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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 as at March 2003, incorporating all of the activities undertaken by NPWJ in Sierra Leone from January to March 2003.  As such, it is a continuation of the status report for the end of 2002, as all the activities outlined in this status report build on what NPWJ achieved in Sierra Leone during 2002.

The first three months of 2003 were very busy for the Special Court for Sierra Leone.  These three months saw the visit of the Management Committee for the Special Court to Sierra Leone; the plenary meeting of the Judges of the Special Court, during which they adopted their Rules of Procedure and Evidence; and the first indictments and arrests were carried out in early March.  The NPWJ-seconded Focal Point for the Special Court, representing the Office of the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, attended the preliminary hearings for the Special Court on 15 March 2003, a separate report on which can be found on the www.specialcourt.org website.

2. Implementation of the Project
During the first three months of 2003 we have had some staffing changes, as the needs of the project developed and the contract of one staff member came to an end.  Andrew Swindells, the previous conflict mapping coordinator, left the project and was replaced by Catherine Gambette, a French lawyer specialising in human rights law.  In March 2003, Annette Nichol, who has previously worked at the American embassy, joined the conflict mapping team as a data entry operator.

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 well-established, with the Attorney-General asking for assistance on a number 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 difficulties we have had 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 their needs have been met.

In addition, we assisted the Government in producing a draft Headquarters Agreement for the Special Court, which was presented to the Special Court on 10 March 2003.  Accordingly, much of the beginning of 2003 was taken up with receiving instructions on the various issues involved, drafting the document and holding informal consultations with the Special Court 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.

The JAP program was heavily involved in the visit of the Management Committee in February 2003, liaising with the Special Court, the Office of the President and other people within the Government to assist in ensuring the visit went smoothly.  In addition, the legal adviser participated on behalf of the Attorney-General’s Office in most of the events organised for the Management Committee, including a meeting between the Management Committee and the Attorney-General.
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 able to keep the Attorney-General informed about developments relating to the International Criminal Court, which has been useful from the perspective of raising awareness within the Ministry of Justice about international criminal law and accountability in general.  We envisage this will assist in the process of implementing legislation for the International Criminal Court, work on which has begun with the 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.

Following the success of the first public lecture of the President of the Special Court, Judge Geoffrey Robertson, conceived of and organised by No Peace Without Justice and the Peace and Conflict Studies Department at Fourah Bay College during the familiarisation visit of the Judges of the Special Court, NPWJ arranged for the raw footage taken that night to be edited for public broadcast on the national television station, SLBS.  The edited lecture, which included an introduction from NPWJ’s Outreach Officer, was broadcast on Tuesday, 25 February 2003 and Thursday, 27 February 2003 during timeslots that were chosen to ensure maximum exposure to the general population.  The TV broadcast of the lecture was, by all accounts, a great success and was seen by a large number of people, including the Vice President of the Republic of Sierra Leone.

In January and February, NPWJ continued to facilitate the Right Players “Market Tours”, which we began in four markets in November and December 2002.  We ran drama performances in twelve markets in Freetown and surrounding areas across three days.  These were preceded by high levels of publicity, including over 36 radio announcements, news slots and coverage in the print media. In addition, the Right Players carried out direct publicity on foot, distributing over 10,000 handbills promoting the performances. This effort was carried out in collaboration with the Sierra Leone Market Women’s Association, the Special Court Working Group (SCWG) and the Special Court itself.

NPWJ conducted a number of training sessions for various groups, including “top up training” for members of the SCWG who had previously received training in 2001, which included human rights monitors for the Campaign for Good Governance who came to Freetown from the provinces; training for new members of the SCWG; and a special session conducted in conjunction with the Market Women’s Association, which was attended by over 150 market women.  It is anticipated that training of the Market Women, who meet people in every sector of the society by virtue of the nature of their trade and standing in Sierra Leone society, on the Special Court will have a positive run-on effect with the Conflict Mapping program, as many of the market women will be able to act either as conflict mapping recorders or as key persons.

We have also implemented an intensive training program in the provinces, which is being conducted in coordination with the conflict mapping team.  These workshops spread information and knowledge about the Special Court in the provinces and, in so doing, consolidate the District Working Groups that have been put in place by the SCWG Interim Regional Coordinators.  By the end of April, NPWJ aims to have run workshops in every district of Sierra Leone, training around 500 trainers and creating a foothold for a nationwide campaign of public information and outreach work

NPWJ has also been working on developing training sessions for other targeted members of Sierra Leone society, including the armed forces and the police, and the development of a roundtable workshop for the TRC and the Special Court.  In addition, we have been working on alternate means of disseminating information to the general public about the Special Court, including the development of a “school pack” of information for school-age children and the production of a series of handbills developed by a local illustrator on central messages relating to the Special Court.

