OHCHR FIELD OFFICE NEEDS TO WORK HARDER ON TRC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 FREETOWN 000529

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/W, DRL, IO

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PREL SL
SUBJECT: OHCHR FIELD OFFICE NEEDS TO WORK HARDER ON TRC
IMPLEMENTATION

REF: SECSTATE 73151

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Summary
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1. The UNIOSIL Human Rights Section manages UNHCHR
activities in Sierra Leone. The Section Director told
PolAsst that the primary activities of his office were
dissemination, sensitization, and implementation of the
Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)
recommendations. Recently, the mandate was expanded to
include activities related to rule of law. Unfortunately,
lack of resources, strategic focus and political will has
caused TRC implementation to stagnate. UNIOSIL's TRC
activities have not been as visible as those of NGO's.
Greater collaboration between UNIOSIL and civil society may
help overcome the GoSL's lack of political will for
implementation. End Summary

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UNIOSIL Contributes to TRC Awareness and
Increasing Rule of Law
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2. On June 27, Pol Intern met with Benedict Sannoh, UNIOSIL
Human Rights Section Director, to discuss the activities of
the OHCHR field presence in Sierra Leone. The mandate of the
Human Rights Section includes dissemination, sensitization,
and implementation of the TRC recommendations and improving
rule of law. Sannoh's office created a 75 page summary of
the full 2,032 page TRC document for mass distribution.
Also, the office is sponsoring music CDs and video dramas to
sensitize illiterate populations to the contents of the
report. Sannoh said that his office has also helped to
create local human rights councils in every district in
Sierra Leone, to ensure that human rights concerns are
addressed at all levels.


3. The OHCHR recently expanded the mission mandate to
include strengthening rule of law. DFID is funding a major
project on the same topic through the Justice Sector
Development Program. The UNIOSIL Human Rights Section plans
to complement the current DFID agenda and focus on any gaps
not filled by DFID activities. Sannoh said that programs
would most likely focus on capacity building in the
prosecutorial system. (Comment: The human rights mandate
was only recently expanded to include rule of law, so program
activities have not been finalized. Nevertheless, rule of
law is an important issue in Sierra Leone and assistance to
the prosecutorial system will probably be well received. End
Comment.)

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TRC Implementation: Lacks Political Will
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4. Sannoh said that the greatest impediment to TRC
implementation (as required by law) has been lack of
political will and strategic organization. He has had the
most difficulty getting the government to support reparations
for war victims. He said that the government lacks resources
and is waiting for international assistance; however,
assistance will only come after the government has made a
good faith effort to assist its citizens. On a positive
note, UNIOSIL recently collaborated with NaCSA (Sierra
Leone's successor to the National Commission for
Resettlement, Reconstruction & Rehabilitation),to host a
seminar discussing institutional arrangements for a
reparations program.


5. Sannoh also explained that because the government never
created an official strategy for TRC implementation, many of
the TRC recommendations have been implemented without credit.
(Note: Creation of the Anti-Corruption Commission, Child
Rights Bill, and judicial code of conduct are examples of TRC
recommendations that have been implemented without being
acknowledged as such. End Note.) Sannoh said that this lack
of strategic focus makes it appear as if the GoSL is not
doing anything to support implementation when, in reality,
they are making some progress.


6. The Human Rights Section is also encumbered with a dual
mandate, which requires that it report both to DPKO and
OHCHR. However, because the office is not strictly under the
auspices of OHCHR it does not have full access to the
resources OHCHR has to offer. Sannoh argues that this lack

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of resources is another factor that makes it more difficult
to support TRC implementation.

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Civil Society More Visible on TRC
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7. The most publicized efforts to draw attention to the TRC,
however, have been through the NGO community. NGO's WITNESS
and Conflict Management & Development Associates (CMDA) have
a joint TRC follow-up project, which included a media
campaign that coincided with the release of "Witness to
Truth," a documentary film about the TRC. The media campaign
was followed by a WITNESS-sponsored TRC workshop at
Parliament, an effort to encourage MPs to implement
legislative reforms recommended in the TRC Final Report.


8. WITNESS also convinced UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador (and
former Tomb Raider) Angelina Jolie to visit Sierra Leone to
push for swifter government action on TRC implementation.
After an ever-so-politely confrontational joint press
conference between Jolie, the Attorney General, and NGO
representatives, the Government released a long-awaited White
Paper response to the TRC Final Report.


9. A New York-based NGO, the Civil Coalition for Truth &
Reconciliation, started keeping a public "score card" of the
Government's progress in implementing the TRC's
recommendations. In December 2005, the Government scored and
"E", the lowest rating, on 31 out of 47 items tracked, and
the report received wide coverage in the local press.

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Comment
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10. The UNIOSIL Human Rights Section has not been able to
make implementation of the TRC recommendations a priority for
the GoSL. Though the dissemination and sensitization
campaign has been effective (thanks to parallel efforts from
NGOs) implementation is seriously lagging.


11. Direct reporting to OHCHR may provide additional
resources and institutional clarity, but on the ground,
UNIOSIL does not appear to be maximizing its potential
leverage with the government. Strategic thinking vis a vis
TRC implementation is occurring in the NGO community and
UNIOSIL could use its influence with the government to
transfer that thinking to GoSL officials. However, the GoSL
may be implementing TRC recommendations selectively because
it does not agree with all of them, such as abolition of the
death penalty. End Comment.
HULL