- The Special Court, investigating war crimes in Sierra Leone, claims to have information that persons suspected of war crimes have fled to neighbouring Liberia. Liberia giving refuge to Sierra Leonean ex-rebels would be in breach with the UN sanctions regime, and the court's allegations have therefore been forcefully denied by Liberia.
The chief investigator at the Special Court for Sierra Leone, which is jointly run by the Sierra Leonean government and the UN, yesterday appealed to President Charles Taylor of Liberia to arrest two Sierra Leonean fugitives indicted for war crimes. He claims to have information about their whereabouts in Liberia.
Alan White, the tribunal's Chief of Investigations said that Court investigators had received credible information that two of its indicted chief suspects - Johnny Paul Koroma and Sam Bockarie - are currently in Liberia. Mr Bockarie was an RUF rebel commander, reputed for slaughtering, enslaving and raping the civilian population. Mr Koroma, on the other hand, overthrew the elected President in 1997, thus sparking a new round of the civil war.
Mr White thus appealed to President Taylor to hand over the two fugitives, who were indicted along with five other suspects implicated in a decade's-worth of atrocities and human rights violations during Sierra Leone's brutal civil war. All had connections to the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), and the charges involved acts ranging from murder, sexual slavery and rape, to forced conscription of children and attacks on UN peacekeepers.
Mr White added President Taylor could face prosecution for "aiding and abetting known war criminals," if he did not hand over the fugitives. He also said his office was trying to reach out to West African leaders to obtain their help in securing a handover of the two suspects. These countries have observers in Liberia, attempting to find a solution to the ongoing Liberian civil war.
The Liberian regime was placed under a UN sanctions regime because it was fuelling the civil wars in Sierra Leone and Guinea. To lift its sanctions, the UN Security Council demands Liberia to "expel all RUF members from Liberia," with a special mention of suspected war criminal Sam Bockarie, alias "Mosquito".
In a recent UN report, investigating Liberia's adherence to the UN demands, the UN mission in Monrovia was assured by the Taylor government "that the former RUF rebel commander was not in Liberia." The Liberian Foreign Minister had referred to the Consul of Côte d'Ivoire in Monrovia, who had "disclosed the presence of Mr Bockarie" in his own country.
The Liberian government however indicated it could not take the UN demand seriously under the present conditions, "almost one year after successful democratic elections in Sierra Leone."
The government had also given the same information to a recent mission by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The Taylor regime had reminded the mission that "RUF as a rebel group no longer existed, since it has been transformed into a political party." The whereabouts of ex-RUF leaders therefore seemed irrelevant.
According to the ECOWAS mission, "unofficial sources" however had "alleged that Sam Bockarie and some RUF elements were engaged in the western front of the Ivorian conflict, with the connivance of the government of Liberia." Several sources therefore indicate Mr Bockarie may be running operations at the Ivorian-Liberian border.
President Taylor's spokesman, Vani Passawe, yesterday commented on the allegations by the Sierra Leonean court, claiming Mr Bockarie and Mr Koroma were not in Liberia. He claimed the fugitives had been expelled from Liberia several years ago and would have been arrested immediately if seen in Liberia.
The Special Court
Sierra Leone's tribunal differs from those of set up by the UN Security Council for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia in that its proceedings will be held in the country and include a mix of local and international prosecutors and judges.
The court was created by an agreement between the UN and the Sierra Leonean government to indict and try those considered to have the greatest responsibility for war crimes committed during ten years of brutal conflict. It is designed to function for three years and has power to prosecute those "who bear the greatest responsibility" for serious violations of international humanitarian law and certain violations of Sierra Leone law committed in Sierra Leone since 30 November 1996.
The Sierra Leone Special Court Prosecutor, David Crane, in March announced indictments against RUF's ex-leader Foday Saybana Sankoh and Johnny Paul Koroma, Sam Bockarie, Issa Hassan Sesay, Alex Tamba Brima, Morris Kallon and Sam Hinga Norman, for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and violations of international humanitarian law. Sankoh, Sesay, Brima, Kallon, and Norman are in custody.
Because the Special Court is anticipated to prosecute only around twenty persons, it will leave many crimes unaddressed. A Truth and Reconciliation Commission is also at work in Sierra Leone. Its mandate is to seek to establish an impartial historical record of the conflict and promote reconciliation, but it will not have the capacity to adjudicate criminal responsibility.
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