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The following is an unauthorized version of the Report of the Panel of Experts to the United Nations on Sierra Leone.
This is not the official report. The official report has not yet been released. The report posted here is subject to change by the sanctions committee.

 

VIII. RECOMMENDATIONS ON WEAPONS, TRANSPORT

AND AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL

256. The Panel strongly recommends that all aircraft operating with an EL-registration number and based at airports other than in Liberia, should be grounded immediately, and until the provisions in the following recommendation are met.. This includes planes based in Sharjah and other airports in the United Arab Emirates, in The Congo Brazzaville, in the Democratic Republic of The Congo, Gabon, Angola, Rwanda and Kenya. Airport authorities and operators of planes registered in Liberia over the past five years should be advised to keep all their documentation, log books, operating licences, way bills and cargo manifests for inspection.

257. It is further recommended that all operators of aircraft on the Liberian register, wherever they are based, be required to file their airworthiness and operating licences and their insurance documents with the International Civil Aviation Organization's headquarters in Montreal, including documentation on inspections carried out during the past five years. The aircraft of all operators failing to do so should be grounded permanently. Aircraft that do not meet ICAO standards should be grounded permanently.

258. The Security Council, through ICAO, IATA and the WCO should create a centralized information bulletin, making the list of grounded Liberian aircraft known to all airports in the world.

259. Burkina Faso has recently recommended that the UN Security Council supervise a proposed mechanism that would monitor all arms imports into its territory, and their use, for a period of three years. The Panel endorses this proposal. The Panel also recommends that under such a mechanism, all imports of weapons and related matériel into Burkina Faso over the past five years be investigated. The Panel further recommends that any state having exported weapons during this period to Burkina Faso should investigate the actual end-use of these weapons, and report their findings to the Security Council and to the Program for Coordination and Assistance for Security and Development (PCASED) established under the ECOWAS Moratorium.

260. In view of the sanctions-breaking cases investigated by the Panel and the information gathered in the region, it is recommended that the Security Council encourage the reinforcement of the ECOWAS Programme for Coordination and Assistance for Security and Development (PCASED) with support from Interpol and the World Customs Organisation. PCASED should have an active capacity to monitor compliance with arms embargoes and the circulation of illicit weapons in the region.

261. The Security Council should encourage ECOWAS member states to enter into binding regional arrangements between states with common frontier zones, to initiate an effective, common and internationally agreed system of control that includes the recording, licensing, collection and destruction of small arms and light weapons. These bilateral arrangements can be promoted and facilitated through ECOWAS and through the Programme for Coordination and Assistance for Security and Development. A common standard and the management of a database on significant cases of smuggling and sanctions busting in the region could be developed by Interpol. The IWETS (International Weapons and Explosives Tracking System) programme of Interpol could be used for the purpose of tracking the origin of the weaponry.

262. In this report, the Panel has identified certain arms brokers and intermediaries responsible for supplying weapons to the RUF. A project should be developed to profile these arms brokers with the cooperation of Interpol. Similarly, considering the importance of air transport in the sanctions busting, profiles of major cargo companies involved in such practices should be developed, with a view to exploring ways and means of further strengthening the implementation of sanctions.

Responsibility for the flood of weapons into West Africa lies with producing countries as well as those that trans-ship and use them. The Security Council must find ways of restricting the export of weapons, especially from eastern Europe, into conflict areas under regional or UN embargoes. 'Naming and shaming' is a first step, but consideration could be given to an embargo on weapons exports from specific producer countries, just as diamonds have been embargoed from producer countries until internationally acceptable certification schemes have been developed.

263. Current Security Council arms embargoes should be amended to include a clear ban on the provision of military and paramilitary training.

264. Countries in West Africa that are not signatories to the 1989 UN Convention on the Recruitment, Use, Training and Financing of Mercenaries should be encouraged to do so.

265. An analysis of the firearms recovered from rebels should be undertaken in cooperation with Interpol, and its International Weapons and Explosives Tracking System. This would help in further identifying those involved in the RUF supply line.

266. The World Customs Organization should be asked to share with the Security Council its views on creating adequate measures for better monitoring and detection of weapons and related matériel to non-state actors and countries under an arms embargo.

267. Consideration should be given to the development of special training programs on sanctions monitoring for national law enforcement and security agencies, as well as airport and customs personnel in West Africa, and the development of a manual or manuals on the monitoring of sanctions at airports for worldwide use by airport authorities and police services.

268. Consideration should be given to placing specialised United Nations monitors at major airports in the region (and perhaps further afield), focussing on sensitive areas and coordinating their findings with other airports. This would enable better identification of suspect aircraft. It would also create a deterrent against illicit trafficking, and would generate the information needed to identify planes, owners and operators violating UN sanctions and arms embargoes.

269. The Security Council should consider ways in which air traffic control and surveillance in West Africa can be improved, with a view to curtailing the illicit movement of weapons. Possibilities include:

 

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