RIGHTS-SIERRA LEONE: Gov’t Urged To Prosecute War Criminals

By Lansana Fofana Reprint | | Print |

Lansana Fofana

FREETOWN, Jul 16 1999 (IPS) - Barely a week after the signing of a peace accord in the Togolese capital of Lome, rights groups have urged the government to prosecute those who committed atrocities during Sierra Leone’s eight years of bloody civil war.

“We support the call being made by the international community and human rights organisations for not only a probe, but also for the setting up of a war crimes tribunal for all the perpetrators of those horrendous atrocities,” says Sierra Leone’s largest- selling tabloid, Awoko, leading the campaign.

Olu Gordon of the National League for Human Rights in Freetown says: “We must never forget these crimes and we must ensure, no matter how many years it takes, that those who committed them are forced to face the people.”

The conflict in Sierra Leone erupted in 1991 when former army corporal Foday Sankoh, who is the leader of the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF), launched a bush war to overthrow the government of then President Joseph Momoh.

Since then, more than 50,000 people are believed to have been killed, and almost a quarter of Sierra Leone’s 4.5 million people forced as refugees in neighbouring countries, and close to a 1,000 civilians having either their arms or legs slashed off by rebel forces.

Brokered by Togolese President Gnassinege Eyadema, the peace deal, signed in Lome on Jul 7, provides for a power sharing arrangement, between the adversaries.

Under the deal, the RUF has been offered four cabinet posts and its leader Sankoh put in charge of gold and diamonds, which form the economic lifeline of this West African country.

Furthermore, Sankoh’s sentence to death in 1997 for treason has been nullified and his rebel Movement allowed to be transformed into a political party. In the proposed government of national unity, the RUF would also be put in charge of a number of state parastatals.

President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah says, after the signing of the peace deal, that all combatants of the RUF “would be given blanket amnesty, free from persecution and given equal opportunity to serve the community.”

Kabbah also has announced an amnesty for more than 20 civilian and military collaborators of the defunct Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), which overthrew his government in May 1997 and ruled the country for nine months.

The Lome peace accord is, however, silent about any form of justice for the war victims. In principle, a Trust Fund would be set up for benefit of ex-combatants and victims, but no mention of punishment for perpetrators.

Human Rights Watch, in its latest report on Sierra Leone says: “The international community must insist on the need to bring the perpetrators of gross human rights abuses and war crimes to justice…This is essential for the future stability of both the country and region.”

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson, who visited Sierra Leone last month, told journalists in reaction to the Lome peace plan last week that, there is need for international inquiry into atrocities committed during the war.

She said the UN would not recognised an amnesty included in the pact reached in Togo, as applying to genocide and crimes against humanity.

“It is not possible to have full reconciliation without justice…and peace is not compatible with impunity,” she said.

Meanwhile, local human rights groups have been documenting atrocities for the attention of the authorities and possible tribunal for the perpetrators of atrocities.

The victims of rebel atrocities have also called for redress. Tamba Ngaujah, a 39-year-old farmer, whose wrists were amputated by rebels using blunt machete told IPS on Friday that, ” I believe the rebels were simply compensated for their horrific crimes.”

“How can they be made ministers after committing what looks like genocide and cruel mutilation. The ring leaders must face justice,” he says.