Special court prosecutor steps down after three years in the job

David Crane, the American prosecutor of Sierra Leone’s UN-backed war crimes tribunal, has announced that he will step down in July, even though the trials currently under way are likely to continue into 2006.

The former lawyer with the US Department of Defence said he was satisfied with the progress achieved so far by the Special Court, even though he had not yet succeeded in bringing former Liberian president Charles Taylor to stand trial before it.

“90 percent of the work has been done, the trials are moving forward, justice is to be done and the job will be completed by the end of 2006”, Crane told IRIN by telephone on Tuesday.

The prosecutor, who has been a high-profile figure since the Special Court was set up in July 2002, said he was simply quitting at the end of his current contract for family reasons.

“Three years ago, I made a promise to my wife that I would be in the job for three years. The appointment ends in July, there is nothing controversial,” he said.

The Special Court of Sierra Leone is mandated to try those deemed primarily responsible for war crimes and human rights abuse committed during the latter phases of Sierra Leone’s 1991-2001 civil war.

It is the first international war crimes tribunal to sit UN-appointed international judges alongside local judges at a court in the country where the atrocities took place. Its three-year mandate ends later this year, but can be extended if proceedings take longer to complete.

The court has so far indicted 13 people, nine of whom are in custody. Two have died - former rebel leader Foday Sankoh and his military commander Sam Bockarie.

A further two indictees remain beyond the court’s reach.

One of these is Taylor, who as president of Liberia was the main backer of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebel movement. Forced to quit power in August 2003, he now lives in Nigeria, which granted him political asylum.

The other absentee is Johnny Paul Koroma, the leader of a military junta which ruled Sierra Leone from 1997 to 1998. He went into hiding two years ago.

The first trial started in June 2004. It involves war crimes charges against former Defence Minister Sam Hinga Norman and other leaders of the Civil Defence Force, a militia group set up to fight for the government of elected president Ahmad Tejan Kabbah.

The second trial, of RUF leaders, began in July last year.

A third, featuring key members of Koroma's Armed Forces Revolutionary Council, is due to begin on 7 March.

Crane said he did not feel frustrated at his failure to bring Taylor before the court, adding that there was still a good chance of extraditing him to stand trial.

“Legally we are ready to receive Taylor. Politically we are working with friends in Nigeria and with the international community into turning him to court for a proper trial,” he told IRIN.

The prosecutor said last week’s resolution by the European parliament calling on the European Union and its members states to do their utmost to persuade Nigeria to hand over the former Liberian leader was a landmark decision.

Mike McGovern, the West Africa Director of the International Crisis Group, said Crane has been an asset to the court.

“Crane has been an advocate for a strict and robust application of international law to all parties in the Sierra Leonean conflict and the energy and conviction he’s brought to the job have pushed forward the process,” McGovern told IRIN in the Senegalese capital Dakar.

Crane himself said he had drawn three lessons from the Court which is widely eyed as a potential model for war crimes in other conflicts: that the court's mandate to just try those bearing greatest responsibility for war crimes, its location in the country where the tragedy took place and its short timeframe for completing the trial of suspects had been right.

He warned that unless such war crimes tribunals were properly conceived they risked becoming "a political liability and potential threat to peace, not sustainer of peace”.

McGovern agreed with this analysis.

“The speed with which the court got up and running is unprecedented. The court is already a success in the sense that it is operated more efficiently than the sister courts, largely due to Crane’s energy and dedication,” he said.

The only other international war crimes tribunal set up so far in Africa was established in Arusha, Tanzania, to try those responsible for the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. More than 10 years later, this body, with an 800-strong staff, is still conducting trials at an estimated cost of US$90 million per year.

The Special Court in Sierra Leone was established with an initial budget of US$60 million for three years and was designed to deliver justice faster and more cheaply.

However, obtaining the necessary funding to keep it going has been difficult.

“Money has always been a great challenge which has not kept us from doing our job,” Crane said. “We had great assistance by the UN which gave money till the end of 2005, and it will be necessary to go back to the international community after that.”

McGovern said he expected the CDF and RUF trials to continue well into 2006, while the AFRC trials, which are shortly to get under way, would probably last until the end of 2005.