Security Council acts to create war crimes court for Sierra Leone
14 August -- Deeply concerned at the serious crimes committed against civilians in Sierra Leone, the United Nations Security Council voted unanimously today to start the process of setting up a special court to try those responsible for war crimes during the country's conflict.
The Council asked Secretary-General Kofi Annan to negotiate an agreement with the Government of Sierra Leone to create an independent special court consistent with the provisions of today's resolution. In it, the Council recommended that the court's jurisdiction subject matter should include crimes against humanity, war crimes, violations of humanitarian law, as well crimes under relevant Sierra Leonean law committed within the country's territory.
The Council further recommended that the court should have personal jurisdiction over persons who bear the greatest responsibility for the crimes, including those leaders who, in committing such crimes, threatened the implementation of the peace process. The resolution recalled that the Special Representative of the Secretary-General appended to his signature of the Lomé Agreement a statement that the UN held the understanding that the Agreement's amnesty provisions would not apply to war crimes.
According to the text, Mr. Annan has 30 days to prepare a report detailing the implementation of the resolution, taking into account the questions of temporal jurisdiction, an appeals process, and a possible alternative host State should it be necessary to convene the special court outside its seat in Sierra Leone. If necessary, the Secretary-General is to send a team of experts to Sierra Leone to help prepare his report.
In taking this step, the Council stressed that in the particular circumstances of Sierra Leone, a credible system of justice and accountability for the "very serious crimes" committed in the country would end impunity and would contribute to the process of national reconciliation and to the restoration of peace.
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