Sierra Leone: victims of war remain without reparations
On the occasion of the International Day in Support of Victims of torture, the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and Forum of Conscience (FOC) call upon the Government of Sierra Leone to establish with the utmost urgency the Special Fund for War Victims.
Geneva, Freetown, 26 June 2006
In July 1999, the Lome Peace Agreement put an end to the brutal conflict that broke out in Sierra Leone on 23 March 1991 and made up about 4.5 million direct and or indirect victims as a result of the conflict. Article xxvi of this agreement provided for the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC): “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 achieve these objectives, the TRC report recommended the implementation of the Reparations programme for Sierra Leone with specific purpose of providing redress to the victims of human rights violations using the Special Fund for War Victims. In this light, it was recommended to the Government of Sierra Leone to seek outside financial or donor support to help implement the reparation programme, especially from countries that contributed to the war in Sierra Leone and to set up a sub unit within the National Commission for Social Action (NaCSA) that will implement the programme. Consequently, the Special Fund for War Victims was further recommended to be established within three months of the handover of the Commission’s Report to the President in August 2005.
To date, the Special Fund for War Victims has not been established and victims of war remain totally unassisted.
As far as the ex-combatants are concerned, their welfare was handled by the Government of Sierra Leone with support from international countries and institutions such as the United Kingdom, Germany, the United States of America and the World Bank through the National Commission for Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (NCDDR) programme from 2000 to 2003, which started less than six months after the signing of the peace agreement. !
In order to prevent revenge, recurrence of the trauma caused by the war, victims need to be empowered by providing them with basic welfare facilities in other to restore their lost dignity in accordance with human rights standards such as the UN Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law.
On 26 June 2006 in Freetown, FOC, OMCT and Redress (Seeking Reparation for Torture Survivors) will in collaboration with NaCSA organise a Seminar at the Conference Hall of The Bintumani Hotel in order to work out practical Issues and urge the Government of Sierra Leone to set up the Special Fund for War Victims within the shortest delays.
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