Sierra Leone

General Assembly

Report of the High Commissioner

The report of the High Commissioner (A/56/281, 9 August 2001) provides information on, inter alia: the reports of the Secretary-General to the Security Council (see "Security Council"); refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs); children and armed conflict; violence against women; extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; persons detained under the state of emergency; the UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) and its Human Rights Section; the establishment of a truth and reconciliation commission and an independent special court as well as a national human rights commission.

The High Commissioner noted that the overall situation in Sierra Leone had improved and that the Abuja Cease-fire Agreement (10 November 2000) between the government and the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) had been largely maintained; UNAMSIL had already successfully deployed in RUF-held areas such as Makeni, Magburaka and Lunsar in the Northern Province. A review meeting held in Abuja in May 2001 led to an agreement that RUF and the government-allied militia, the Civilian Defence Force (CDF), should disarm simultaneously; the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programme was relaunched and the CDF and the RUF disarmed on schedule in the Kambia and Port Loko districts. The report notes that progress in the implementation of the peace process had also enabled the Human Rights Section to reach areas that were previously inaccessible and to begin to monitor the human rights situation, conduct training sessions and discuss reconciliation processes with the RUF, in particular the truth and reconciliation commission.

Concerning refugees and internally displaced persons, the report states that the crisis is one of the most serious human rights, humanitarian and political crises facing the international community today. In total, there are over one million refugees, IDPs and other war-affected victims in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Progress in the implementation of the peace process appears to have reduced the number of new cases, but the challenge of assisting old cases remains real. Grave breaches of international humanitarian law were reportedly committed by the Guinean army and armed groups, with a number of violations documented in the Kambia district (aerial bombardment, rape of women, burning of houses). The situation of refugees and IDPs was complicated by the unrest on the border with Liberia and Guinea, especially the ongoing conflict in northern Liberia. The National Commission for Rehabilitation, Resettlement and Reconstruction warned that, while the situation in the eastern part of the country did not yet qualify as an emergency, it could deteriorate into one if the different needs of various groups were not adequately addressed. The report also notes that during incursions into Guinea, the RUF abducted a number of Guinean nationals and brought them back to Sierra Leone where they were used as forced labourers. The women and girls were forcibly taken as "wives" by their captors or used for sexual services. Between May and August 2001, there was a continued displacement of the population, especially in the eastern region as sporadic incidents of hostilities continued. With the expanding disarmament process and greater access to RUF-held areas, however, the situation of internally displaced persons was becoming clearer. In a number of areas, IDPs had begun to return to their homes and humanitarian agencies were working with the government to stockpile reserves in order to ensure that there were enough supplies when these persons returned. The report notes that with the large numbers of displaced persons in camps in the country and with the increasing number of persons being resettled, the need for a coordinated effort between the work of humanitarian organizations and human rights organizations would become increasingly important. With regard to the issue of resettlement, particular emphasis needed to be placed on training and coordination with the government agencies that would deal with the resettled displaced persons within the new communities.

The section of the report dealing with the situation of children notes that they have suffered a wide range of physical, mental and sexual abuses by all parties to the conflict, including separation, displacement, abductions, forced recruitment and rape. Children were also forced or encouraged to commit violations. The RUF and the CDF agreed to release all child combatants and abductees and, between January and August 2001, more than 1,200 children were registered by UNAMSIL for demobilization. The report notes, however, that despite the release of child combatants and abductees by the fighting forces, relatively few women and girls had been released, noting that abductees not only were used as combatants but were often forced into sexual services or taken as "wives", which increased the resistance of the fighting forces to release them. In other cases, girls who had been associated with fighting forces, fearing the reaction of their families and communities, may have been reluctant to join demobilization and reintegration programmes.

With regard to the issue of violence against women, the report notes the following points, inter alia: thousands of the women and girls have been victims of human rights abuses and grave breaches of international humanitarian law, including killing, amputation, forced displacement, forced recruitment and the looting and destruction of their property; they have been subjected to gender-specific abuses, including rape, forced marriages and situations comparable to sexual slavery; because these gender-specific violations appear to have been under-reported, there are insufficient programmes to address the particular needs of female victims; the government has extended an invitation to the Special Rapporteur on violence against women to conduct an in-country mission. The visit is to focus on violence against women during the armed conflict.

The report states that attacks against the civilian population and systematic killings and summary executions have been a part of the pattern of egregious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law perpetrated by different factions in the protracted armed conflict. Points noted include the following: the primary purpose of these acts of violence was to spread terror among the civilian population; the conflict and ongoing military operations, including by regular armies of the neighbouring countries, hampered any in-depth investigation of these abuses and violations; in June 2001, the CDF attacked villages located in Kono and Koinadugu Districts; there were also allegations of summary executions by the RUF in the town of Koidu.

The prolonged detention of persons in Freetown Central Prison, some of whom had been in custody without charge or access to legal counsel and information since May 2000, remained a human rights concern. More than 200 persons were being detained under Public Emergency Regulation, 1999 (Public Notice No. 3 of 1999). Prison visits by UNAMSIL human rights officers went into effect in June and without restrictions but, the report notes, the government was unwilling to disclose the whereabouts of some high-profile detainees who were imprisoned under the state of emergency. Information also indicated that 10 RUF detainees had died in Freetown Central Prison; prison officials attributed all the deaths to natural causes, although detainees claimed that poor medical treatment and less than adequate nourishment were also to blame.

