UN concerned over rights abuses

The United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) said on Friday it was “concerned” over human rights abuses committed by both sides in the renewed conflict and the continuing use of child soldiers.

In a statement released in Freetown, UNAMSIL said the “human rights situation is extremely precarious and may deteriorate if the fighting continues”.

It added that fear of “gross human rights violations” by the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) had led to an exodus of people fleeing the rebel forces, creating a humanitarian crisis. Displaced people on the move have also been “particular victims” of rights abuse, UNAMSIL said, while those trapped in rebel-held areas “are not accessible for food and medical aid”.

“There are reports of cases of abduction, rape and physical harassment accompanying the fighting,” the UN mission said. “UNAMSIL is concerned about the treatment of any combatants and peacekeepers detained by the RUF as well as about the thousands of abductees, mainly women and children, taken in previous years, who include children now being used in the fighting.”

UNAMSIL said it had also received reports “indicating that government-allied forces have been responsible for extrajudicial executions, arbitary detention and beatings”. It added that UNAMSIL human rights officers were investigating accounts of abuses committed against RUF prisoners.

The mission said it was “concerned” at the continuing use of child soldiers “by the various combatant groups”. UNAMSIL noted that children were “prominent in the RUF” but that some, possibly as young as 10 years old, were also fighting in “paramilitary forces operating under SLA (Sierra Leone Army) command”.

The statement, based on field trips over the past three weeks around the Freetown area, including Lungi, Port Loko to the north, Masiaka to the east and Bo in the south, called on all sides to respect human rights and international law.