UNMIL/KPCS Helping Liberia to Lift Sanctions

Alan Doss, the special representative of the secretary-general of the UN recently met with representatives of the Kimberley Process Scheme to discuss how Liberia can achieve compliance with the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme.

During his meeting with Mark Van Bockstael, the chair of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) Working Group of Diamond Experts & Technical issues and Dr. Leslie Wright, KPCS consulting geologist, Doss said that Liberians are "anxious to get the sanctions lifted so that people are not deprived of a legitimate source of income.”

He added that Liberia could only achieve compliance with the help of the international community. Only with their aid will the government of Liberia be able to put in place mechanisms to enable the Security Council to lift their sanctions.

Doss said that the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) will continue to provide air support for surveillance of mining areas. He also said that UNMIL is prepared to aid the Land, Mines and Energy Ministry map mining areas. Van Bockstael emphasized that Liberia needs to put in place a tracking and internal control system, which would help to identify smuggled diamonds.

The KPCS delegation is helping the Liberian government achieve the benchmarks for KPCS compliance and eventual membership. This is a necessary step to lift the UN Security Council sanctions on the export of Liberian rough diamonds. These sanctions have been in place since 2001 and are reviewed by the Security Council every six months, most recently in December 2005.