United Nations chief Kofi Annan has vowed that the international community will do everything in its power to ensure the success of presidential elections due in Sierra Leone next year. Sierra Leone holds its first post-civil war elections early next year, although no date has been fixed yet.

Burundi and Sierra Leone will be the first countries to get special attention by the United Nations' new Peacebuilding Commission, the body announced at its first meeting. Approved in December, the commission aims to help post-conflict countries get on track toward a functioning, stable society; both Burundi and Sierra Leone have emerged from civil war.

The Security Council's relocation of Charles Taylor's trial to the Netherlands has elicited conflicting responses from Sierra Leoneans. Supporters of the decision contend that the transfer, "a welcome relief," will help to prevent the hard-won regional peace from collapsing. But critics complain that conducting the trial in The Hague will rob war victims of the opportunity to see their "number one tormentor" brought to justice

The government of Sudan is to provide scholarships for Sierra Leoneans to study in Sudan in various fields of study. The scholarships will cover traveling to and fro, lodging, feeding, allowance, tuition and other expense for students pursuing courses in engineering, computer, medicine and Islamic Studies.

Sierra Leone and Liberia have many things in common: They are English-speaking neighbors, home to the descendents of freed slaves (Freetown, Monrovia), have had two identical menaces in the forms of Charles Taylor and Foday Sankoh, have recently ended acrimonious civil wars, and have postwar presidents who were once employees of the United Nations. Notwithstanding these striking similarities, the dissimilarities of their presidents is revealed in their inaugural speeches, according to this article from World Press Review.

"It is now over 15 months since the presentation on 5 October 2004 of the report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to the President of Sierra Leone at a well-attended ceremony in Freetown. The presentation should have ushered in the ‘follow-up phase’ to the work of the TRC. Yet at the time of writing, the work of implementing its recommendations is not even close to beginning. First, there was a long delay in making the report of the TRC available to Sierra Leoneans. Copies of the report only arrived in August 2005. In the previous month, the Government of Sierra Leone (GoSL) published a White Paper in response to the report that was widely regarded as weak and inadequate. All this prompted many Sierra Leoneans to fear that the TRC process had fatally lost momentum."

The Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission Working Group has released an initial study of the performance and impact of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in that country. The objective of the study is to open up debate that will lead to an independent evaluation of the performance and impact of the TRC in Sierra Leone. Key issues that the report addresses includes the role of the office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, the appointment and role of Commissioners, the issue of local ownership and participation and the role of International NGOs.

It is now over 15 months since the presentation on 5 October 2004 of the report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to the President of Sierra Leone at a well-attended ceremony in Freetown. The presentation should have ushered in the ‘follow-up phase’ to the work of the TRC. Yet at the time of writing, the work of implementing its recommendations is not even close to beginning. First, there was a long delay in making the report of the TRC available to Sierra Leoneans. Copies of the report only arrived in August 2005. In the previous month, the Government of Sierra Leone (GoSL) published a White Paper in response to the report that was widely regarded as weak and inadequate. All this prompted many Sierra Leoneans to fear that the TRC process had fatally lost momentum.

In recent months, there has been progress. Following private interventions by the Commissioners of the TRC and civil society campaigning, there was a parliamentary debate on the TRC report in November 2005 and a Bill has been laid before the legislature which contains many of the key recommendations in the report.

This bumpy start to the ‘follow-up phase’ is only the latest of many difficult moments for the TRC. It has been a deeply flawed and problematic process from its birth in 1999, when the peace agreement was signed. The TRC aimed to help heal divisions caused by 10 years of brutal civil war. Tens of thousands of people were killed, maimed or tortured during the conflict - most by rebels of the Revolutionary United Front.