The section of the report dealing with UN human rights activities in the country notes the following points, inter alia: the human rights mandate of UNAMSIL focuses on four main areas - monitoring, reporting, training and capacity-building, with special reference to the establishment and the reinforcement of national institutions (the ombudsman and the national human rights commission) and the protection of women's and children's rights; UNAMSIL, in cooperation with the OHCHR, plays a pivotal role in facilitating the establishment of the truth and reconciliation commission; the Code of Conduct for Humanitarian Workers in Sierra Leone has been adopted and, inter alia, calls upon all humanitarian assistance agencies operating in the country to observe agreed principles of international human rights and humanitarian law, including the right to unlimited access for the provision of humanitarian assistance; the Code also stipulates that all humanitarian operations will be designed to advance human rights, with special attention given to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child; the OHCHR is to implement a training programme on human rights for the extended humanitarian community; the Human Rights Section, in collaboration with others, has established a Sierra Leone human rights committee, which meets regularly and provides a forum for consultations, exchange of ideas, information and promotion between human rights and humanitarian actors; the Section also works alongside national human rights NGOs on joint projects, such as providing training programmes and assistance to local NGOs and the wider civil society; with improvements in the overall security situation and the relaunching of the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programme, the Human Rights Section has been working to increase its presence in the field and has begun to establish satellite offices in provincial locations.

Concerning the human rights training programme, the report notes that it is broadly divided into three areas: ongoing technical support for national bodies such as the army and the police force, training for national NGOs active in the field of human rights, and in-house human rights training for peacekeepers. Human rights training for ex-combatants has also been provided in Freetown, and future projects include the training of trainers for national networks of ex-combatants, as well as planning for community-based reconciliation awareness to facilitate peace-building efforts.

Other points noted include these: Sierra Leone has a dual judicial system, where the formal statutory law and the judiciary coexist with customary law and the traditional courts; the deterioration of the judicial system as a whole began long before the armed conflict and continued during the past decade; the principal trends included lack of independence, objectivity and impartiality, anachronistic laws and practices, insufficient personnel, inappropriate structures, poor logistics and inadequate training and remuneration; at the time the report was prepared, there were only 21 judges in the whole country and none of the courts ever sat outside of Freetown; one priority is the reform of the juvenile justice system and the general harmonization of laws with international human rights law and standards on human rights in the administration of justice; the armed conflict has had a disastrous impact on the local courts that apply customary law, and UNAMSIL is assisting the restoration of those bodies, noting that the people respect the local courts as a system of dispute resolution; there is also widespread concern about arbitrariness and inequitability in court practices, noting UNAMSIL efforts to address these concerns through its rule of law programme; the Human Rights Section played a key role in the establishment of the Lawyers Centre for Legal Assistance, the first legal assistance project of its kind in the country, noting that the Centre will render free legal services to the poor and the needy on all matters concerning human rights abuses; efforts are also under way to strengthen legal education and access to legal information, and to reinforce the policy and adjudication capacities of the judiciary.

Concerning the establishment of the truth and reconciliation commission the report notes that the OHCHR project for the commission includes such elements as: a public information/education campaign; a mapping of the conflict (compilation of information regarding key defining events within the period of temporal jurisdiction of the truth and reconciliation commission); research into the traditional methods of conflict resolution and reconciliation among the different cultural groups in the country; the selection of commissioners; the preliminary identification of the facility requirement of the commission - for instance, the form of secretariat required, including staffing and logistic requirements; the statutory three months preparatory period for the truth and reconciliation commission, which begins two weeks after the inauguration of the commission and during which the commission will plan its operational procedures, set up offices, recruit and hire staff, etc.; a round table on the relationship between the truth and reconciliation commission and the independent special court, in order to ensure that they complement each other with mutual respect for their different but related mandates. The establishment of the commission was anticipated to take place in October 2001. The report notes that considerable efforts were being made to ensure Sierra Leonean ownership of the truth and reconciliation process and to include in it traditional structures and methods. Since women and girls constitute the vast majority of victims of the armed conflict, a deliberate effort was also being made to ensure that they participate actively in the truth and reconciliation process. In July, the RUF leadership indicated support for the commission and acknowledged that it is a party to it by virtue of the Lomé Peace Agreement.

With respect to the independent special court, the OHCHR has been liaising with the Office of Legal Affairs of the Secretariat to ensure appropriate synchronization and collaboration in the preparations for the establishment of the court and the truth and reconciliation commission.

The OHCHR has also been involved in the work aimed at the establishment of a national human rights commission as required under the Lomé Peace Agreement. The government had prepared draft legislation establishing the commission, which was being reviewed by experts who were to prepare a commentary on the bill for the government's consideration.

The High Commissioner concluded the report by noting that the OHCHR will continue to implement its comprehensive programme of assistance with the following elements: technical assistance for the establishment of a truth and reconciliation commission and a national human rights commission; building capacity through training for law enforcement authorities and support for local civil society groups.

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