Letter -- Termination of Emergency with Respect to the Actions and Policies of Former Liberian President Charles Taylor

Dear Mr. Speaker: (Dear Mr. President:)

Consistent with subsection 204(b) of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, 50 U.S.C. 1703(b), I hereby report that I have issued an Executive Order that terminates the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13348 of July 22, 2004, and revokes that Executive Order.  I have determined that the situation that gave rise to this national emergency has been significantly altered by Liberia's advances to promote democracy and the orderly development of its political, administrative, and economic institutions.

The President issued Executive Order 13348 to deal with the unusual and extraordinary threat to the foreign policy of the United States posed by the actions and policies of former Liberian President Charles Taylor and other persons, in particular their unlawful depletion of Liberian resources and their removal from Liberia and secreting of Liberian funds and property.  Executive Order 13348 helped to ensure the preservation of Liberia's resources, property, and funds and to deprive certain individuals of funding and arms for conflicts in West Africa, consistent with U.S. national security and foreign policy.  Executive Order 13348 also implemented the United States asset freeze obligations under United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1532. 

With the advancements in Liberia including presidential elections in 2005 and 2011, which were internationally recognized as freely held; the 2012 conviction of, and 50-year prison sentence for, former Liberian President Charles Taylor and the affirmation on appeal of that conviction and sentence; and the diminished ability of those connected to former Liberian President Charles Taylor to undermine Liberia's progress, and the United Nations Security Council's termination of asset freeze obligations on September 2, 2015, in UNSCR 2237, there is no further need for the blocking of assets imposed by Executive Order 13348.  For these reasons, I have determined that it is necessary to terminate the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13348 and revoke that order.

I am enclosing a copy of the Executive Order I have issued.

Sincerely,

BARACK OBAMA