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1. Introduction
2. Implementation of the Project
    2.1 Judicial assistance program
    2.2 Outreach program
    2.3 Legal Profession program
           2.3.a Legal profession
           2.3.b International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law Library
    2.4 Conflict Mapping program
3. Conclusions

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1. Introduction
This report constitutes an overview of the status of the NPWJ Sierra Leone Project during April and May 2003, incorporating all of the activities undertaken by NPWJ in Sierra Leone during that time.  As such, it is a continuation of the status reports for the end of 2002 and the beginning of 2003, as all the activities outlined in this status report build on what NPWJ has achieved so far in this project in Sierra Leone.

On 10 March 2003, the Special Court issued seven indictments and arrested and detained five of those indictees, including Foday Sankoh and Chief Sam Hinga Norman, Minister for Internal Affairs at the time of his arrest.  While the indictments were generally welcomed, the indictment and detention of Chief Hinga Norman raised some concerns and questions, particularly among some segments of society, due to his status and perceived role in defending the population and bringing an end to the war.  In addition, questions were raised in the press and elsewhere following the arrests and detention of the accused about the conditions of detention and the rights of the accused, including the right to be tried in public and without undue delay.

The two remaining indictees, who were not at the time in the territory of Sierra Leone, remained at large, allegedly in Liberia.  On 7 May 2003, the Special Court released the news that they believed Sam Bockarie, one of the accused at large and a notorious figure during the conflict, had been killed in Liberia, allegedly on the orders of the President of Liberia, Charles Taylor.  Later that month, reports were received that Sam Bockarie’s family in Liberia had also been killed, although the motive and confirmation of that fact remain unclear.   The Special Court with the assistance of the Republic of Sierra Leone spent the rest of May trying to persuade the Liberian authorities to send the body back to Sierra Leone for confirmation of identity and cause of death.  On 1 June 2003, the body was returned to Sierra Leone and delivered to the custody of the Court, who then began the process of forensic examination.

These events have continued to engage and intensify public interest in the work of the Special Court.  NPWJ has capitalised on this interest by intensifying our own work, particularly on matters relating to the rights of the accused and substantive and procedural law governing matters relating to the defence.
 

2. Implementation of the Project
2.1 Judicial assistance program
The Judicial Assistance Program seconds experts in international law to the Office of the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice in Freetown and to the Permanent Mission of Sierra Leone to the United Nations in New York.  These experts provide timely and accurate legal advice on issues that arise in relation to international law, in particular matters related to the Special Court.  As legal advisers are seconded to the Government both in Freetown and in New York, we are able to provide day-to-day advice on a range of issues that arise in the area of international law and assist both the Ministry and the Mission to formulate quick and coordinated responses.  This component of the Project addresses the consequences of the conflict in Sierra Leone by increasing governmental awareness of and commitment to accountability mechanisms, which is vital for the successful operations of these mechanisms.  Increasing the awareness of the Government and Parliamentarians of the benefits of international human rights and humanitarian law increases the likelihood of legislation passing through Parliament, which in turn strengthens the rule of law by providing legal mechanisms by which to seek redress for its violation.

The relationship with the Attorney-General is now firmly established, with the Attorney-General asking for assistance on a range of issues.  We have continued to act as the focal point for the Special Court, which has had a varying degree of success, due mostly to the continuing difficulties in implementing a proper system of communications between the Court and the Government.  Nevertheless, for the most part we have been able to respond to the requests of the Special Court in such a way as to ensure those requests have been fulfilled.

We have continued to assist the Government with negotiations on the draft Headquarters Agreement for the Special Court. Much of the time period covered by this report was taken up with continuing to provide advice and receive instructions on the various issues involved so as to produce a headquarters agreement that is in line with the Agreement establishing the Special Court, the Special Court Ratification Act and Sierra Leone’s other pre-existing international legal obligations.
In other matters, the legal adviser attached to the Attorney-General’s Office has drafted speeches for the Attorney-General on a range of issues, which has enabled us to ensure that the issue of accountability and some central messages about the Special Court have been disseminated by the Attorney-General at every available and appropriate opportunity.

We have also been requested to work on some matters relating to cooperation between the Ministry of Justice and the TRC.  We have therefore produced basic briefing papers on the TRC as well as on the Anti Corruption Commission as important parts of the accountability process in Sierra Leone. The Attorney-General has also requested that we follow the hearings and appearances before the Special Court on his behalf to provide him with an expert point of view on the way those hearings are proceeding.

