10 years after the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL), a Residual Special Court will soon be in full swing as the flame of international justice constantly burns at the court’s facilities.
The blazing flame the former SCSL facilities is burning back the shadows of impunity which, for several years have been deeply ingrained into the Sierra Leone culture. The screws are being tightened, and there will be no hiding place for human rights abusers.
The UN and ICC flags also fly at the SCSL facilities at New England Ville in Freetown symbolising that justice is at Sierra Leoneans’ doorsteps.
The special Court whose mandate ended in 2013 had a duty to bring to justice those responsible for serious human rights crimes committed during Sierra Leone’s 11-year civil war. Renovation of the old SCSL facilities is underway as the judges set to start work soon.
Documents seen by this press show that the Judges have been briefed by the prosecutor and registrar to give them an insight into what is about to come.
Rules of evidence have been developed, but it remains unclear who are the prime targets, but it is hoped that those who bear the greatest responsibility would fall in the net.
However, within weeks, indictments will be released for those who committed crimes against humanity between 2018 and 2023.
The prosecution is already made clear by the ICC (International Criminal Court)’s Chief Prosecutor, Karim Kahn who recently met with Vice President, Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh to chart ways about ending impunity in Sierra Leone.
He minced no word in reminding Sierra Leoneans that “crimes of genocide, aggression and crimes against humanity must end, and the law is needed now more than ever.”
The prosecutor’s discussion with Sierra Leone’s second gentleman reminisced the one he held with President Julius Maada Bio who he met in New York in September last year saying the “lives of people in the Global South, Latin America and Africa matter the same way as the life of any person anywhere in the world.”
During the New York meeting, the ICC Chief Prosecutor said in plain terms that the people of Freetown, Lungi and other parts upcountry wanted to see justice as the prosecution could not be confined here at the Hague, the Dutch city that hosts the ICC.
From the prosecutor’s stance, it goes without saying that the new court will look again at various crimes that touch on major conventions that form the crux of international humanitarian and human rights laws.
One cardinal rule which borders on the protection of prisoners or those held in custody runs through all those four conventions, and is a crime for one to abuse or maltreat them.
The ICC’s protection principle however appears to have been whittled down here in Sierra Leone where dozens of inmates including a prison officer were allegedly fatally injured in a shoot-out in the early morning hours of 29th April, 2020 at the peak of Corona Virus Pandemic.
According to security sources, the shooting was an apparent move to forestall an attempted break at the country’s main correctional facility in Freetown.
Others said it was a protest following an order issued by former Chief Justice, Babatunde Edwards that all trials be put on hold for a month owing to a suspicion of a Covid-19 case in one of the inmates.
Controversies however hanged on the casualty figure, but official statistics indicated 31 with the perpetrators remaining Unknown at the moment.
In July, 2020, the Northern city of Makeni also saw another shooting of unarmed and defenceless civilians who took to the streets against the removal of 6.5kva standby thermal plant.
The protest also left about six people dead, but the figure was also unconfirmed as unofficial sources said otherwise.
A parliamentarian representing one of the constituencies in Bombali district put the figure at 20. The exact casualty figure, according to the Bombali law makers became known after most of those arrested were released from prison cells.
In August 10, 2022, protest against cost-of-living crisis saw the death of 31 protesters including six police officers while others sustained injuries.
It was during the August protest that a popular social media blogger, Hassan Dumbuya aka Evangelist Samson was allegedly shot at by security operatives owing to allegations of incitement.
A probe into the killings was however conducted by a Special Investigation Committee (SIC) and made recommendations which were yet to be implemented.
Sacked Deputy Minister, Lahai Lawrence Leema who allegedly masterminded extra-judicial killings in Freetown after the August protest turned down an invitation by the SIC. According to the minister, he received no invitation from the committee, and that he did nothing wrong during the protest.
In September11, 2023, in the immediate post-election period, six people were allegedly gunned down including a disabled top-up seller, Alfred Kallon in the Eastern part of Freetown.
The protesters had demanded that the Electoral Commission published credible election results as demanded by the Public Elections Act, 2022 and other laws governing the conduct of elections in Sierra Leone.
Killings in a tiny village known as Rosengbe in Tonkolili, Tombo, Western Rural, Lunsar in PortLoko and Tonko Limba in Kambia districts also might be looked into by the court.
EU election report, 2023, also captured incidents of gun violence at APC headquaters in Freetown with some being fatal.
The alleged shooting dead of an APC supporter commonly known as White Boy and a nurse were linked to the gun attacks by security operatives according to the report.
Allegations of undermining the democratic process in June 24, 2023 would also not go uninvestigated when the court sits as it borders on the country’s peace and stability.
However, arguments about whether the Residual Court would look at the above offences remain rife owing to doubt that there is a functioning judiciary and Sierra Leone is sovereign.
Some argued that the ICC prosecutor was here to further congratulate government of Sierra Leone for holding a seat at the UN Security Council, the highest organ of the UN.
Similar arguments were also made when the prosecutor met with President Bio in New York where plans to have an ad hoc international tribunal were discussed.
But, the arguments appeared to have died in the waters as the ICC Chief Prosecutor does not constantly visit a particular government for nothing, and the ICC judges do not sit without proper and sufficient reason and there was no way the international community could spend money to fix the court’s facilities at New England.
Such preparations were also similarly done after Sierra Leone’s civil war ended in March, 2002 shown by the symbolic burning of arms and ammunition at Lungi Garrison in PortLoko district.
To end impunity, the SCSL was formed and funded to try those who masterminded murder, pillage, arson, sexual slavery and conscription of child combatants targeting top commanders and commandos of the various armed factions: the Revolutionary United Front, Armed Forces Revolutionary Council and the Civil Defence Force of which the Kamajor militia was a key and dominant unit.
The likes of Foday Saybana Sankoh, Issa Sesay, Ibrahim Bazzy Kamara, Hinga Norman, Allieu Kondewai, Moinina Fofanah, Morris Kallon and others were humbled in the defunct court with none seeing the light of day after the trial.
Ex-Liberian President, Charles Ghankay Taylor who aided and abetted the commission of the crimes during the war was also similarly charged and arraigned as a principal offender.
Most are serving their sentences in foreign jails while ex-AFRC leader, Johnny Paul Koroma still remains at large.
Instilling a rule-of-law culture was one of the court’s greatest benefits to the people of Sierra Leone, but recent violence showed that it had taught no lesson.
It is hoped that the new court would address impunity this time to keep the dream of the pioneers of the 1998 Rome Statute alive.
One was the Ghanian Born UN Secretary-General, Kofi Anan who said “the long-held dream of the creation of a permanent International Criminal Court has been realised. Those who commit war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity will no longer be beyond the reach of justice.”