Amnesty calls for wider UN mandate

Pierre Sane, secretary-general of Amnesty International, has called for the UN peacekeeping operation in Sierra Leone to have a wider mandate to be able to protect civilians fully, according to an Amnesty statement issued in Freetown on Friday.

Referring to a letter AI sent last week to the UN Security Council emphasising the need for the peacekeeping mandate to be expanded, Sane said: “Peacekeepers must actively protect civilians at all times, not just those ‘under imminent threat of physical violence’ which is currently their mandate.

“UNAMSIL forces must have the necessary training and logistical support to carry out this mandate throughout the country.”

Sane paid a two-day visit to Sierra Leone during which he met with President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, government officials, UN representatives, foreign officials and members of the NGO community. He outlined the human rights agenda of AI saying that it must be “at the heart of international concern if this crisis is to be resolved”.

He also said that impunity must end and an international commission of inquiry established to investigate human rights abuses that occurred during the internal conflict. He also called on all governments to enforce the existing UN arms embargo to prevent weapons from reaching rebel forces and demanded an end to the international diamond trade from rebel-held areas in Sierra Leone.