Our discussions with the Office of the Attorney-General on obtaining support staff have not yet met with success, partly due to our desire of hiring someone who would replace the NPWJ seconded legal adviser once the project ends.  The main obstacle is finding someone who is sufficiently senior and independent to fulfil the role we play, while not causing disruption within the existing structure of the Office.  Consequently, we have begun exploring alternative options in this regard.
During the time period covered by this report, the Republic of Sierra Leone signed an Article 98 Agreement with the United States of America, which was rushed through Parliament for ratification soon after.  We assisted the Attorney-General in drafting a speech which clearly underlines Sierra Leone’s continuing determination to fight against impunity and reiterates their commitment to comply with their obligations pursuant to the Rome Statute.  The signing of this Agreement and the speech of the Attorney-General on this matter highlights the need for Sierra Leone to adopt strong implementing legislation, on which we are continuing to work with the ongoing development of a briefing paper for the Government on this issue.
 

2.2 Outreach program
The outreach program increases awareness of the mandate and operations of the Special Court.  This includes promoting knowledge about human rights and humanitarian law issues to the public at large.  The outreach program works through the medium of local organisations, in particular the Special Court Working Group, by building the capacity of such local organisations to formulate and disseminate information coherently and in simple terms. Part of this process includes working with local organisations to formulate the issues in language and ways easily understandable by the general public.  This fosters the role of civil society in promoting accountability within Sierra Leonean society and creates a stronger civil society by supplementing them with potent means to raise the issues publicly, both in general and in terms of prompting the Government to ensure international standards are promoted.

During May, our outreach officer, Mrs Aisha Wright, left to join the Truth and Reconciliation Commission as a reconciliation officer.  While we will miss her and her invaluable contribution to NPWJ’s work, we are very pleased she will be shaping the work of the TRC and our collaboration continues, including strengthening the links between NPWJ and the TRC.

Following the success of the first public lecture of the President of the Special Court, Judge Geoffrey Robertson (see status report for the end of 2002),  NPWJ and the Peace and Conflict Studies Department at Fourah Bay College held the second lecture in the series, entitled “Presumed Innocent? Defence of the Accused at the Special Court”.  The lecture was well timed, as it came soon after issues relating to the treatment of accused persons had been raised in the local media, and allowed the opportunity to explain both domestic criminal proceedings and international criminal proceedings in terms of the rights of the defence.  The lecture was recorded by the national television broadcaster, SLBS, and was highlighted on the news for two nights following the holding of the lecture.

NPWJ continued to participate in various workshops organised by civil society in Freetown, including a workshop on peer mediation organised by Green Scenery, a workshop presented by the Special Court, a panel discussion on the Special Court organised by the National Union of Students, the UNAMSIL Human Rights Committee meetings and the Jubilee Lecture by Kevin Metzger of the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales, which was organised by the British Council.  NPWJ also attended the opening ceremony of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and has been regularly, if infrequently, attending the public hearings of that body.

NPWJ has continued to solidify its relationships with other NGOs and IGOs in Freetown and elsewhere, holding meetings with visiting delegations from foreign NGOs, including Amnesty International (UK-Secretariat) and Avocates Sans Frontiers.  NPWJ also spearheaded the movement within the Human Rights Committee against the signature and, subsequently, against the ratification of the Article 98 Agreement.  NPWJ provided assistance to the Human Rights Committee in organising press releases and public information about this issue, as well as leading the demonstration outside Parliament against the ratification of the agreement, which received considerable press attention in Freetown and elsewhere.  While this campaign was unsuccessful in preventing the ratification of the agreement, NPWJ has continued to work with civil society to develop methods for limiting the impact of the agreement and, ultimately, on convincing the Government to utilise the termination clause in the agreement when the time is right.

As noted in the last status report (January-March 2003), towards the end of March, NPWJ managed to convince the SCWG of the need to undertake certain institution-building activities, including the provision of written reports on their regional visits at the end of 2002, in order to take stock of where the SCWG stands and how they might develop in the future.  On the basis of those reports, NPWJ organised and undertook a series of training seminars at district level, working in close cooperation with the regional and district coordinators of the SCWG.  Over the course of the training seminars, which were held in 13 different locations around the country, we trained over 520 participants from a cross-section of society including the Sierra Leone Army, the Sierra Leone Police, religious institutions, the District Office, the Law Officers' Department (Customary Law Division) and various NGOs.  These workshops formed an integral part of the conflict mapping program, with the outreach team also conducting the introductory workshop, which introduced participants to the concept and methods of conflict mapping and laid the groundwork for the subsequent work.

