§ Lord Aveburyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether, in the course of their investigations into the alleged violation of Security Council Resolution 1132 by a United Kingdom-based company, Sandline International:
and whether they will place copies of these and other documents examined in the course of this inquiry in the Library of the House. [HL1760]
- (a) they have obtained a copy of the end-user certificate for the weapons and ammunition imported into Sierra Leone;
- (b) they have obtained copies of contracts or agreements to supply weapons and ammunition to Sierra Leone during the period of military government;
- (c) they have obtained, from the Canadian authorities, copies of documents presented to the court in Vancouver BC in connection with the application by the Thai authorities to extradite Mr. Rakesh Saxena;
- (d) they have obtained copies of evidence given to the Papua New Guinea judicial inquiry into the activities of Sandline International in that country, which refer also to Sandline's activities in Sierra Leone;
- (e) they have obtained information from the Bulgarian authorities about the supply of weapons and ammunition to Sierra Leone or Nigeria;
§ Lord McIntosh of HaringeyCustoms and Excise conducted an investigation for the purpose of determining whether criminal proceedings would be appropriate. It would be inappropriate for Customs to disclose details about material gathered for that purpose.
In his statement to the House of Commons on 18 May (Official Report, Commons, cols. 598–656), the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs announced the investigation by Sir Thomas Legg KCB QC into allegations about government involvement with the supply of arms to Sierra Leone by UK citizens and firms. The Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary intends to publish the report of the investigation.