Government asks UN for international tribunal

The United Nations Legal Council is considering a request by Sierra Leone for an international tribunal in Freetown to put rebel leader Foday Sankoh and others on trial for crimes against humanity, UN spokesman Manoel de Aleida e Silva told reporters on Tuesday. Although he would not reveal details of the request, AFP reported that Sierra Leone Information Minister Julius Spencer said the government wanted the tribunal to operate under a combination of Sierra Leonean and international law. It remains unclear how this would operate. “The tribunal will be set up to try for crimes past and present,” Spencer told AFP. However, the Lome peace accord signed in July 1999 gave amnesty to all human rights abuses committed before that deal. The provision drew wide criticism from human rights groups. Since that accord, the RUF has continued to maim, rape and kill innocent civilians. It also detained some 500 UN peacekeepers in May and released them a month later after pressure from Liberian President Charles Taylor, acting on the behest of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). On 8 May, Sankoh supporters fired live rounds into protestors who gathered outside his home. Several people were killed and Sankoh escaped only to be recaptured just over a week later near his home. He is now in government custody and, presidential spokesman Septimus Kaikai told AFP, could be charged with murder. At the UN, US Ambassador Richard Holbrooke said his country wanted some kind war crimes tribunal to be set up “swiftly and efficiently” for Sankoh and his supporters. “We do not believe that Sierra Leone can have a peaceful and stable future until they are brought to justice,” Holbrooke said.