond embargo. The Government of Angola needs to
clarify what improvements have been made to the structures
surrounding the new certificate of origin. The panel is right
to urge that close attention be paid to the government's
actions but should insist upon a timetable for this. It should
also call for clarification from Lev Leviev the new purchaser
of all Angola's rough production, over how he is ensuring that
Unita goods are not entering into 'legitimate' Angolan
production.
Global Witness Press Release on Israeli Diamond Industry
Immediate release: 17 March 2000
When will the Israeli diamond industry and government end
their virtual silence on the issue of conflict goods?
March 21-23 sees the meeting of the Israel 2nd International
Rough Diamond Conference in Tel Aviv. Unlike Belgium, which
stung by criticism has finally begun to institute some
constructive reforms, Israel has failed to open up and tackle
the issue of conflict goods. This is highly worrying
especially as Israel is actively trying to promote itself as
a rough diamond centre.
The industry is failing to follow the lead being set by
International Diamond Manufacturers Association and the High
Diamond Council. One has to ask the question why. Israel
specializes in cutting and polishing high value goods, just
the type that are known to originate from conflict areas such
as Angola and Sierra Leone. To date the Government of Israel
has refused to meet with Global Witness to discuss the UN
embargo and the wider issue of controls on conflict goods -
the only government ever to do so.
Global Witness urges the Government of Israel and the Israel
diamond industry to use the opportunity of the International
Rough Diamond Conference to openly discuss these issues; at
present Israel is in danger of being left behind as the rest
of the international community moves towards dealing with the
issue of conflict goods. This could be disastrous for an
already beleaguered industry as its major market is in the USA
where Congressman Tony Hall is working on legislation to
restrict the flow of conflict goods.
Global Witness believes it is time that all the major diamond
centres started to work together on the issue of controls to
deal with conflict goods, it is after all in their mutual
interest.
Global Witness Press Release on Israel
24th March 2000
FINE WORDS FROM THE ISRAEL DIAMOND INDUSTRY, BUT WHAT ARE THEY
ACTUALLY DOING....?
The recent admission by Ran Cohen, Israel's Minister of Trade
and Industry, that conflict diamonds are causes of human
suffering around the world is a belated admission of Israel's
failure to constructively tackle the issue of conflict
diamonds. This is at a stage when other key elements of the
diamond industry have finally responded to severe criticisms
and are actively searching for some potential solutions. It is
to be welcomed that the government of Israel will
'investigate ways in which Israel can help fight the war
against illicit diamond buying.'
Global Witness will like to know how the Israeli government
and diamond industry intends to 'investigate' ways in which to
help. 'Will the government of Israel and the Israel Diamond
Institute publicly state what controls and measures they
intend to put in place to ensure that conflict diamonds will
no longer enter into Israel, thus protecting the long term
future of the Israeli diamond industry," said Alex Yearsley of
Global Witness.
From: Human Rights Watch <hrwatchnyc@igc.org>
Subject: Sanctions-Busting in Angola
Date sent: Tue, 14 Mar 2000 13:54:58 -0800
Send reply to: hrwatchnyc@igc.org
Web: http://www.hrw.org
Sanctions-Busting in Angola
Human Rights Watch Backgrounder
(New York, March 14, 2000) -- The Security Council will hold
an open briefing on Angola on March 15 at 10 am. Ambassador
Robert Fowler of Canada, chair of the Council's Sanctions
Committee on Angola, will present a report on the sanctions
regime against the National Union for the Total Independence
of Angola (UNITA).
The 54-page report was put together by a ten-person
independent Panel of Experts, mandated in May 1999 to
investigate violations of the sanctions regime: the sale and
delivery of arms and military equipment to the rebels; the
provision of petroleum products to UNITA; the purchase of
diamonds mined in areas controlled by UNITA; the maintenance
of bank accounts and other financial assets of UNITA; the
maintenance of UNITA offices abroad; and travel of senior
UNITA officials and adult members of their immediate families.
Human Rights Watch published a four-year study on
sanctions-busting in Angola Unravels (in English, September
1999) and an updated edition, Angola Explicada (in Portuguese,
December 1999). Both of these reports are available on the
Human Rights Watch website at
http://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/angola/.
