The Special Court for Sierra Leone: the experience of restoring truth through international justice
On its historical path, the West African country of Sierra Leone has gone through terrible events that are currently taking place in Ukraine. The difference is that an international armed conflict is ongoing in our country, and in Sierra Leone, these events took place against the background of a civil war that lasted from 1991 to 2002.
The country became the scene of the most terrible crimes against humanity and war crimes: brutal murders, rapes, incitement to violence, etc. The conflict left a deep mark on society and required international intervention.
During the hostilities, more than 120,000 people died, and more than 2 million people were forced to leave their homes and seek refuge in refugee camps. The most common crimes were sexual and gender-based violence, mass killings, amputations of limbs and other body parts, and the recruitment of children into the military forces of the warring parties.
That is why Sierra Leone needed international intervention, and the establishment of an international criminal court, which became the Special Court for Sierra Leone (Special Court). It was established in the form of an independent international organization with special competence and belonged to the category of mixed (hybrid) international criminal courts.
The establishment of the Special Court was initiated by the Sierra Leone authorities themselves, when the President of the Republic, Ahmad Tejan Kabba, sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan with a corresponding proposal. The appeal was “to provide assistance in the creation of an effective and credible court that will meet the goals of administering justice and ensuring lasting peace.”
On August 14, 2000, at its meeting, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1315 (2000), which contained an appeal to the UN Secretary-General with a request to “negotiate an agreement with the government of Sierra Leone, the purpose of which is the establishment of an independent special court.”
The agreement between the United Nations and the Government of Sierra Leone, ratified by the Parliament of Sierra Leone on April 4, 2002, provided for the establishment of the Special Court. This court was appointed to hear cases of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and violations of international humanitarian law that occurred during the civil war in Sierra Leone between 30 November 1996 and 18 January 2002. The agreement determined the legal status of the court, its tasks, and procedures, as well as established the principles of justice and independence of judges in judging criminal cases.
The Statute of the Special Court entered into force on January 16, 2002, after the adoption of the Law “On the Ratification of the Agreement on the Special Court”. It included provisions that reflected, among other things, the particularity of the armed conflict in Sierra Leone. It was an attempt to create a less expensive court compared to other tribunals. The Court itself began performing its functions on July 1, 2002.
The Special Court for Sierra Leone, according to its Statute, is an international court and has the authority to try the cases of those who bear “the greatest responsibility” for serious violations of international humanitarian law in Sierra Leone and the commission of crimes under national law. The statute regulates in detail the organization, composition, temporal, and substantive jurisdiction of the court, as well as procedural aspects of its activity.
The subject matter jurisdiction of the Special Court for Sierra Leone includes international crimes such as crimes against humanity; serious violations of Article 3 of the 1949 Geneva Convention, war crimes, and other serious violations of international humanitarian law. It also judges national crimes under Sierra Leone law, such as abduction of girls, sexual contact, and other child abuse cases.
The Special Court consists of subdivisions, the list of which is provided for in Article 11 of the Court’s Statute. These are the following subdivisions: Judicial body, consisting of two Trial Chambers and one Appellate Chamber; Prosecutor and Secretariat.
Investigation of cases and prosecution of persons, in compliance with Article 15 of the Statute, belongs to the competence of the Prosecutor.
The Sierra Leone court is unique in its law-application process, where the hybrid character is expressed in the use of rules of procedure and evidence which are taken mutatis mutandis from the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the Sierra Leone Criminal Procedure Law of 1965.
According to the Statute, the Special Court and national courts have concurrent jurisdiction, but the Special Court has supremacy over national courts within its jurisdiction. At any stage of the trial, the Special Court may formally request the case to be transferred to it.
Decisions and judicial practice have shown that those responsible for serious international crimes committed during the civil war will be prosecuted and convicted. Thus, 16 people were imprisoned, including the former president of Liberia, Charles Taylor. At the beginning of 2013, the trials of three former leaders of the Revolutionary Council of the Armed Forces, two members of the Civil Defense Forces, and three former leaders of the United Revolutionary Front were completed, including the appeal stage. Three people were acquitted, and three more died during the trial, among them Foday Sankoh, who died in 2003. One accused, Johnny Paul Koroma, fled and has not been found. On December 2, 2013, the court ceased to exist. It was replaced by the Residual Special Court for Sierra Leone, which performs a number of additional functions, including witness protection and support, overseeing the execution of sentences, and adjudicating compensation claims.
The case of the Special Court against the former president of Liberia, Charles Taylor, who was charged with war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other violations of international humanitarian law, is noteworthy. The indictment was issued in March 2003, but the final indictment was amended to 11 counts in May 2007 before the trial began.
During the trial, the defense tried to argue that Taylor, as head of state, has immunity from prosecution. However, the Appellate Chamber of the Special Court determined that former heads of state cannot rely on immunities in international courts.
As a result of the court hearings, Charles Taylor was found guilty on 11 counts of being an accomplice, abettor, instigator, and direct perpetrator of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other violations of international humanitarian law. In April 2012, he was sentenced to 50 years in prison, a sentence upheld by the Appeals Chamber. He became the first former head of an African state to be convicted by an international court for violations of international humanitarian law.
Analysis of the practice of the Special Court provides grounds for a conclusion regarding the effectiveness of international criminal judicial bodies.
At the same time, it is also necessary to take into account the negative experiences and problems that have arisen. In particular, the Special Court proved unable to achieve the goal of strengthening the Sierra Leone judicial system since the majority of its members were international judges, and the court itself was characterized as not belonging to the national justice system. Allies of former Liberian President Charles Taylor, who was wanted at the time, in an effort to undermine the credibility of the Special Court, actively spread misinformation that the Special Court would prosecute all ex-combatants in Liberia. While the Special Court had a mandate only against those who bore “the greatest responsibility” for crimes committed on the territory of Sierra Leone.
Former President Taylor was charged at that time by the chief prosecutor and founder of the Special Court, the American lawyer David Crane. Currently, he founded The Global Accountability Network initiative to bring together prominent lawyers and law professors. Together, they help bring international criminals, including Russians, to justice for crimes in Ukraine.
For reference
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