RIGHTS-SIERRA LEONE: Mary Robinson’s Visit Highlights Abuses

By Lansana Fofana Reprint | | Print |

Lansana Fofana

FREETOWN, Jun 29 1999 (IPS) - The images of amputees shown on the television screens around the world following a visit to Sierra Leone by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, reflect the magnitude of rights abuses in the west African country.

Robinson spent two days in the capital Freetown, a city filled with limbless amputees — civilians whose legs, arms, noses and lips have been slashed off by rebels, using machetes — last week.

According to local human rights activists, more than 700 civilians, living in Freetown, have had their body parts violently amputated.

The rape of young girls and women is also a trademark of the rebels when they invaded Freetown in January. More than 500 teenage girls were reportedly gang-raped, by rebels. Many are currently receiving counselling and medical services.

Robinson, who was accompanied by former President of Botswana, Quett Masire, left Sierra Leone on Friday, after a two- day visit.

“The scale of human rights abuses is greater in Sierra Leone than in Kosovo,” she told journalists. “The international community has not given the due consideration to the human rights situation in Sierra Leone and this smacks of double standards.”

The conflict in Sierra Leone erupted in 1991 when former army corporal Foday Sankoh launched a bush war to overthrow the government of then President Joseph Momoh.

Since then, more than 30,000 people have been killed in the conflict, while an estimated quarter of the country’s 4.5 million people are scattered as refugees in neighbouring countries.

In its campaign against the government in Freetown, the rebels of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), who operate mostly in the countryside, have targeted civilian populations sometimes displacing whole villages.

RUF and government delegations are currently meeting in the Togolese capital of Lome to try to end the conflict in the country.

Robionson says she’ll use her visit “to express support and solidarity for the victims of human rights abuses.”

The visit has sparked debate about whether or not the perpetrators of the abuses should go unpunished. Some rights groups have called for the setting up of a Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission in Sierra Leone.

Some even advocate the trial before a war crimes tribunal, of the architects of the abuses. “Although we need peace and reconciliation, these cannot be achieved if the element of justice for victims is discarded,” says Mani Sorie of the Sierra Leone Human Rights Coalition.

The Forum for Democratic Initiatives, a local rights group, say they “are worried that, after the departure of Robinson, there may be no further assurances that our case has been heard.”

Last week, a spokesperson for the UN Secretary General said the UN body has not ruled out the setting up of a war crimes tribunal, for the RUF and their allies, for crimes committed against humanity.

The London-based human rights watchdog, Amnesty International, has also asked for inclusion of justice, for victims of gross abuses, in any peace deal reached between the government and rebels.

Robinson’s delegation has been hearing testimonies from victims of abuses, some of which are horrific. She is expected to present her findings to the UN Secretary General’s office, soon after the visit.

“Let her tell the world our story. That we have been deprived and incapacitated. I am encouraged by her visit,” says Tamba Allie, a 18-year-old amputee.