Rights violations continue one year on

One year after the signing of the Lome Peace Accord between the government and Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels, civilians continue to be victims of human rights violations in Sierra Leone, Amnesty International (AI) said on Thursday. Deliberate and arbitrary killings, mutilations, rapes and abductions are still taking place in Sierra Leone, and following the resumption of hostilities between government and rebel forces in May, these abuses against civilians have increased, AI said. “The peace agreement signed on 7 July 1999 has brought neither peace nor an end to atrocities in Sierra Leone,” AI said. The human rights body is calling on those countries represented at key meetings this week of the UN Security Council, the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) and the European Union (EU) to take measures which will have a real impact on the protection of civilians from human rights abuses.