Although the story of the TRC process is not yet over, the Sierra Leone Working Group on Truth and Reconciliation (WG) has undertaken an initial assessment, based on over 30 interviews and meetings between April and August 2005 with Sierra Leonean and international stakeholders, of the performance and impact of the TRC – this with a view to identifying what lessons can be learnt for future transitional justice initiatives elsewhere and developing recommendations for action that will help ensure that the ‘follow-up phase’ in Sierra Leone is credible and effective.

We hope that this report will be seen as a constructive early contribution to what should be a much wider and deeper debate in Sierra Leone and internationally. The WG believes that an independent evaluation of the TRC should be jointly commissioned by all stakeholders to the process during 2006, with a commitment to publishing its conclusions and recommendations promptly and in full. This should include a systematic sampling of public views through focus group work. The importance of getting down to community level cannot be overstated. The sampling would also be an opportunity to discover public views about the Special Court, which ran concurrently with the TRC (We asked David Crane, the then Prosecutor of the Special Court, if it had undertaken any surveys recently of how Sierra Leoneans viewed the Court. He responded that the Court was “not in the popularity business”. However, earlier he had described the Court as “for and about the people of Sierra Leone”.)

It is particularly important that Sierra Leonean voices are heard at the international level, where criteria for assessing the successes and failures of the Sierra Leonean ‘experiment’ may be different from those locally and where different agendas may shape the conclusions reached. People have a right to know the truth about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

With regard to the ‘follow-up phase’, we are aware that the historical record elsewhere is not encouraging. Few TRCs have been characterized by effective follow-up. Even in the South African case, there is widespread disaffection on the part of victims’ support groups about the response of the Government to the recommendations of the TRC report, not least in the sphere of reparations. If there is not a credible and effective ‘follow-up phase’, many Sierra Leoneans will legitimately ask whether the TRC was ever more than an expensive ‘talking shop’.

Our study has identified a series of key issues in relation to which important lessons should be learnt regarding the TRC process in Sierra Leone.

Firstly, when the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) agreed in 1999 to play the leading role in organising and overseeing the implementation of the TRC process, the decision was widely welcomed. Mary Robinson, then High Commissioner, had been a signatory in June 1999 of the ‘Human Rights Manifesto for Sierra Leone’, which endorsed the idea of a TRC. However, based on the interviews we conducted, Sierra Leonean and international stakeholders were generally very disappointed by the performance of the OHCHR. There was a remarkable consensus on this issue amongst interviewees who disagreed on many other issues. The OHCHR was widely seen as having fatally combined an unhealthy obsession with micro-management with an inadequate capacity to undertake a professional oversight role. It was allegedly weak at raising funds and then very slow to release them.

Secondly, the majority of Sierra Leonean and international stakeholders that we interviewed felt that the TRC process had fallen seriously short of what had been hoped for in terms of local ownership and participation. The sensitization exercise during the preparatory phase was widely viewed as deficient. For example, there was a tendency to assume that radio messages would be enough by themselves to alert Sierra Leoneans to the existence of the TRC when what was needed was to work with civil society organizations to ensure that each chiefdom and village was visited and re-visited. Only by these means could public confidence and understanding of the TRC process – and its relationship to the Special Court - have been achieved. While this failure partly reflected lack of funds, it also reflected a reluctance to develop a genuine partnership with local civil society organizations that could have assisted.

Strong views were also expressed about the failure to use traditional reconciliation mechanisms appropriately. Particular anger was directed by some at incidents where such mechanisms were allegedly ‘customized’ to fit the time available before the Commissioners and staff had to move on to their next appointment. In general, many felt that not enough time had been given to the reconciliation aspect of the TRC’s mandate. At other points, ‘western’ models of reconciliation were reportedly employed, such as handshakes or hugs, which had little relevance to the Sierra Leonean context.

Thirdly, a number of Sierra Leonean stakeholders that we interviewed expressed the view that the role of international NGOs in the TRC process was not always as positive as it could have been. Sierra Leoneans have become aware of the international networks that exist in the sphere of transitional justice in the course of the TRC process. The time may have arrived for these international networks to be rendered more transparent and for potential conflicts of interest such as those raised by our experience in Sierra Leone to be addressed. Nobody doubts the need for professional expertise in the sphere of transitional justice; however, experience shows there will be occasions when the perspectives and interests of governments, multilateral agencies and local civil society will diverge.