NPWJ also co-organised a workshop on the International Criminal Court and its implementation in Sierra Leone law with the NGO Coalition for an International Criminal Court, the National Forum for Human Rights, the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights and the International Centre for Transitional Justice.  The workshop was attended by over 50 civil society organisations, representatives of Government and members of Parliament.  The workshop concluded with the decision to create a Sierra Leonean NGO Coalition on the International Criminal Court to work on the effective implementation of the Rome Statute for the International Criminal Court.

NPWJ continued to participate in various workshops organised by civil society in Freetown, including a workshop on strengthening coalitions organised by the National Forum for Human Rights and the International Human Rights Law Group and a workshop hosted by the National Collaborative Peace Building Network (WANEP), in which discussions were held on networking of peace building and human rights organisations.  NPWJ has also provided extensive comments on the ICTJ/NFHR/Human Rights Clinic “Citizens Manual on the TRC and the Special Court” and attended a workshop to discuss the contents of the manual.  While many of our suggestions were not taken on board, and the resulting manual contains a number of errors that would have been easy to correct and some structural problems that would not, our participation in the consultation process of the manual helped to curb some of the more obvious mistakes that had been contained in previous drafts.  We have also solidified our relationship with a number of other local and foreign organisations, including Search for Common Ground’s “Talking Drum Studio”, UNAMSIL, Amnesty International – Sierra Leone, the Women’s Task force on the Special Court and the TRC and others.

The NPWJ Outreach team also worked on the visit of the Management Committee of the Special Court to Sierra Leone in February 2003, by producing a memorandum entitled “Outreach for the Special Court: Ensuring momentum gained is not lost”.  The memorandum explains the differentiation between the public relations of the OTP and the need for a more wide-ranging and long-term outreach program. NPWJ distributed this memorandum, together with an information pack on outreach comprised of NPWJ’s leaflets and other educational material on the Special Court to Management Committee members during an informal dinner hosted by NPWJ.

NPWJ worked with the SCWG to continue increasing their capacity to undertake outreach.  We assisted them to obtain support from the Special Court to carry out some sensitisation activities in the provinces, participating in various fairs and other activities.  We have also continued to support the “Special Court Hour” on Radio UNAMSIL, including appearing as guests to discuss NPWJ’s activities and various substantive matters relating to the Special Court and the ICC.  While these activities have proven successful, the difficulties the SCWG has had in developing themselves as an institution and therefore increasing their credibility and effectiveness, particularly as the Special Court has moved more towards adopting their suggestion of a district level outreach strategy, have continued.  In some instances there appears to have been resistance to developing the organisation beyond its core members (i.e. the National Executive Committee), who seem to prefer implementing outreach activities over those aimed at institution-building.  While it is important for the SCWG to undertake outreach activities, it is equally necessary for the SCWG to develop their district level structures and strengthen the SCWG in Freetown if they are to continue as a viable outreach mechanism for the Special Court.  While this has proved a difficult road, towards the end of March, NPWJ has finally 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.

We have also 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 ongoing, although we hope to conclude them in the very near future.

Finally, NPWJ has been asked to present a 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.  We are therefore in the process of preparing a written submission, which we will present orally in 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 necessary knowledge to work effectively with 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
In January and February 2003, NPWJ assisted the discussion leaders from the Seminar on the Special Court Rules of Procedure and Evidence in compiling their written comments.  The resulting “Rules Seminar Report” was sent to the Judges of the Special Court by the Registry prior to their plenary meeting in London and distributed to the members of the Sierra Leone Bar Association and other relevant people in Freetown.  Copies also were made available at the dinner with the Management Committee hosted by NPWJ on Tuesday, 18 February 2003. (Click here for a copy of the report)

In February 2003, NPWJ contracted the services of an expert in international criminal defence, Ms Sylvia de Bertodano, who has previously been seconded by NPWJ as defence counsel before the Serious Crimes Panels in East Timor and as a legal adviser to the Government of East Timor.  Ms de Bertodano was hired to work on the defence structure before the Special Court.  To that end, she and NPWJ staff met with a number of interested persons in Freetown, including the Special Court, members of the Management Committee, the Attorney-General and members of the Sierra Leone Bar.  The resulting report, in which recommendations were made on how to structure defence before the Special Court, was distributed to the Judges of the Special Court prior to their meeting in Plenary to discuss the Rules of Procedure and Evidence in London at the beginning of March 2003, which Ms de Bertodano also attended to advise on defence matters. (Click here for a copy of the report)

