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Verification/Monitoring Mechanism – 1999

UN or international verification was in place prior to the 1999 Lomé Agreement. The Security Council Resolution of July 13, 1998 (S/RES/1181) had established the United Nations Observer Mission in Sierra Leone (UNOSMIL). The 1999 Lomé Peace agreement had specific provisions for UN involvement, which led to the provisional extension of the mission. The mission was initially authorized to have 70 military observers, a 15-person medical unit and 5 civilian police advisers. There was also a provision for 50 international civilian personnel and 48 locally recruited staff. A maximum of 192 military observers, 15 other military personnel and a two person medical team, supported by international and local civilian staff, were deployed in October 1999. The Secretary General submitted additional recommendations on the overall activities of the UN in Sierra Leone after discussions with the parties, including discussion of the mandates and structure of UN peacekeeping in the area. On August 20, 1999, the Security Council passed a resolution (S/RES/1260) authorizing the provisional expansion of the observer mission.¹

The Security Council passed a resolution on October 22, 1999 (S/RES/1270) authorizing the deployment of the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), which expanded the observer and verification role of UNOMSIL to a peacekeeping role. Subsequently, the resolution terminated the observer mission. UNAMSIL had an authorized capacity, “with a maximum of 6,000 military personnel, including 260 military observers, to assist the Government and the parties in carrying out provisions of the Lomé peace agreement. At the same time, the Council decided to terminate UNOMSIL.”²

As provided for in the Lomé Agreement, there was a new six-point mandate for ECOMOG operations in Sierra Leone, set forth by the Federal Government of Nigeria on July 8, 1999. The six points of the mandate are: reconstruction; disarmament; demobilization; integration of the citizenry; training of the Sierra Leonean Armed Forces; and a provision of security for VIPs in the post- war country.³

However, ECOMOG troops were withdrawn from Sierra Leone in September 1999.⁴ The first batch of 498 Nigerian troops was withdrawn on September 2, 1999.⁵

The West African Peacekeeping Force (ECOMOG) in Sierra Leone stopped the withdrawal of troops following renewed tensions between the former military junta leader, Johnny Paul Koroma, and rebel leader, Foday Sankoh. “A senior ECOMOG official said in Freetown on Saturday that they suspended the pullout of Nigerian forces, the backbone of the peacekeepers, following an appeal by Sierra Leone’s President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah and the United Nations. Some 2,000 Nigerian troops have already left the country.”⁶

1. “United Nations Observer Mission in Sierra Leone- UNOMSIL,” http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/missions/past/unomsil/Unomsil.htm, accessed October 10, 2010.
2. “Sierra Leone-UNAMSIL-Background,” http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/missions/past/unamsil/background.html, accessed October 10, 2010.
3. “Sierra Leone; ECOMOG’s new role revealed in Nigeria,” Africa News, July 9, 1999.
4. “Sierra Leone; Kabbah, Obasanjo discuss Ecomog withdrawal,” Africa News, September 3, 1999.
5. “NIGERIA: FIRST BATCH OF ECOMOG CONTINGENT RETURNS FROM SIERRA LEONE,” BBC Monitoring Africa — Political, September 3, 1999.
6. “ECOMOG halts withdrawal of troops from Sierra Leone,” Deutsche Presse-Agentur, September 4, 1999.