Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission
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The Sierra Leone's Truth and Reconciliation Commission was a
truth commission A truth commission, also known as a truth and reconciliation commission or truth and justice commission, is an official body tasked with discovering and revealing past wrongdoing by a government (or, depending on the circumstances, non-state act ...
created as part of the
Lomé Peace Accord Lomé is the capital and largest city of Togo. It has an urban population of 837,437
, which ended the 11-year
civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
conflict in
Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...
in July 1999.


Background and creation

The
Sierra Leone Civil War The Sierra Leone Civil War (1991–2002), or the Sierra Leonean Civil War, was a civil war in Sierra Leone that began on 23 March 1991 when the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), with support from the special forces of Liberia, Liberian dictato ...
began on March 23, 1991. The
Revolutionary United Front The Revolutionary United Front (RUF) was a rebel group that fought a failed eleven-year war in Sierra Leone, beginning in 1991 and ending in 2002. It later transformed into a political party, which still exists today. The three most senior surv ...
, supported by the
National Patriotic Front of Liberia The National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) was a Liberian rebel group that initiated and participated in the First Liberian Civil War from 1989 to 1996. Leadership The military aspects of NPFL were led by Charles Taylor, a former governme ...
, attempted to overthrow the
Joseph Momoh Major General Joseph Saidu Momoh, OOR, OBE (January 26, 1937 – August 3, 2003) served as President of Sierra Leone from November 1985 to 29 April 1992. Early life and education Joseph Saidu Momoh was born on January 26, 1937, in Binkolo, B ...
government. This attempt resulted in the
Sierra Leone Civil War The Sierra Leone Civil War (1991–2002), or the Sierra Leonean Civil War, was a civil war in Sierra Leone that began on 23 March 1991 when the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), with support from the special forces of Liberia, Liberian dictato ...
, that lasted 11 years, leaving over 50,000 dead. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was created as part of the
Lomé Peace Accord Lomé is the capital and largest city of Togo. It has an urban population of 837,437
, signed on July 7, 1999, which ended the civil war in
Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...
. This accord was signed by then President
Ahmad Tejan Kabbah Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah (February 16, 1932 – March 13, 2014) was a Sierra Leonean politician who served twice as the 3rd President of Sierra Leone, from 1996 to 1997 and again from 1998 to 2007. An economist and attorney by profession, Ka ...
and the leader of the
Revolutionary United Front The Revolutionary United Front (RUF) was a rebel group that fought a failed eleven-year war in Sierra Leone, beginning in 1991 and ending in 2002. It later transformed into a political party, which still exists today. The three most senior surv ...
(RUF)
Foday Sankoh Foday Saybana Sankoh (17 October 1937 – 29 July 2003) was the founder of the Sierra Leone rebel group Revolutionary United Front (RUF), which was supported by Charles Taylor-led NPFL in the 11-year-long Sierra Leone Civil War, starting i ...
.


Aims and mandate

The aims of the commission were to establish "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
Lomé Peace Agreement The Lomé Peace Agreement was a peace agreement signed on 7 July 1999 between the warring parties in the civil war that gripped Sierra Leone for almost a decade. President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah signed with the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) leade ...
; to address
impunity Impunity is avoidance of punishment, loss, or other negative consequences for an action. In the international law of human rights, impunity is failure to bring perpetrators of human rights violations to justice and, as such, itself constitutes a d ...
, 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 commission was chaired by Bishop
Joseph Christian Humper Joseph Christian Humper (born 2 June 1946, in Sherbro Island, Sierra Leone) is a bishop in the United Methodist Church. He serves as chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Sierra Leone. He began his service as Bishop in 1993, during th ...
. It operated from 2002 to 2004, with a final report being presented to the
United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the Organs of the United Nations, six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international security, international peace and security, recommending the admi ...
on October 5, 2004. The commission's mandate was to "provide a degree of accountability for human rights abuses committed during the conflict." Below is a brief summary of its mandate. * To construct an impartial historical record of violations and abuses of human rights during the armed conflict in Sierra Leone. * 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. * To investigate and report on the causes, nature, and extent of violations and abuses to the highest possible degree in order to determine a proper course of action for reconciliation purposes. * To help restore the dignity of the victims, and to provide an opportunity for healing and reconciliation between the victims and those who carried out the abuses. The commission also strove to give special attention to victims of sexual abuse and to children who were either victims or perpetrators.


Commissioners

The commissioner were: * Bishop Christian Humor - Chairman * Hon. Justice Laura Marcus-Jones - Deputy Chairperson * Professor
William Schabas William Anthony Schabas, OC (born 19 November 1950) is a Canadian academic specialising in international criminal and human rights law. He is professor of international law at Middlesex University in the United Kingdom, professor of internation ...
* Ms. Yasmin Louise Sooka * Mr. Sylvanus Torto * Madam Ajaratu Satang Jow * Professor John Kamara


