SIERRA LEONE: UN team continues preparations for special court

SIERRA LEONE: UN team continues preparations for special court

ABIDJAN, 9 January (IRIN) - A visiting UN team has begun a series of
meetings in Freetown, Sierra Leone, on "practical arrangements for the
establishment and operation" of a special war crimes court in the West
African country, the UN News service reported on Tuesday.

The 15-member planning team met a government task force on the court, led
by Justice Minister Justice Solomon Berewa, and various officials at the
UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), according to UN News. More meetings
were planned for Wednesday.

"Led by Assistant Secretary-General for Legal Affairs Ralph Zacklin, the
team is focusing its work on locating premises for the Court, finding
local personnel and services, and launching the investigative and
prosecutorial process," the UN said. The team visited proposed premises
for the tribunal at the weekend, as well as Freetown's Pademba Road Prison
and the High Court, the UN News service reported.

While the UN has authorised the establishment of the court, it still faces
a shortfall in funding. However, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in a
letter to the President of the Security Council, released on 3 January,
said he was convinced of the political will and commitment of states to
the success of the court.

As of 30 November 2001 the UN had received contributions of US $14.8
million for the first year, a shortfall of US $1.4 million, and pledges of
US $20.4 million - a US $ 19.6 million shortfall - for the two subsequent
years.

The Security Council, which adopted a resolution requesting the creation
of the Court on 14 August 2000, recommended that its jurisdiction "should
include notably crimes against humanity, war crimes and other serious
violations of international humanitarian law as well as crimes under
relevant Sierra Leonean law committed within the territory of Sierra
Leone".

During Sierra Leone's 10-year civil war, thousands of people had their
limbs chopped off, mainly by rebels of the Revolutionary United Front
(RUF). Women and children were raped and many other serious human rights
abuses were committed as armed men took hold of the countryside.

[ENDS]

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