Tightening UN sanctions

While welcoming the report of the UN's Panel of Experts on sanctions against the Angolan rebel movement UNITA, the civil
liberties group Human Rights Watch has made a number of recommendations to improve the effectiveness of the sanctions regime.

In a briefing paper released on Monday ahead of a UN Security Council debate on the Panel of Experts report, Human Rights Watch said the Panel's findings "includes an imaginative set of recommendations and some weighty new information on embargo violations".

However, "the Experts Panel suffered from the lack of a centralised office to coordinate its work; the failure to involve Interpol in its efforts; and the failure of member states to share intelligence with the panel".

The rights group added that the Panel did not attempt to take serial numbers from weapons observed in Angola in February, and did not arrange for the full transcription of interviews with UNITA defectors. The team did not visit the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo where UNITA is active and "did not closely examine Israel", which plays an important role in the
international diamond trade. Neither did the Panel's report publish detailed findings on UNITA finances and the brokers who flew supplies to the rebels, Human Rights Watch said.

"The sanctions regime on Angola provides an opportunity to develop smarter, targeted embargoes regimes, and governments can and should be more forthcoming in their support," the rights group said. It recommends that "within six months, the Security Council should take specific action against countries, companies and individuals named in the Panel's report. A new five-member-plus Panel should also be appointed to carry forward the work of
investigating embargo violations."

Human Rights Watch also endorsed recommendations made by the chairman of the Angolan Sanction Committee, Canadian ambassador Robert Fowler. These include reform of the porous end-user certification system on arms sales; a DNA-type database on fuel available in the southern Africa region; forfeiture penalties against those who cannot prove the legal origin of rough diamonds; a "finders fee" for information that leads to the discovery of UNITA's assets; and a blacklist of sanctions-breaking countries that prevents their nationals from holding office in international organisations.

Related Sites:

View the UN Panel of Experts report at:
http://www.un.org/News/dh/latest/angolareport_eng.htm

View Human Rights Watch report on UNITA sanctions-busting at:
http://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/angola/

Angola Peace Monitor at:
http://www.anc.org.za/angola/

UNITA at:
http://www.kwacha.org/