United Nations - The U.N. Security Council warned Sierra Leone's government on Wednesday against over-reacting to security threats after a U.N. envoy questioned why it bought millions of dollars worth of assault weapons to equip police ahead of a November election.
Outgoing U.N. envoy Michael von der Schulenburg told the council that according to a leaked shipping document the weapons bought by Sierra Leone in January included heavy machine guns and grenade launchers and the purchase was “of great concern.”
The 15-nation council acknowledged a statement by Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma last week defending the $5 million shipment of arms to equip a recently enlarged paramilitary wing of the its police as a routine purchase.
“The council underscores the importance for Sierra Leone's national authorities to respond proportionately to threats to the security of all citizens in Sierra Leone,” it said in a statement.
“The council calls upon the government to ensure that its security forces remain committed to upholding applicable international law.”
The Sierra Leone government said the arms purchase had “nothing to do with the coming presidential, parliamentary and local government elections” and was intended to defend its national security and equip its military on a peacekeeping mission in Sudan and an expected mission in Somalia.
The Security Council statement came after Schulenburg urged the Sierra Leone government to clarify the weapons shipment and explain its intended use.
Schulenburg left Sierra Leone in February, saying his posting had been cut short by the United Nations under pressure from Koromo, in a move the departing envoy said would be seen as “opening the door to manipulating the election outcome in his favour.”
A spokesman for Koroma denied asking the United Nations to remove the outspoken Schulenburg.
Sierra Leone is recovering from an 11-year civil war that killed some 50,000 people and finally came to an end in 2002, after British military intervention stiffened a floundering U.N. peacekeeping mission.
U.N. troops withdrew from Sierra Leone in 2005 but the world body retains a mission of about 200 people with a mandate to help ensure the coming election is peaceful and credible.
“The Council calls on the government of Sierra Leone, all political parties as well as other stakeholders to intensify their efforts to foster an environment that is conducive to the holding of peaceful, transparent, free and fair elections,” it said. - Reuters