Following this training, NPWJ began working with selected District Committees to assist them in producing radio shows on local radio stations in the provinces.  Building on the success of the “Special Court Hour” on Radio UNAMSIL, with which NPWJ is intimately involved, we provided logistical and conceptual support to Committees in three districts to produce a local version of Special Court Hour. We have received particularly encouraging reports from Makeni, an area that was a stronghold of the RUF and which has held six programs so far.  In addition, NPWJ assisted the Right Players, a performing artists group, to develop and record several radio slots in collaboration with the Search for Common Ground’s “Talking Drum” studio.   We have also been working with a local illustrator on developing a series of handbills containing key messages about the Special Court, which is due to be completed and published towards the end of June or beginning of July.
Despite their major step forward, the Executive of the SCWG has continued to experience problems, partly due to the employment of key people in the SCWG by other institutions, including the Special Court.  This indicates very clearly the lack of success to date in building a strong coalition in Freetown and raises serious questions about its viability, although it should be noted that the District committees do not appear to be hampered by the same problems.  Nevertheless, the SCWG has forged ahead and began making plans to hold their Annual General Meeting in order to engage the membership and make plans for how the SCWG might go about its work in the future.

As noted in the last status report, we have received encouraging indications from the Special Court in terms of formalising our relationship with them in the conduct of outreach and capacity building of the legal profession.  Negotiations on exactly how we will formalise this relationship and the exact activities we will undertake jointly are still ongoing, although we aim to conclude them in the very near future.

During April and May 2003, NPWJ continued to prepare the submission to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on our recommendations for the consolidation of peace and how to prevent a recurrence of the conflict in Sierra Leone.  This is still in the process of being conceptualised and drafted and will be given to the TRC in written format prior to our oral presentation in late July.
 

2.3 Legal profession program
The legal profession program promotes knowledge of human rights and humanitarian law norms within the legal profession in Sierra Leone.  A robust legal profession with knowledge about human rights will lead to a profession capable of defending human rights through various means, including legal means.  This in turn strengthens the rule of law by enabling the Sierra Leone legal profession to ensure they have the knowledge required to work effectively with and within Sierra Leone’s accountability mechanisms.  The activities undertaken within the legal profession program include training seminars, roundtable discussions and drafting explanatory and critical documents.  It also includes access to relevant library resources, which has been facilitated through the establishment of the NPWJ International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law Library in Freetown. The program also encourages the Special Court to involve itself in the legal community so that the Court may make a sustainable contribution to the rule of law in Sierra Leone.

2.3.a Legal Profession
Following the successful training for defence duty counsel at the Special Court, which NPWJ undertook with Sylvia de Bertodano, an expert in international criminal law, we organised a follow-up visit by Stuart Alford, a British barrister who has prosecuted at the Serious Crimes Unit in East Timor.  At the beginning of April, Mr Alford visited Sierra Leone to work on various issues relating to the defence, in particular to provide training for interested members of the Sierra Leone Bar.  NPWJ held two lecture/discussion sessions with interested members of the Sierra Leone Bar, which were also well attended by representatives of both the Prosecution and Defence at the Special Court, including the Deputy Prosecutor, Mr Desmond de Silva QC.  Session I covered the legal framework of the Special Court, the current status of the process, the role of Defence counsel (pre- and post-indictment) and bail/remand.  Session II covered disclosure of evidence by the Prosecutor, preliminary motions, case analysis and elements of crimes.

In addition to these sessions, which were highly technical because they were intended for legal professionals, NPWJ facilitated the holding a public lecture, which is discussed above in the section on the outreach program.  Mr Alford also held a series of discussions with the members of the Special Court Defence Office on their current practices and procedures and visited the temporary Special Court detention facility and courtroom on Bonthe Island, where he observed in particular the conditions in the detention facilities.

Following on from these very successful seminars and those conducted by Ms de Bertodano in February, NPWJ began discussions with the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales on training about substantive and procedural international humanitarian law.  The key audience for these seminars will be Sierra Leone lawyers and counsel employed by the Special Court, whether at the Defence Unit or the Office of the Prosecutor.  We are in the process of working out the modalities of cooperation and the program for the event with the Bar Human Rights Committee.