The Sierra Leoneans we interviewed between April and August 2005 were deeply frustrated by the long delay that had occurred in publishing the final version of the TRC report. So too were many international stakeholders, although some felt that it had been unavoidable because of the poor quality of the report – including the omission of some conclusions and recommendations that had previously been agreed – that was presented to the President in October 2004. Whatever the reasons, between October 2004, when it was presented to the President, and August 2005, when copies of the final report arrived in Freetown, there were reportedly only ten copies of the report in the entire country. Expectations had been raised, only then to be dashed. The former Chairperson of the TRC, Bishop Joseph Humper, claimed that the reason for the long delay was that the report was being re-edited and typographical errors eliminated.

Based on its findings, the Sierra Leone Working Group on Truth on Reconciliation makes the following recommendations to those involved in the designing and implementing of future transitional justice initiatives. They should establish stronger safeguards to prevent political interference in transitional justice processes. They should ensure that international commissioners working for TRCs spend enough time in-country to discharge their roles effectively. They should ensure that local ownership and participation are more strongly reflected in sensitization work, evidence giving/collection and reconciliation initiatives. Finally, they should establish the principle that all transitional justice processes should be subject to independent evaluation and that reports arising should be published promptly and in full. Amongst other recommendations, the Working Group calls on the Government of Sierra Leone to take steps to encourage the dissemination of the final version of the TRC report; undertake a reparations programme that is open, consultative and inclusive, working closely with civil society; support the immediate establishment of an interim follow-up committee comprising all Sierra Leonean stakeholders; and support the establishment of an independent evaluation of the TRC process.

* For a copy of the full report, please contact
- From outside Sierra Leone:
John Caulker, Chairperson of the Working Group via johncaulkerfoc (at) yahoo.com
- From within Sierra Leone:
Mr. John Koroma Jr. Tel 232 76 634465 email: johnkoroma2001 (at) yahoo.com

* Please send comments to [email protected]

Special Court Prosecutor Desmond de Silva QC has welcomed a resolution adopted unanimously by Sierra Leone’s Parliament on Wednesday urging the trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor.

Sierra Leone's attorney general has confirmed that he will not pursue charges of manslaughter against a member of parliament and two others accused of assaulting journalist Harry Yansaneh in May 2005. At the time, Yansaneh was acting editor of the private newspaper For Di People. A judicial inquest found that the attack contributed to Yansaneh's death from kidney failure more than two months later.

As Sierra Leone works to overcome a decade of civil war and unrest, a former rebel spokesman was accused of treason on Monday for alleged involvement in a recent bid to overthrow the government and assassinate the vice-president. Lawyer Omrie Michael Golley, former spokesman for the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebel movement, was arrested on 12 January along with two other men in a luxury hotel in the country’s seafront capital, Freetown.

When the 1,700-strong U.N. peacekeeping force was withdrawn from Sierra Leone on Dec. 31, the United Nations hailed the mission as one of its major political success stories in a continent ravaged by war and ethnic conflicts. "The (UN) mission was able to overcome a number of serious political and military challenges to become an effective peacekeeping operation that leaves Sierra Leone much better off today than it was five years ago," UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan boasted last week.

The leader of a breakaway political party is making waves in Sierra Leone as the country begins to look ahead to presidential elections and watches the final exit of a once 17,500-strong UN peacekeeping mission. Charles Francis Margai was arrested on conspiracy charges this week, sparking a fiery reaction from supporters in the capital, Freetown, with one vowing people would "cause havoc" if the presidential hopeful remains in detention.

