Peace agreement concluded: UNOMIL mandate extended.

All the warring factions in Liberia concluded on 21 December in Accra, Ghana, a peace agreement, which calls for a cessation of hostilities as of 28 December, the seating of a new transitional government within two weeks, disarmament of combatants, and the eventual holding of elections.

In a letter to Ghana's President Jerry John Rawlings, the Secretary-General said it was with great satisfaction that he had learned about the conclusion of the "significant" agreement. The letter, made public on 23 December, stated: "This agreement, after long and ardous negotiations, would not have been possible without your personal determination and persistence." He cited Mr. Rawlings' "tireless efforts to seek reconciliation among the people of Liberia, an indispensable prerequisite for the development of peace and stability in the region". The Secretary-General hoped that all Liberian parties would abide by their commitments and that the agreement would "herald an era of peace, national reconciliation and prosperity in Liberia".

On 22 December, it was reported that the UN Observer Mission in Liberia (UNOMIL) had about 80 military observers reduced by the Secretary-General, with the Security Council's approval, from an authorized strength of 368 in September, when the situation in the country had so badly deteriorated that they could not effectively carry out their observation functions.

On 21 October, the Security Council extended UNOMIL's mandate until 13 January 1995. It also demanded that all factions strictly respect the status of personnel from the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Observer Group (ECO-MOG) and UNOMIL, and refrain from any violence or intimidation against them.

Widespread killings

In unanimously adopting resolution 950 (1994), the Council condemned the widespread killings of civilians and other violations of international humanitarian law by the factions, and the detention and maltreatment of UNOMIL observers, ECOMOG soldiers, humanitarian relief workers and other international personnel. It demanded that all factions strictly abide by applicable rules of international humanitarian law.

The Council called on all factions to immediately cease hostilities and agree to a timetable for disarmament and demobilization, and further called on the Liberian National Transitional Government (LNTG) and all Liberians to seek political accommodation and national reconciliation. It also called on States to strictly comply with the general and complete embargo on all deliveries of weapons and military equipment to Liberia imposed by Council resolution 788 (1992) under Chapter VII of the UN Charter.

The Council welcomed the Secretary-General's intention to send a high-level mission to consult with ECOWAS member States on how the international community could best assist the peace process in Liberia, and recognized that circumstances warranted his decision to reduce UNOMIL's strength until such time as he reported improvement in the situation on the ground, in particular the security situations, to the Council.

Peace process 'stalled'

In a 14 October seventh progress report (S/1994/1167), the Secretary-General recommended that the Council extend the Mission's mandate for two months to allow time for a high-level mission's consultation with the ECOWAS Chairman, President Rawlings of Ghana, regarding the future roles and responsibilities of UNOMIL and ECOMOG and how the international community could best assist Liberia in halting hostilities. (A high-level UN mission led by Assistant Secretary-General Lansana Kouyate of the Department of Political Affairs visited Liberia and ECOWAS member States from 18 November to 2 December.)

The Secretary-General urged the LNTG, the factions and the people of Liberia to focus on political accommodation. He reported that the peace process had "stalled" and the military situation remained "confused". The humanitarian situation was characterized by the rural population's suffering, large-scale displacement, indiscriminate killing, torture, rape, destruction of property and looting. He called for rigorous implementation of the arms embargo on Liberia and stressed that continued hostilities would affect the subregion's stability.

Akosombo agreement

According to the Secretary-General's report, ECOWAS Chairman Rawlings had convened a meeting of faction leaders at Akosombo, Ghana, which had culminated in the signing on 12 September of the Akosombo Agreement, supplementing the Cotonou agreement.

[UNOMIL had been established by Security Council resolution 866 (1993) of 22 September 1993 to implement the Cotonou agreement. That peace agreement to end the civil strife in Liberia was signed on 25 July 1993 by the three parties to the Liberian conflict: the Interim Government of National Unity of Liberia (IGNU); the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) and United Liberation Movement for Democracy in Liberia (ULIMO)].

Signing the Akosombo Agreement were Charles Taylor, leader of the NPFL, Alhaji Kromah of the ULIMO-Kroma and General Hezekiah Bowen, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL). A delegation of the General Roosevelt Johnson faction (ULIMO-Johnson) also attended the meeting and accepted the agreement later. The Liberia Peace Council (LPC) and the Lofa Defence Force (LDF) had declined invitations to attend.

The Secretary-General said the Akosombo Agreement stated that all decisions of the five-member Council of State should be made on the basis of simple majority, as opposed to the consensus provided for in the Cotonou agreement, which had left the Council unable to reach decisions. Nominees to the Council of State would be changed, with each of the signatories to the agreement appointing one new member. The remaining two members, representing unarmed Liberians, would each be appointed by the Liberian National Conference and jointly by ULIMO and NPFL. Under the agreement, LNTG would conclude a status-of-forces agreement with ECOWAS.

According to the Secretary-General, the Liberian National Conference--a citizen's initiative convened from 24 August to 3 October to deliberate on aspects of the peace process--and the Akosombo Agreement reaffirmed the Cotonou agreement as the only framework for restoring peace and ensuing good governance, and called for a more central role for LNTG in its implementation. Both also called for an immediate cease-fire and for the Council of State to quickly adopt its rules of procedure, and for the Transitional Legislative Assembly to be expanded by an additional 13 persons from each of Liberia's counties.

The most significant divergence between the Conference resolutions and the Akosombo Agreement's terms was that the Conference called for retaining existing members on the Council of State, conferring upon its Chairman the functions of head of State, while the Agreement permitted the factions to review the status of their appointees and change the current membership. While both called for elections to take place around October 1995, the Conference proposed that the absolute majority system be retained for electing the President, Vice-President and Senators, with a change to proportional representation for the House of Representatives.

Military situation

The Secretary-General said fighting was likely to persist within NPFL and with other factions until control of Gbarnga--a town in the central region--was consolidated.

In July 1994, a coalition of AFL, LPC, ULIMO-Johnson and NPFL breakaway ministers had been formed to defeat NPFL's Charles Taylor and capture Gbarnga. Upon the departure of Charles Taylor on 6 September to attend the Akosombo meeting, the ULIMO-Kromah faction had attacked Gbarnga and seized Taylor's headquarters on 8 September. The following day, 43 unarmed UN military observers and six non-governmental organization (NGO) personnel had been detained by NPFL.

On 14 September, 33 military observers had been released. That same day, an ECOMOG contingent from the United Republic of Tanzania had been ambushed by ULIMO-Johnson elements as it had attempted to move from Gbarnga six UNOMIL military observers and six NGO personnel to Monrovia. Three Tanzanian soldiers had been killed, seven wounded and four captured. UNOMIL had been able to airlift UN, NGO and some ECOMOG personnel to Monrovia.

By 18 September, all military observers and NGO personnel had been released after having been beaten and terrorized, the Secretary-General reported. NPFL had retained all of UNOMIL's transport, communications and other equipment. Given ECOMOG's inability to provide security, UNOMIL was unable to carry out its mandate. As a result, all UNOMIL team sites had been evacuated except for those in the Monrovia area.

On 20 December, the General Assembly called upon the international community and intergovernmental organizations to provide Liberia with assistance for the repatriation and resettlement of Liberian refugees and the rehabilitation of combatants. It appealed to the international community to provide adequate assistance to programmes identified by the Secretary-General.