Work on the handbook for practitioners on substantive and procedural law relating to the Special Court is continuing, with the identification of more potential authors for different chapters of the Handbook.  Mr Alford has agreed to develop a section of the Handbook on the initial responsibilities of defence counsel, particularly in relation to preliminary motions before the Special Court, which continues to be of concern, particularly as it appears more applications for the granting of bail can be expected.  We have decided to undertake the production of the Handbook in stages, through the development of mini guides to discrete topics, such as the Special Court Ratification Act and the initial responsibilities of defence counsel, which we will then compile into a larger, comprehensive handbook.

NPWJ has been following the development of a Code of Conduct for Counsel at the Special Court.  While we had anticipated the Code being ready for discussion during its drafting stage, this was not forthcoming during the period covered by this report.  We nevertheless continue to seek information about its status, with an eye to coordinating comments from members of the Sierra Leone Bar Association once this becomes possible.

Finally, NPWJ attended the initial appearance of Augustine Gbao, who had previously been detained as a suspect and was subsequently indicted by the Special Court.
 

2.3.b International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law Library
NPWJ completed the preliminary catalogue of the books in the library, which continue to grow as new donations arrive on a monthly basis.  We have further developed the structure and contents of the digital library and arranged for obtaining hard copies of all public documents of the Special Court, including materials that are not available on its website.  As a result of the library card system, we were able to keep better track of how many people are using the library and how they are using the services we provide – namely internet and photocopying facilities.  The number of users in the library continued to grow, particularly as exam time is coming for students at the University and at high schools.

In May, we hosted an informal lunch in the library for members of the Defence Unit of the Special Court.  The purpose of the lunch was to introduce members of the Defence Unit to the NPWJ collection and encourage them to use these resources.  The lunch was successful and served to strengthen the links between NPWJ and the Special Court in general.  We plan to follow this up with lunches for other people, with one lunch with the Judges of the Trial Chamber already being planned for June.
 

2.4 Conflict Mapping program
The Conflict Mapping program reconstructs the chain of events during a conflict through gathering information in the field and analysing the decision-making processes to ascertain the role of those who bear the greatest responsibility for policies of systematic and massive violations of the laws of war.  This analysis is based on testimonial and other data overlaid with order of battle and command structures of the various forces as they evolved over time and space.  This chronological and geographical mapping of the conflict, including reconstructing the order of battle and chain of command, serves to prevent denial of those events.
An analysis of events according to international law establishes prima facie accountability for violations of international humanitarian law.  In so doing, it both serves to strengthen the rule of law and to promote and defend human rights by publicising the price for violating them.  In addition, establishing the chain of command within the armed forces operating in Sierra Leone and assembling these disparate pieces of information to create the bigger picture of the decade long conflict in Sierra Leone enables the crucial first phase of establishing who bears direct and command responsibility for atrocities committed during the conflict. This will enable the people of Sierra Leone to establish who should be held accountable for the atrocities committed in Sierra Leone, thereby avoiding the trap of blaming a group or segment of society and promoting peaceful conciliation.  The results of this work, together with the work of organisations in Sierra Leone undertaking human rights reporting, will support the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Special Court in their investigation processes.

During the time period covered by this report, NPWJ continued conflict mapping training in the provinces, conducted both by NPWJ staff members and by the team of Sierra Leonean conflict mapping recorders (CMRs) hired for this purpose.  By conducting training simultaneously in different locations around the country, we managed to hire CMRs in every district in the country by the first week of May.   Our original idea was to have one CMR per chiefdom, in order to have saturation coverage across the whole country.  However, time and financial restraints have meant that this is not possible.  In order to avoid making arbitrary decisions about which chiefdoms to cut and with a view to minimising the damage to the report as a whole, NPWJ therefore discussed this issue with the Campaign for Good Governance (CGG), the leading human rights NGO in Sierra Leone with human rights monitors in every district, and the SCWG.  We sought their advice on which chiefdoms could be covered by a CMR from a neighbouring chiefdom and which chiefdoms were not the scene of a great deal of activity during the conflict.  In addition, we discussed with CGG which chiefdoms they would be able to provide us with information about, on the basis of their regular human rights reporting work as well as a special human rights violations reporting project they undertook during 2001.  On the basis of these discussions, we have now hired a total of 136 CMRs to cover 146 chiefdoms.  Twenty-two CMRs were hired to cover the Western Area, which is a densely populated area to which many IDPs fled during the war.