Karamoh Kabba, author of “A Mother’s Saga,” “Lion Mountain” and “Morquee—A Political Drama of Wish over Wisdom”, in an article on the website of World Press Review, takes a loot at the upcoming 2007 presidential election in Sierra Leone. "It appears to be leaning toward the Sierra Leone Peoples’ Party (S.L.P.P.). Although the All Peoples’ Congress (A.P.C.) is reclaiming its political stature with alacrity, for now, the political scales seem to be tipping in favor of the S.L.P.P," he writes.

The U.N.-backed court for war crimes in Sierra Leone is making major strides toward ensuring justice for serious crimes committed during the eleven-year war in Sierra Leone, Human Rights Watch said in a report issued November 1. The devastating conflict, which lasted from 1991 until 2002, was characterized by brutal human rights abuses committed by all warring factions. The 46-page report, "Justice in Motion: The Trial Phase of the Special Court for Sierra Leone," evaluates the conduct of the court during trials, which began last June. "The Special Court has broken new ground with practices to promote fair trials, protect witnesses and make justice accessible to Sierra Leoneans," said Elise Keppler, counsel with Human Rights Watch's International Justice Program. "The Special Court is setting benchmarks that other tribunals can look to."

The UK Government has backed down in the face of demands that it stop using aid money to fund privatization of public relations in the world's second poorest country. The UK Department for International Development (DFID) has written to all eight companies short listed for a contract to provide communication support to the Sierra Leone Commission for Privatisation stating they will not fund a campaign to "promote privatisation". This reverses the terms of the original contract.

This article from the United Nations University examines the external and internal dimensions of post-conflict reconstruction in Sierra Leone. "Although foreign aid is a welcome source of external support for reconstruction efforts, it is finite like any other resource. Reconstruction must also address intangible issues such as corruption as well as the healing of society through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Special Court for Sierra Leone."

Reporters Without Borders has voiced interest in statements by Sierra Leonean officials that President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah is at last ready to amend a criminal defamation law included in the Public Order Act, which dates back to colonial times. The law's victims include "For Di People" editor Paul Kamara, who was unjustly sentenced to four years in prison in October 2004. "There is an urgent need for improvement in Sierra Leone," the organisation said. "We would clearly be pleased if the country were finally to conform to democratic standards of press freedom by overhauling its retrograde legislation. To show goodwill and facilitate a calm start to talks, the authorities should begin by freeing Kamara from Pademba Road prison, where he has just completed the first year of his sentence."

Sierra Leone faces a spectrum of challenges, from explosive youth unemployment to taking legitimate control of its rich mineral resources, as the United Nations peacekeeping mission winds down and the next phase of the West African country's development begins, the mission chief has said. "We were there to keep the peace. We've kept it. So we want the peace-builders to come now and work with the people on such challenges as 70 per cent of the 5 million population living on less than $1 a day and 70 per cent illiteracy," the Secretary-General's Special Representative and head of the UN Assistance Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), Daudi Mwakawago, told a news conference at UN Headquarters.

Since the end of the Cold War, international efforts to end civil conflict in Africa, Latin America and Asia have included efforts on disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) of former combatants. Successful DDR programs have been seen as an important component of peace-building to reestablish legitimate governance and to prevent the recurrence of future conflict. In this working paper, CGD Non-Resident Fellow Jeremy Weinstein, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Stanford University, analyzes for the first time what determines the success of post-conflict demobilization and reintegration.

Reacting to the intimidation and humiliation of a radio journalist by tribal elders in Kakua, the capital of the southern district of Bo, RSF has urged the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) to uphold the rule of law and remind traditional chiefs that the country is meant to be reconstructing along democratic lines. "Kakua's traditional chiefs are not supposed to have police or judicial powers," the organisation said. "Radio Kiss 104 FM's ordeal shows that political party influence over tribal structures poses a danger to democracy. UNAMSIL's mandate includes protection of human rights so it should ensure that the rule of law is respected throughout the country and that journalists do not have to submit to local clans."