Assets of the former dictator Mobutu Sese Seko

Motion for a Resolution

16 June 1997

Doc. 7846

presented by Mr Staes and others

The Assembly,

1.Referring to the considerable wealth which the former dictator of Zaire, Mobutu Sese Seko, built up with funds that were mainly intended for the country he ruled;

2.Noting that not only the former dictator himself but also many members of his family and entourage built up large personal fortunes in this way;

3.Realising that most of the funds concerned have by now been spent, transformed into anonymous financial holdings through complex and virtually untraceable transactions, or, indeed, laundered into legal assets;

4.Believing, nevertheless, that some of the funds concerned, especially those invested in real estate, can still be recovered;

5.Also believing that, with goodwill on the part of the political and financial institutions involved, some of the funds can be recovered and restored to their rightful owners, the people of the Congo;

6.Aware that this will be a difficult process given the legal complications and the reactions likely to be encountered;

7.Referring in this respect to the various avenues which do not require the new Congolese government to make official requests to the various member states of the Council of Europe or treaties permitting the confiscation and restitution of property to exist between the states concerned, in particular the fact that each government can, of its own accord, instruct its legal authorities to start proceedings against the Mobutu clan on the basis of domestic legislation or of any international treaties prohibiting money laundering which it has ratified;

8.Recalling, in particular, the initiative taken by Switzerland, which, on 21 May last, froze the assets of Mobutu and of 97 members of his family and entourage and blocked the bank accounts of 31 of them;

9.Stressing that there can be no doubt that most of the assets concerned belong to the Congolese people and that theft and corruption have therefore taken place;

10.Referring in this respect to the various official positions which have been adopted in Europe regarding the fight against corruption, organised crime and money laundering, including, in particular, decisions taken by the Assembly itself;

11.Believing that the total sum concerned stands at between 150 and 180 billion Belgian francs;

12.Calls on all member states of the Council of Europe to arrange for their legal authorities to confiscate all the personal property and real estate of the former dictator Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire and of the members of his family and entourage which are shown to stem from money-laundering operations, fraud or corruption or from funds intended for the people of the former Zaire which European or international institutions had entrusted to the country's government;

13.Asks the governments of the member states to confiscate these assets and to return them to the Congolese authorities as soon as genuinely democratic elections have taken place under the auspices of international observers.

Signed: (1)

Staes, Belgium, EPPUrbain, Belgium, SOC

Bribosia-Picard, Belgium, EPP    Van der Maelen, Belgium, SOC

de Puig, Spain, SOC    Varela, Spain, LDR

Fehr, Switzerland, LDR    Verspaget, Netherlands, SOC

Maximus, Belgium, SOC    Weyts, Belgium, EPP

Stepova, Czech Republic, SOC    Zingeris, Lithuania, EDG

Terborg, Germany, SOC

Note: 1SOC: Socialist Group

EPP: Group of the European People's Party

EDG: European Democratic Group

LDR: Liberal, Democratic and Reformers Group

UEL: Group of the Unified European Left

NR: Not registered in any political group