The training process takes place in three stages.  The first visit, called an “introductory workshop”, is dedicated to meeting with community leaders and collaborative organisations, to introduce the project. This stage was completed mid April 2003. The second stage is the “training workshop”, which is a one day session composed of sensitisation on the Special Court followed by a workshop on the conflict mapping project itself, concluding with the selection of conflict mapping recorders to take records from key persons.  The second “training” workshop trains individuals – some of whom are selected as CMRs – in how to take a conflict mapping record, including the crucial first step of selecting appropriate key people who have a good general overview of the conflict in their area.  This stage was completed in the first week of May 2003.  The third stage consists of reviewing the first records collected by the CMRs for content and organisation before the final two records are taken from key people selected by the conflict mapping recorders in consultation with the conflict mapping team. This stage is essential to provide top up training (if necessary), to address problems the CMRs may have encountered and to ensure the quality of the records taken.  The fact that this process takes place after the collection of each CMR’s first record and before the collection of subsequent records enables NPWJ to undertake a thorough system of quality control on an ongoing basis.  This stage will be completed in June 2003.  In each District we have also selected a focal point who is our main contact and assists with logistical and other arrangements, including bringing the final records to Freetown for review purposes.

Since taking conflict mapping into the provinces in March, the collaboration between the Outreach team and the SCWG has continued successfully, which is clear from the high calibre of CMRs we have been able to select.  Each of the focal points for the conflict mapping project have acted as a reliable and regular conduit for the ongoing conflict mapping process, including the collection of record and other logistical matters.  These processes continue to show results, with many records having been collected already in April and May during and following the third phase of training.

NPWJ continued to debrief a former high-level member of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), who has provided us with a great deal of information on the inner workings of the RUF and an overview of the conflict since it began in 1991.  From the hours spent working with this key person, we have obtained a statement of over 100 pages plus various documents and maps describing the structure, procedures and geographical locations of the RUF.  Upon completion of this process, which should be by the end of June, we will assist him to make contact with the Special Court, at his request.  NPWJ has also begun making contact with other potential resource people, who may either be able to supply us with open source material or could verify the accuracy of some of our analyses.  People contacted include the Office of Humanitarian Coordination Affairs (OCHA) and investigators from the Office of the Prosecutor of the Special Court, who originally got in touch with us to discuss the progress of the conflict mapping program.

NPWJ continued to develop the structure of the database, into which both information gathered by the CMRs and from open sources will be inputted.  The database is structured so as to allow complex searches on different fields, thereby organising the information in such a way as to allow analysts to ascertain the order of battle and chain of command, thereby determining what violations of international humanitarian law were committed during the conflict and who was responsible for them.  It is anticipated that the final database will be completed and installed in late June/early July 2003.

Despite the infancy of the analysis process, on the basis of preliminary analyses of the raw data gathered so far, NPWJ was in a position to issue a press release on 10 April 2003 calling for the indictment of Charles Taylor (see attached).  In addition to outlining the information gathered and the reasons for calling for Taylor’s indictment, information on NPWJ’s conflict mapping program was included at the end of the press release, which was distributed to thousands of people locally and internationally.
 

3. Conclusions
The developments within the Special Court, particularly in relation to the indictments, arrests and subsequent events, continue to increase the profile of the Special Court within Sierra Leone.  The success of the work that NPWJ has undertaken, particularly in relation to outreach, is now more evident.  These developments have increased the amount of work NPWJ is undertaking, as there is increased demand for knowledge both within civil society and the legal profession, among others.  This, together with positive approaches made by NPWJ to the Special Court and vice versa, has solidified our relationship with the Special Court, which we aim to formalise in the near future.

All aspects of the project have been showing strong results, particularly in terms of increased knowledge about and interest in issues relating to the Special Court and international humanitarian law in general.  In particular, it is worth noting that the stronger harmonisation between outreach and conflict mapping has been especially successful in facilitating a sense of ownership of accountability mechanisms within the provinces.  By making the provision of information part of a process in which the people of Sierra Leone are empowered to provide their own information to the conflict mapping team, we have been able to engender a sense among people that not only are the accountability mechanisms real but they are also something in which everybody has a stake.