Press Releases:

June 22, 2007

Special Court for Sierra Leone Issues First Judgment

Long-Awaited Milestone in Road to Justice

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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Kasia Reterska
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NEW YORK, June 22, 2007-The release of the Special Court for Sierra Leone's (SCSL) first judgment on Wednesday-almost four years after starting its work in 2002-is an important milestone on the road to justice for all victims of the conflict, the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) said today.

In Freetown, Trial Chamber II of the Court handed down the verdict in the case against three accused members of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC): Alex Tamba Brima, Brima Bazzy Kamara and Santigie Borbor Kanu. The three were each found guilty of war crimes, including terrorism and collective punishments, murder, and pillage, and for the first time in the history of international justice, the accused were convicted of the recruitment and use of child soldiers, also a war crime.

The SCSL also found the three guilty of murder, extermination, enslavement, and rape as crimes against humanity. One of the innovations of the case had been the Prosecutor's charges of additional sexual violence crimes, especially the common practice of soldiers and rebels taking young women as their "wives" and keeping them as domestic and sexual slaves. The Court did convict the three of war crimes based on these charges. But the Court's decision not to classify these as crimes against humanity represents a missed opportunity to reaffirm that such gender crimes were part of a broad and systematic policy. "The widespread practice of taking young women as a soldier's entitlement has had a devastating impact on this group of women, just as the practice of taking children to fight has had on Sierra Leone's youth" said Abdul Tejan Cole, Head of the ICTJ's Sierra Leone program and a former prosecutor of the Special Court.

All of the accused were found guilty of these charges either on the basis of direct responsibility or superior responsibility in their respective roles as senior leaders of the AFRC. The three were acquitted of one count of physical violence.

Trial Chamber I is expected soon to pass judgment on two accused members of the Civil Defence Forces (CDF). The third, Chief Samuel Hinga Norman, died in February 2007 after the conclusion of the trial hearings. The trial against the three accused in the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) case is proceeding and the trial of Charles Taylor is due to continue next week at The Hague.

Background to the AFRC Trial

The three former senior members of the AFRC faced a 14-count indictment alleging crimes against humanity, war crimes, and other serious violations of international humanitarian law. Although indicted separately between March and September 2003, on February 28, 2004, the Trial Chamber ordered the joint trial of Brima, Kamara and Kanu. The three pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The trial began on March 7, 2005 after initial delays in the appointment of a second Trial Chamber and concluded in October 2006. The Court heard testimony from more than 140 witnesses.

The charges against the three AFRC accused included the rape of girls and women of all ages and sexual slavery, in which "bush-wives" were forced into "marriages" and coerced into performing duties for their "husbands," while traveling with the armed factions and regularly suffering rape.

The Sierra Leone conflict is also known for the widespread use of child soldiers. The charges against the three AFRC accused included conscripting or enlisting children under the 15 years of age into armed forces or groups and using them to participate actively in hostilities. In addition to proving these underlying charges, crimes against humanity require proof of a widespread or systematic attack on a civilian population and knowledge by the defendants that they were acting in that context. The attacks conducted under the command of the three accused included unlawful killings, physical and sexual violence against civilians, abductions, and looting and destruction of civilian property. The AFRC and RUF also physically mutilated men, women and children, amputating their hands or feet and carving "AFRC" and "RUF" into their skin. Countless civilians witnessed these crimes.

The AFRC was formed when members of the Armed Forces of Sierra Leone seized power from the elected government through a coup on May 25, 1997. Shortly thereafter, the AFRC and RUF joined forces. Brima was a senior member of the AFRC, Junta, and combined AFRC/RUF forces, and at various stages of the conflict, was in direct command of those forces. Both Kamara and Kanu were among the group of 17 soldiers who staged the coup and ousted President Kabbah. The three accused commanded AFRC/RUF forces during the attack on Freetown on January 6, 1999.

About the ICTJ

The International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) assists countries pursuing accountability for past mass atrocity or human rights abuse. The Center works in societies emerging from repressive rule or armed conflict, as well as in established democracies where historical injustices or systemic abuse remain unresolved.

In order to promote justice, peace, and reconciliation, government officials and nongovernmental advocates are likely to consider a variety of transitional justice approaches including both judicial and nonjudicial responses to human rights crimes. The ICTJ assists in the development of integrated, comprehensive, and localized approaches to transitional justice comprising five key elements: prosecuting perpetrators, documenting and acknowledging violations through non-judicial means such as truth commissions, reforming abusive institutions, providing reparations to victims, and facilitating reconciliation processes.

The Center is committed to building local capacity and generally strengthening the emerging field of transitional justice, and works closely with organizations and experts around the world to do so. By working in the field through local languages, the ICTJ provides comparative information, legal and policy analysis, documentation, and strategic research to justice and truth-seeking institutions, nongovernmental organizations, governments and others.

To learn more about the ICTJ visit www.ictj.org