Rights group says Guinea flouted UN arms embargo

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Wednesday accused Guinea of violating a United Nations arms embargo on Liberia by supplying weapons to Liberian rebels who launched intensive attacks on the capital, Monrovia, in July. In a paper titled: 'Weapons Sanctions, Military Supplies and Human Suffering: Illegal Arms flow to Liberia and the June-July 2003 shelling of Monrovia', HRW documented the assault on Monrovia by the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) rebel group as they fought forces loyal to former president Charles Taylor. HRW said the LURD indiscriminately shelled civilian areas, killing scores of them and injuring at least 2,000 others. The briefing paper was released a day before the UN Security Council discusse a report by a UN panel of experts investigating sanctions-bursting in Liberia. The panel has repeatedly raised suspicions about Guinea's role in the Liberian civil war. HRW said it investigated the supply of the mortar rounds fired by LURD, which accounted for many of the casualties, and found that the rebel offensive was possible only because fresh arms supplies arrived through Guinea. It said Guinea's Ministry of Defence ordered mortars and other ammunition from Iran and arranged their onward transport to LURD. "Guinea has blood on its hands," Lisa Misol, arms researcher with HRW said. "By supplying munitions to the Liberian rebels, it not only breached an arms embargo, but also became an accomplice in egregious violations of the laws of war." One of the areas of central Monrovia worst hit in the shelling was the United States embassy compound, where thousands of displaced people sought refuge. HRW said the US government traced some of the mortar rounds to Guinea, which is a recipient of US military aid. HRW has called for the suspension of US and other military assistance to Guinea, in light of its longstanding ties to LURD and reports that arms continue to flow across the Guinea border for use by the rebels despite the embargo. "It's appalling that Guinea - a current member of the Security Council - has flouted the arms embargo on Liberia," Misol said. "The Security Council must hold Guinea accountable for this major breach." It also noted that the former government of Taylor and Liberia's second rebel group the Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL), both of which like LURD had dismal human rights records, were able to obtain weapons despite the arms embargo often with the help of regional allies. In August a flight carrying a shipment of arms for Taylor's government was intercepted in Monrovia. The seized container was recently opened and more than 22 tons of small arms and munitions were found, HRW said. "The Liberian example shows that arms embargoes are only as good as their enforcement," Misol said. "Liberia's fragile peace depends on a reinvigorated response to sanctions-bursting on all sides," she added. A peace agreement was signed in August following Taylor's resignation and exit into exile in Nigeria. A transitional government led by former businessman Gyude Bryant was installed on 14 October to steer the country for two years to elections in 2005.