UN Sanctions Reform - The Watson Institute for International Studies

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Workshop on UN Sanctions 16-17 July 2004 oversee the implementation of the resolution and provides for the creation of a panel of experts to explore the political and economic sources of the conflict. The Economy of Arcadia In recent years the economic chaos caused by the civil war resulted in a lack of GDP growth. However, it remains the case that, consistent with trends since colonization, the economy of Arcadia is heavily dependent on natural resources. According to the most recent estimates, Arcadia exports about $600 million of commodities annually. About 70.5% of workers are involved in agriculture, mostly small-scale family farms. 10.8% are involved with providing services, and 4.5% work in industry. Arcadia’s most common exports are timber (which accounts for over 50% of total exports), iron ore, rubber, and coffee. Under Simmons, the two largest trading partners have been the United States and the European Union. Defense expenditures were 2.9% of GDP in 2002, the last year for which figures are available. Of particular interest is the role of the timber industry in the Arcadian conflict. Arcadia’s largest and most valuable export is tropical hardwood timber. As noted above, the Simmons years have been characterized by a general and non-specific suspicion that the President, his family and their associates within the Woonsocket bureaucracy have benefited personally from government deals to open Arcadian forests up to foreign timber companies. Indeed, President Simmons has always been able to marshal the numbers in the Arcadian Parliament to avoid an inquiry into a series of deals, over the course of a decade, granting large concessions to certain foreign firms. Analogously, van Dam has significant covert interests in Tivertonian timber. He has reportedly accumulated huge personal wealth, some of which is kept in a variety of offshore banks and is used for arms purchases and other RBL expenditures. Members of van Dam’s extended family, now dispersed throughout the region and the world, manage many of the offshore accounts. Former RBL combatants and sympathizers abroad maintain illicit timber and arms networks. Tellingly, van Dam’s cousin John is responsible for the security of Port Tiverton, where shipping activities are shrouded in secrecy. In particular, weapons seized by UNMIA indicate that international commodities trader and rogue transportation magnate, Paul Armstrong, may be instrumental in arranging shipments of arms to the RBL. Armstrong is thought to have utilized forged documentation to purchase arms in Europe and divert them from their stated destination to RBL-controlled territory. He operates from Thailand, where his airline, AirARMS, is based. AirARMS is believed to have been the carrier for most shipments of illegal weapons to RBL. Maritime authorities in neighboring countries have noted an increase in the activity of his small fleet of sea vessels in and around the Gulf of Thailand. 23
Workshop on UN Sanctions 16-17 July 2004 Recent findings of the Expert Panel Pursuant to resolution 1648(2004), the first Panel of Experts report (completed in June 2005) provided preliminary findings about the exploitation of natural resources by both government and rebel troops for personal enrichment and to fund the conflict. The second report (dated December 2005) has just been released. While the research for this report was mostly conducted prior to the recent escalation of the conflict, the report confirms that: • The RBL is harvesting timber in Tiverton in violation of Arcadian domestic law; • Timber revenues have been used by the RBL to acquire arms; • Armstrong is deeply implicated in both the export of RBL-harvested timber and the supply of arms to RBL: his planes and ships have been seen arriving in and departing from Tiverton; • Even prior to the recent implementation of the “zero tolerance” policy, the brutality of government forces, especially those of Rajiv Vohra, matches that of the rebels; • The personal interests of Arcadian officials (especially Newman and Vohra) in timber exploitation is more widespread than previously acknowledged (although the Panel is not able to confirm suspicions regarding Simmons’ involvement); • Elements of the Arcadian Armed Forces are harvesting timber outside of Tiverton in violation of Arcadian domestic laws; • Other, second tier commanders within the Arcadian Armed Forces are being offered timber concessions to reward military victories; • There is evidence that Newman and Vohra have endeavored to falsify end-user certificates and that future partnerships in logging operations have been used in an effort to induce cooperation from neighboring states; • Arcadian Air Force planes have been increasingly sighted in offshore locations. Instructions The Member States of the Security Council are unanimous that a strong and effective response to these flagrant violations of human rights and the neutrality of UN observers is required. Resolution 1713 is to impose targeted sanctions against parties involved in the conflict in Arcadia. That resolution is partially drafted (see attached), but a number of important issues remain to be decided. You are meeting to complete the drafting. In doing so, you may draw upon the Interlaken, Bonn-Berlin and Stockholm Process manuals and past resolutions of the Security Council. Please address the following questions: 24
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UN Sanctions Reform - The Watson Institute for International Studies

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