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July 10, 2002 |
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Though exact figures have been difficult to calculate, during the conflict an estimated 75,000 people were killed and 2 million displaced, 5,400 children were forced into combat, forced labor or sexual slavery, 20,000 people suffered mutilations, and an unknown number of women were raped. According to the Truth and Reconciliation Act of 2000, the Commission – which is loosely modeled on the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission that looked into gross violations of human rights during apartheid – is mandated "to create an impartial historical record of violations and abuses of human rights and international humanitarian law related to the armed conflict in Sierra Leone from the beginning of the conflict in 1991 to the signing of the Lome Peace Agreement; to address impunity, to respond to the needs of the victims, to promote healing and reconciliation and to prevent a repetition of the violations and abuses suffered." The TRC was mandated in Article 26 of the Lome Peace Agreement signed by the government and the now defunct Revolutionary United Front (RUF), and was originally supposed to begin its work within 30 days after the signing of the accord. Seven commissioners (four Sierra Leoneans and three international commissioners) will preside over the commission’s work, which is expected to last for the period of between a year and eighteen months, including a three-month preparatory period. There are concerns, however, as to whether the TRC’s resources will be sufficient to allow it to complete its work on time, if at all. To date, the Commission has been given $1 million to carry out its work, but the anticipated budget is close to $9 million. The executive secretary of the Commission, Yasmin Jusu-Sheriff, told the BBC that "the Commission and the Commission's staff, they want to do the job properly. They want to go to the communities where this war was fought, they want to bring about reconciliation, they want to give people a chance to tell their stories. But no matter how committed we are we cannot walk around Sierra Leone. And if we are not able to hire sufficient people to take the statements, then we will not be able to do the work." In an address at the inauguration, the Chairman of the Commission, the retired Rev. Dr. Joseph Humper noted the daunting challenge he and his fellow commissioners faced and emphasized the commissioners’ commitment to carrying out their mission: "All over the country, the scars of the conflict are refusing to heal. The indomitable spirit of our people is enabling them come to grips with the physical reconstruction that is required to rebuild their lives. The social and psychological reconstruction has been less successful. The question many people are asking is, why? Why were we visited with the conflict? Why were civilians the objects of attack rather than opposing armed forces? Why were our women and children made objects of pleasure and abuse in the course of the war? Why were our buildings and other infrastructure deliberately and systematically targeted? What happened to our loved ones who are yet to return home even now that the war has ended? People need answers to these questions." He added that the conflict in Sierra Leone was unique in several respects, and thus its truth commission cannot adopt a prescribed model (such as South Africa’s TRC) as its solution to dealing with the conflict, but rather, needed to be "uniquely Sierra Leonean, at all times guided by what is in the best interests of the people of Sierra Leone." More specifically, Rev. Dr. Humper said that the Commission will be "victim-driven" and shall pay special attention to the needs of women and children. "People need to have their experiences validated and recognized," he said, "there is no family, village, community, chiefdom or district that has not been affected by the conflict one way or the other. To that extent, we are all victims of the conflict." Most ex-combatants and victims have expressed willingness to appear before the TRC and tell their stories. There is a greater ambivalence, though, especially among former RUF combatants, about the UN-mandated Special Court for Sierra Leone – a mix of international and national authority intended as a streamlined version of prior UN ad hoc tribunals – which should hand out its first indictment this fall. Never before has a country in the wake of mass atrocity been the host of both a mechanism of criminal justice like the Special Court and a more non-traditional instrument like the TRC. The experiment of combining these two approaches in Sierra Leone may provide evidence about whether they can play a complementary role in the pursuit of justice and reconciliation elsewhere. TRC Chairman Humper concluded his address by expressing the gratitude of Sierra Leone to the international community for its demonstrated commitment to the transitional process in Sierra Leone by contributing the money necessary to establish the preparatory commission and the TRC, but implored the global community to make the extra commitment to help the Commission "see its work through. Related chapters from Crimes of War: What the Public Should Know Child
Soldiers Related Links Homepage of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for Sierra Leone The Truth and Reconciliation Act of 2000 Statute of the Special Court for Sierra Leone United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone Sierra
Leone TRC to begin work
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Truth
and Reconciliation Commission Begins in Sierra Leone