Human Rights Watch welcomes Fowler's report. From 1993 until
January 1999, despite the introduction of three packages of
sanctions against UNITA, the U.N. largely turned a blind eye
to their violation. Following the appointment of Robert Fowler
as chair, the Sanctions Committee has become much more active,
producing three reports with detailed recommendations.
The Fowler report contains detailed new information, including
that:
*President Eyadema of Togo plays an important role in
supporting UNITA;
*President Compaore of Burkina Faso features prominently too,
allowing Burkina Faso to be an important location for diamond
trading;
*Rwanda is an important location for gun-running and diamond
trading with UNITA. The government has full-knowledge of this
and provides protection; Libreville, Gabon has been an
important refueling location for sanctions-busting planes
after they have been inside UNITA areas;
*Most of the weapons imported by UNITA were from Bulgaria (see
Human Rights Watch April 1999 report, Money Talks, on Sofia's
exports of weapons to human rights abusers);
*The "extremely lax controls and regulations governing the
Antwerp [diamond] market facilitate and perhaps even encourage
illegal trading activity;"
*The 1999 decision by De Beers to cease buying most Angolan
rough "has made it more difficult for UNITA to sell its
diamonds thereby raising the costs to UNITA." (However, Human
Rights Watch is concerned that an Israeli firm has filled the
vacuum in February 2000 created by De Beers' decision);
*UNITA has had a general aversion for banks and normal banking
channels, although it has used some credit cards. (Human
Rights Watch has heard from Angolan government sources that
radio communications equipment was purchased by UNITA in the
U.S. and paid for by a credit card linked to an account holder
resident in the United Arab Emirates);
*Air transport are the lifeline to UNITA. The panel published
the names of a number of key figures in UNITA's transportation
support network including Jacques "Kiki" Lemaire, Victour Bout
(Air Cess/Air Pass), and Johannes Parreira (Interstate
Airways). Human Rights Watch has published more detailed
information, including a list of planes noted by the U.N. to
have visited UNITA areas in 1998. These include planes owned
by the Angolan government (See Angola Explicada).
The Fowler report makes thirty-nine recommendations, among
which:
*The Security Council should apply sanctions against leaders
and governments found to have been deliberately breaking
sanctions. These might be an embargo on arms sales for three
years, followed by three years probation;
*The end-user certificate system that prevails in many
countries is wholly inadequate to ensure against diversion
from their declared end-user. This system requires reform;
*Compliance with U.N. sanctions regimes should be among the
criteria considered by NATO and the European Union when
evaluating candidates for new membership (aimed at Bulgaria
especially);
*DNA-type analysis should be conducted on fuel samples from
petroleum industry suppliers in the Southern Africa
Development Community (SADC) region and that the results be
used to create a database for the purpose of evaluating fuel
obtained or captured from UNITA;
* Forfeiture penalties should be introduced against those who
can not provide the legal origin of rough diamonds;
*Sanctions should be applied against individuals and
enterprises discovered to be intentionally breaking U.N.
sanctions relating to UNITA diamonds. Such traders or
companies should also be put on an industry "blacklist;"
*A substantial bounty or "finders' fee percentage" could be
given to any institution, non-governmental organization, or
individual that tracks down and identifies UNITA assets that
are subject to sanction;
*Offending countries should be declared sanctions breakers;
candidacies of nationals from listed countries should not be
supported for senior positions within the U.N. and
international organizations should be discouraged from holding
conferences and meetings in listed countries (a recommendation
aimed at Togo, which is an incoming chair of the Organization
of African Unity).
The challenge is now to see the panel's imaginative
recommendations enacted in practice. Human Rights Watch
believes that a smaller panel of independent experts should be
commissioned to monitor and encourage the implementation of
the sanctions regimes against UNITA, and that Robert Fowler
should be mandated to report back to the Security Council
prior to the end of his mandate on January 1, 2001.
This material is being reposted for wider distribution by the
Africa Policy Information Center (APIC). APIC's primary
objective is to widen international policy debates around
African issues, by concentrating on providing accessible
policy-relevant information and analysis usable by a wide
range of groups and individuals.
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