DATE=5/19/2000
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=SIERRA LEONE / FUTURE
NUMBER=5-46349
BYLINE=JOHN PITMAN
DATELINE=FREETOWN
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Sierra Leone's government says it is looking
for what it calls a "middle course" as it decides what
to do with rebel leader Foday Sankoh, who was taken
into government custody on Wednesday. As V-O-A's John
Pitman reports from Freetown, the government is
seeking to balance a growing public demand for Mr.
Sankoh to stand trial with domestic and international
political pressures to salvage last year's Lome peace
accord.
TEXT: With Mr. Sankoh in custody, Sierra Leone's
government faces a difficult choice. It could treat
the rebel leader as a political equal and give him a
second chance to fulfil the promises he made last year
in Lome. Or it could satisfy growing public demands
to prosecute Mr. Sankoh for the murder of 19
demonstrators killed outside his house on May 8th.
For the time being, the government appears to favor
the first option -- giving Mr. Sankoh a second chance.
Sierra Leone's minister of justice, Solomon Berewa,
says the government's decision not to freeze Mr.
Sankoh out of the political process -- or execute him,
as many Sierra Leoneans have urged -- is based on a
policy that favors negotiation over armed conflict.
"We have got to have peace," Mr. Berewa told V-O-A
recently. "At this moment," he added, "we believe
there is more to gain by achieving peace than by
prosecuting Mr. Sankoh."
Responding to public demands for Mr. Sankoh to be
prosecuted immediately, Mr. Berewa defended the
government's policy, saying the public's thirst for
justice is understandable, but must be weighed against
a number of "weighty" international and domestic
political questions.
/// BEREWA ACT ONE ///
There are greater things the government has to
look at -- considerations that are more weighty,
which the average person would not look at.
To them, Foday Sankoh was arrested [and]
yesterday he should have been crushed. And to
them, that would end it. But the government, as
a government, must look beyond yesterday, beyond
today, and take into consideration the views of
the citizens of the country. But not just
those views, but [also the views of] the
international community as a whole.
/// END ACT ///
Among the domestic considerations the government is
worried about is the fate of thousands of Sierra
Leonean civilians kidnapped by the rebels during the
nine-year civil war. Mr. Berewa says hostages are
also a major international consideration, since
hundreds of United Nations peacekeepers remain in
rebel captivity.
/// BEGIN OPT ///
As the government juggles competing demands from the
Sierra Leonean public and the international community,
some Sierra Leoneans are wondering whether the
government's policy is being shaped by pressure from
abroad.
Elizabeth Alpha-Lavalie is a member of Parliament who
says Sierra Leone needs international assistance. She
is concerned that the international community is
putting too much pressure on the government and not
enough on Mr. Sankoh.
/// LAVALIE ACT ///
We have been asking the international community
to get Sankoh off our backs, and his cohorts.
If they expect us to listen to them, why don't
they, in the same vein, expect Sankoh to listen
to them?
/// END ACT ///
The government denies it is bowing to foreign
pressure, and has even criticized countries like the
United States for not maintaining their support for
President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah after urging him to sign
the Lome accord.
Officially, the United States says it remains fully
committed to President Kabbah and the Lome accords.
But Sierra Leonean officials say they have been
disappointed by a lack of visible U-S support during
the current crisis.
Justice Minister Solomon Berewa points to the massive
British military presence in Sierra Leone as an
example of the kind of backing the United States might
also provide. Still, Mr. Berewa says the government
does not expect a country like the United States to
fight its battles.
"We don't expect U-S Marines to fight and die here,"
Mr. Berewa says. "But we would have thought Sierra
Leone would have been a good candidate for U-S
support, since the government is upholding democracy."
/// END OPT ///
While the government extends an olive branch to Mr.
Sankoh, officials insist they are not offering to
re-negotiate the Lome accord. Justice Minister
Solomon Berewa says "there's nothing to negotiate,"
adding, "If Mr. Sankoh returns to the peace process,
whatever he had [in the Lome accord,] he will have
again."
Allowing Mr. Sankoh back into the political dialogue
is not without risk, considering the mounting body
of evidence that the rebel leader spent much of the
last year pursuing illegal diamond-mining activities
instead of disarming his followers, one of the Lome
accord's cornerstones.
Mr. Berewa says the government is aware of these
risks, adding that this time around, if Mr. Sankoh
agrees to cooperate, he will have to prove his good
intentions with concrete acts, not just written
promises.
/// BEREWA ACT TWO ///
I don't think we are so facile, we are so naive,
to be told that if we stop fighting now the
rebels are going to stop fighting. I mean,
there should be something to show to us that if
the government is to stop fighting now, we are
really going to make progress. There should be
something concrete coming, particularly, from
the rebel side.
/// END ACT ///
Sierra Leone's government will not say what kind of
concrete steps it expects the rebels to take, but
diplomats say a visible commitment by the rebels to
disarm would be a good first step.
The government also says it has heard the public calls
for Mr. Sankoh to be prosecuted, and stresses the door
remains open for a trial if Mr. Sankoh does not
cooperate. In the Lome accord, Mr. Sankoh was given a
blanket amnesty for crimes committed before the deal
was signed. But Justice Minister Solomon Berewa has
confirmed the amnesty does not cover Mr. Sankoh now,
and thus the rebel leader would be liable to answer
any criminal charges brought against him. (Signed)
NEB/JP/JWH/WTW
19-May-2000 07:03 AM EDT (19-May-2000 1103 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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