Human rights situation precarious

The human rights situation in Sierra Leone has remained “precarious and unpredictable” since May when RUF fighters resumed hostilities with government forces, UNAMSIL reported in its ‘Human Rights Newsletter’ for September. “While the bulk of the new abuses have been directly attributed to the RUF and a fraction of the ex-SLA calling itself the West Side Boys, a number of abuses have been reported from the pro-government side,” it said. There have been reported cases of summary executions, abductions, torture, rape, destruction of civilian property and the harassment of civilians. UNAMSIL has continued to investigate these cases. It said a major concern to the Human Rights section of UNAMSIL was the need to protect thousands of IDPs who began arriving in Mile 91 since May. They had fled fighting in Makeni and Magburaka, in the middle of the country. Fighting in mid-August in Eastern Sierra Leone caused “large numbers” of civilians to be displaced, internally and externally, UNAMSIL said. OCHA said in its humanitarian report for 8-27 August that the presence of additional UN troops, from India, at Mile 91 had boosted the sense of security among the IDPs and aid workers.