From
the outset, it was clear that the Sierra Leone government would require
international assistance to prosecute those responsible for the atrocities.
First, the country’s penal code did not incorporate violations
of international law, such as crimes against humanity and war crimes.
Second, after a decade of war, which had devastated the economy, the
government simply did not have the financial resources to set up a
war crimes court. But perhaps the most important reason, according
to Sierra Leone’s Ambassador to the United States, John Leigh,
was to establish the credibility of the court. "We don’t
want the court to be seen as victor’s justice," Leigh said,
"and international involvement will prevent this perception."
Appalled at the humiliation of the UN mission, the then American Ambassador
to the United Nations, Richard Holbrooke, insisted that the United
States play a lead role in creating the court. According to American
officials, Holbrooke wanted the United States to draft the resolution
in order to demonstrate leadership on this important moral issue.
Diplomats speculate that Holbrooke also wanted to salvage American
credibility in the wake of Washington's
role in brokering the Lome Accord, which not only granted blanket
amnesty to the RUF, but appointed Sankoh as Sierra Leone’s vice-president
and gave him control of the country’s diamond mines.
Due to significant financial and personnel requirements, none of the
Security Council members supported the establishment of another UN
tribunal along the lines of the ICTY and ICTR. Thus, the United Nations
decided to create a special hybrid-court that will be administered
jointly by the Sierra Leone government and the United Nations.
The primary difference between the Special Court and the ICTY and
ICTR is the mandate under which they were created. The ICTY and ICTR
were established by the Security Council under Chapter VII of the
UN Charter, which gives the United Nations power to intervene in the
affairs of sovereign states to restore international peace and security.
Thus, these tribunals are under UN jurisdiction and operate independently
from and irrespective of the Yugoslav and Rwandan governments. The
Special Court for Sierra Leone, on the other hand, will be created
by a treaty between the United Nations and Sierra Leone government.
It will be under joint UN-Sierra Leonean jurisdiction, and as such
represents an entirely new model for bringing perpetrators of war
crimes to justice. The Special Court will be staffed with both local
and international judges and prosecutors. The Secretary-General will
appoint a Chief Prosecutor, while the Sierra Leone government, in
consultation with the UN, will appoint a Deputy. Although the Deputy
will have some input in deciding on indictments, the Chief Prosecutor
will make the final decision. |
