January 18, 2022
By: Hafsatu Z Bangura
The Residual Special Court for Sierra Leone together with the Center for International Law and policy in Africa has informed the media of a commemoration of the burning of arms in Lungi on the 18th January 2022 that formally ended the 11 year civil conflict, and the signing of the agreement between the United States and the Government of Sierra Leone that happened two days ago on the 16th January 2022.
The event will be held at the Sierra Leone peace museum on Tuesday 18th January 2022 with a registration of all participants at 9:30am.
The event is organized by the Residual Special Court of Sierra Leone in collaboration with the centre for International Law and Policy in Africa will convene a commemoration of a historic moment as well as the end of the war in the march forward for the Rule of Law in Sierra Leone and Internationally.
As parties to the agreement creating hybrid tribunal speakers from the United Nations will be addressing distinguished personalities on behalf of the United Nations and from Sierra Leone a highly profiled personality will also be addressing delegates, diplomats, and distinguished personalities to the commemoration of a historic encounter.
On the 16th January 2002 the United Nations and the Government of Sierra Leone signed an historic agreement providing for the establishment of a special court for Sierra Leone.
This event happened two days before the burning of arms on the 18th January to mark the end of the 11year armed conflict. Hence the purpose of the SCSL was to prosecute those people’s bearing greatest responsibility for war crimes, crimes against humanity and other serious violations of International humanitarian law as well as Sierra Leonean law committed during the conflict after November 30 1996.
The 16th January 2022 would mark the Twentieth Anniversary of the signing in Freetown, of the first bilateral between the United Nations and it’s member states providing for the innovative establishment of an International penal tribunal to prosecute atrocity crimes by using a mix of national and international law as well as employing a mix of national and international prosecutors, judges and staffs.
Significantly, breaking with the practice in relation to the prior UN tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, the SCSL became the first modern International court to sit in the country where the crimes were alleged to have been committed.
The Special Court for Sierra Leone would investigate, prosecute ad convict several leaders from the three main warring factions in the Sierra Leone conflict and the former president of Liberia, Charles Taylor, for his role in the arm conflict.
In addition to its trials which were completed in December 2013, the special court is widely recognized for introducing a more credible hybrid or mixed tribunal model of accountability for International crimes and for its contribution of important judicial precedents to the development of International Criminal Law and Justice.
The Twentieth Anniversary would also be an opportunity for victims, associations, civil society, members of the diplomatic community, and academia to mark the completion and opening of the Memorial Garden located in the former SCSL premises in New England Ville.
The memorial Garden will be dedicated to the memory of the many victims of the brutal war which lasted between March 1991 and January 2002.