POLITICS-SIERRA LEONE: Prominent Personalities Indicted for War Crimes

By Lansana Fofana Reprint | | Print |

Lansana Fofana

FREETOWN, Mar 11 2003 (IPS) - Seven prominent persons, including the country’s Minister of Internal Affairs, Sam Hinga Norman, were this week indicted and detained ahead of an appearance before a UN-backed Special Court for alleged atrocities committed during Sierra Leone’s civil war.

”They are being indicted for crimes ranging from murder, rape, extermination, acts of terror, enslavement, looting and burning, conscription of children in the combat forces to attacks on UN peacekeepers,” says David Crane, the America-born international prosecutor of the court.

Those in the custody include Issa Sesay and Morris Kallon, all of the former Revolutionary United Front (RUF), a rebel outfit which has been accused of appalling atrocities. Former RUF leader, Foday Sankoh, who was already in prison, has also been transferred to the UN custody.

Two indictees are on the run, former military leader Johnny Paul Koroma and the dreaded RUF commander Sam Mosquito Bockarie.

While reading out the names of the indictees and the statements of indictments Monday, Crane appealed to the people of Sierra Leone and the sub-region to turn over the two fugitives who ”have warrants on their heads”.

He said: ”The people of Sierra Leone have today made their voices heard, they say never again and that the rule of the gun is over”.

The special court was requested by Sierra Leonean president Ahmad Tejan Kabbah with the mandate to try ”individuals believed to bear the greatest responsibility for atrocities committed during the war”.

The premises of the court and the detention facilities are currently under construction with the court having a three-year mandate and a budget of some 45 million U.S. dollars.

Reactions to the special court indictments have been sharp and drawn mainly along political lines.

”How could they arrest Sam Norman?” asks baffled ex-Kamajor militia fighter Munda Kamanda. ”He fought the rebels to restore democracy. I think this move is bound to create fresh problems for the country.”

Norman led the pro-government Kamajor militia against the RUF during Sierra Leone’s conflict.

RUF ex-combatants and ordinary civilians are also concerned. ”I thought the government had urged us to forgive those who hurt us and try to reconcile the nation. I hope they are not provoking those murderers to come and finish us off,” an amputee whose left arm was chopped off by the rebels told IPS Monday.

Ex-RUF fighter Captain Lion said: ”This whole business about the special court baffles me a lot, it makes no sense at all. We agreed to end the war peacefully and here they are arresting our leaders.”

There is considerable hysteria in the country, which is just emerging from a vicious civil conflict. Concerned Sierra Leoneans cite the disappearance of the fugitive junta leader Koroma who they say may be planning a violent armed insurrection.

Plus, the ex-RUF commander Bockarie is believed to be hibernating in the neighbouring West African state of Liberia and reports say he too, opposed to the special court, may want to foment trouble in an effort to torpedo the judicial process. But these are all legitimate fears coming from a people who are traumatised.

The West African state of Sierra Leone experienced a brutal war of boundless cruelty. Children sometimes as young as eight had their hands or legs cut off by murderous bands of armed fighters in the pursuit of political power and diamonds.

In Jan 2001, the war was declared over and elections held the following year. Recently attempts were made to destabilise the security of the state by armed dissidents and a number of persons picked up and interrogated.

There is concern now that that the special court may well be the next flashpoint for renewal of the conflict. But as David Heckt, the public affairs officer of the court told IPS earlier: ”We have a presence of more than 16,000 UN peacekeeping forces in the country and that is pretty enough to keep the peace.”

Others are not so optimistic. The fear is that with the country’s newfound peace yet hanging in the balance, the special court may after all trigger a new round of conflict. But not in the eyes of journalist and rights activist, Pasco Temple, who says: ”I welcome the indictments and arrests. I believe this action to seek justice will certainly break the cycle of impunity.”