By Lansana Fofana
FREETOWN, Sep 28 2001 (IPS)

The recent approval of the setting of an independent special court for Sierra Leone, by the United Nations, has stirred controversy — sometimes negatively impacting the disarmament and demobilisation of former combatants in the country.

The mandate of the special court is to try those believed to bear the greatest responsibility for crimes committed against humanity during the course of the decade-long civil conflict.

Those who will face the court have not yet been named, but they include members of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebel movement.

“We do not even understand what the special court is all about, whether it would not be manipulated by the government,” remarks Gibril Massaquoi, spokesperson of the RUF.

He says the court would be used to witch-hunt the RUF and therefore called for its neutrality. “We know that the pro- government militia fighters, as well as the army committed atrocities during the war so they too should face the court,” he says.

The request for setting up the special court was made by the government of Sierra Leone but funds for its creation are still being sought. The UN Secretary General Kofi Annan recently reminded donor countries to honour their pledges for contributing to set up the court. It seems though that the money is still not there.

While everyone waits anxiously for the special court and what form it would take, there has been mounting condemnation of its timing. Many fear that it would affect the ongoing disarmament and demobilisation process.

Political analyst, Mike Johnson asks, “how do you expect the combatants to give up their arms when they are constantly told that they would be tried for war crimes?”

“This is counter-productive,” he says.

Each time the issue of the special court comes up, ex- combatants, especially those from the RUF express concern. “Do I give up my gun just so that I be tied, no way”, a young FUF combatant says.

In place of the special court, some are advocating for a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) along the lines of South Africa. This is included in the Lome Peace Accord of 1999 that formally ended the country’s bloody civil war.

Already, sensitisation is being conducted by the UN mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), civil society and rights groups. The objective is to educate the citizenry on the virtues of reconciliation and how to restore peace in the impoverished West African nation.

Even at that, UN officials insist that the special court would be set up “as a way of breaking the cycle of violence and impunity,” according to a senior UNAMSIL official.

She says “there is no way crimes such as those committed during the course of the country’s civil war can go unpunished”.

The atrocities committed in Sierra Leone are despicable. They include the chopping off of the arms, legs, lips and noses of civilians by rebel soldiers, using implements like knives and machetes. In some instances, the stomachs of pregnant women are disembowelled while children sometimes as young as two years are thrown into boiling waters or buried alive.

The climax of the campaign of atrocity and carnage came in January 1999 when a combined force of RUF fighters and the now defunct Westside Boys militia group invaded Freetown and burnt more than 3000 houses and state infrastructure. They amputated the legs and arms of hundreds of civilians and murdered about 5000 people, according to rights groups.

Some 3,000 children were also reportedly abducted by the rebels and taken into the mountainous jungles of rural Sierra Leone.

The whole idea of the special court runs contrary to the blanket amnesty given to the rebels and other armed groups, by the Lome peace agreement, a fact which the RUF in particular has often highlighted.

There is yet a group of Sierra Leoneans who believe any attempt at trying the perpetrators of the heinous crimes would be counterproductive and once again prepare the ground for further bloodletting.

“We must be courageous enough to put all of this behind us. After all peace is what we want no matter at what cost,” remarked housewife Marie Sillah who lost four family members in the war.

It may be difficult to forgive and forget, especially so when elements from the RUF and disparate armed factions, are once again being reabsorbed into the national army, while some others have been compensated with decision-making positions.

“It is the victims like us who are left to lick our wounds in utter neglect. God’s justice is the best,” concludes 23-year old amputee Sorie Ba Kamara.

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