Findings

A major task of the TRC was to interview victims on both sides of the conflict and report on what they found. The commission reported a number of findings, including: * The conflict and post-independence period preceding it represent the most shameful years of Sierra Leone's history. This conflict reflects an extraordinary failure of leadership individuals amongst the government, society, and public. * The central cause of the war was endemic greed, corruption, and nepotism that deprived the nation of its dignity and reduced its citizens to a state of poverty. * Government accountability was non-existent, and the institution designed to uphold human rights was co-opted by the executive. * Both sides of the conflict specifically targeted civilians. * The Sierra Leone civil war was characterized by indiscriminate violence. It broke long-standing rules, defiled cherished traditions, sullied human respect and tore apart the very fabric of society. * Children aged between ten and 14 years were especially targeted for forced recruitment. Girls between the ages of ten and 14 were targeted for rape and for abuse as sexual slaves. These women were also tortured and suffered cruel and inhumane acts. * The leadership of the Revolutionary United Front and the Government of Sierra Leone are responsible for either authorising or instigating human rights violations against civilians. They also stand accused of failing to stop such atrocities, and for failing to acknowledge the occurrence of these atrocities. * Contrary to popular belief, the exploitation of diamonds did not cause the conflict in Sierra Leone. However, various factions targeted diamondiferous areas in order to gain wealth to support their war efforts. * The
right to the truth Right to truth is the right, in the case of grave violations of human rights, for the victims and their families or societies to have access to the truth of what happened. The right to truth is closely related to, but distinct from, the state obl ...
is inalienable. This right should be upheld in terms of national and international law. It is the reaching of the wider truth through broad-based participation that permits a nation to examine itself honestly and to take effective measures to prevent a repetition of the past.


Reparations

The
Reparations Reparation(s) may refer to: Christianity * Restitution (theology), the Christian doctrine calling for reparation * Acts of reparation, prayers for repairing the damages of sin History *War reparations **World War I reparations, made from G ...
section of the Truth Commission is aimed at creating a reparations program for the victims of the Sierra Leonean conflict. Such a program is difficult to create as there are a number of victims on both sides of the conflict, as well as a number of different crimes committed by both sides. Because of this, the commission had to determine who would benefit from a reparations program.
In designing a reparations programme for the victims of the Sierra Leonean conflict, the Commission had to take into account a number of factors. It would have been gratifying if all victims of the conflict could benefit from a reparations programme but such a programme would be totally impossible for the country to implement. The Commission therefore had to determine who would benefit from a reparations programme. The Commission determined the category of beneficiaries by considering those victims who were particularly vulnerable because of the human rights violations they had suffered and the harm that they continued to live with.
It is important to note that the TRC Act did not explicitly use the term "reparations". Instead, they were instructed to "address the needs of the victims," and restore the human dignity of victims" as well as "promote healing and reconciliation."


Recommendations

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission Act of 2000 requires any commission to make recommendations concerning the reforms and measures needed to achieve the object of the commission. These recommendations are crucial in order to promote the healing process for the nation after the conflict. In the case of the Sierra Leone commission, the reparations are aimed at the "building of a new Sierra Leone based on the values of human dignity, tolerance and respect for the rights of all persons." The main recommendations of the commission were: * The commission found that due to a lack of visionary leadership, there was no one to steer the country away from its slide into chaos and civil war. Because of this, the commission called on leaders from all levels of Sierra Leonean society to commit themselves to employing better forms of leadership. * The central cause of the war was endemic greed, corruption and nepotism, which deprived the nation of its dignity and forced its citizens into poverty. The commission calls upon all members in the private sector to work together and usher in a new culture of ethics and to fight the "scourge of corruption which saps the life-force of Sierra Leone." * The commission also recommended the implementation of a more modern human rights culture in which all "Sierra Leoneans respect each other's human rights, without exception." Therefore, the creation of a new constitution was also recommended. In the commission's words: "A Sierra Leone that is united around clear constitutional rights, values and principles has a promising future." * Due to a severe lack of governmental accountability, democracy and the rule of law had ceased to exist. Therefore, the commission recommended that Sierra Leone must strengthen its institutions of accountability.


Criticisms

In her book ''Unspeakable Truths: Facing the Challenge of Truth Commissions,'' Priscilla B. Hayner examines various truth commissions, one of which is the commission for Sierra Leone. One of her main criticisms of the report was the government's inability to enact many of the commission's recommendations. The "government was required to submit public quarterly reports on the actions it had taken to fulfill the recommendations." The government made slow but eventual progress in the implementation of the commission's recommendations. Hayner also points out a common criticism facing many truth commissions; the need for "social forgetting". Many citizens in Sierra Leone felt that social forgetting was crucial to the process of healing and reconciliation. Unfortunately, many citizens were not able to simply forget, as they were pressured into making official statements to the commission regarding their experiences during the Civil War.


References


Further reading

* ''Witness to Truth: Report of the Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission''. Accra, Ghana: Graphic Packaging, 2004. * Hayner, Priscilla B. ''Unspeakable Truths: Transitional Justice and the Challenge of Truth Commissions''. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge, 2002.
Copy of Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Report



United States Institute for Peace

TRC findingsTRC recommmendations


External links


Sierra Leone TRC Official Website
{{Truth and Reconciliation Commission History of Sierra Leone Law of Sierra Leone Sierra Leone Civil War Truth and reconciliation commissions Truth and reconciliation reports