At the request of the Special Court, NPWJ also provided training for the defence duty counsel at the Special Court, which we were able to undertake while Ms de Bertodano was in Freetown.  The training proved very useful and plans to follow up this training in coordination with the Special Court and the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales are under way.  To commence this process, NPWJ will engage the services of Stuart Alford, a British Barrister who has prosecuted at the Serious Crimes Unit in East Timor.  It is intended that Mr Alford will visit Sierra Leone at the beginning of April, at which time he will undertake the following activities: (a) two lecture/discussion sessions with interested members of the Sierra Leone Bar; (b) a public lecture at the Fourah Bay College; (c) a day trip to Bonthe Island to observe current conditions at the temporary Special Court detention facility and courtroom; and (d) discussions with the members of the Special Court Defence Office on their current practices and procedures.  It is also anticipated that Mr Alford will develop a section of the Handbook on the initial responsibilities of defence counsel, particularly in relation to preliminary motions before the Special Court, which is of particular concern at the present time.
Work on the handbook for practitioners on substantive and procedural law relating to the Special Court has begun in earnest, with the identification of potential authors for different chapters of the handbook.  We have decided to undertake this 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.

2.3.b International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law Library
NPWJ formally opened the International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law Library on 12 March 2003 in a reception attended by over 75 people, including representatives of Sierra Leone civil society, local libraries, the legal profession, the Special Court, the diplomatic corps, the Government and other interested persons.  The library was formally opened by Desmond de Silva, QC, the Deputy Prosecutor of the Special Court, who spoke on the importance of the library for accountability and the restoration of peace in Sierra Leone.  The reception, which included a tour of the library and a demonstration of the digital library by NPWJ’s librarian was a great success.  The opening was reported in the news on the national television station and in the print media, after which there has been a substantial increase in library users.

Throughout the beginning of 2003, NPWJ compiled a catalogue of the books in the library, which are growing as new donations arrive on a monthly basis, and developed the structure and contents of the digital library.  NPWJ has also implemented a library card system, which will enable us 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.

NPWJ has been implementing a number of promotional activities for the library, including the targeted distribution of posters and handbills to interested persons in civil society, the legal community, the library community and secondary and tertiary institutions.  As part of this process, we also commissioned a road sign, which has been placed on the main road leading to our office, as a means for interested persons to locate more easily the library and our offices.

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 based on testimonial and other data overlayed 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 responsible for atrocities committed during that 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 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.
At the beginning of March 2003, the previous Conflict Mapping Coordinator, Andrew Swindells, concluded his contract and went back to Australia, where we wish him the best of success.  Under Mr Swindells’ leadership, the conflict mapping project has developed into a strong program with a solid structure and plan.  The new Conflict Mapping Coordinator, Catherine Gambette, a French lawyer specialising in human rights, joined us in February 2003, which allowed a seamless handover of responsibility.  In addition, Kizito Bangura has taken on more responsibility within the conflict mapping team to reflect the development of his skills and knowledge in this area since he joined the team in 2002.

In January 2003, NPWJ began training of the conflict mapping recorders in the Western Area, near Freetown, to enable NPWJ to perfect the conflict mapping training before taking it into the provinces, as logistically it is more difficult to perfect such processes in the provinces.  Lessons learned from the training in the Western Area were incorporated into the planning process for the provincial training and in March 2003, following preparatory work undertaken in consultation with the SCWG and the outreach team, conflict mapping training began in the provinces.  In consideration of the time frame and the impending rainy season, which starts in May and during which many roads become impassable, NPWJ hired a Sierra Leonean team of conflict mapping recorders to undertake the introductory and training workshops and collection of first records.  This has enabled us to begin undertaking conflict mapping training simultaneously in different locations around the country, which will ensure that we cover the whole country by the conclusion of the time frame for the gathering of records.

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. 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 third stage consists of reviewing the first records. 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.

After the initial “introductory” workshop on the Special Court and the conflict mapping process, representatives of those NGOs and CBOs who have attended are asked to nominate selected individuals who may act as conflict mapping recorders to attend the second workshop.  Since taking conflict mapping into the provinces in March, this part of the conflict mapping project is run by the Outreach team as a central component of the “Training the Trainers” seminars and demonstrates very clearly the value of collaborating with the SCWG in accessing a wide spread of NGOs and CBOs nationwide. In addition, a focal point for the conflict mapping project is identified to act as a reliable and regular conduit for the ongoing conflict mapping process, including the collection of record and other logistical matters. The conflict mapping team has therefore been working very closely with the outreach team and the SCWG provincial network in order to provide the best possible training and the smoothest possible logistics for the work in the provinces.  The first sessions indicate that this three-way collaboration has been successful and clearly demonstrates the connections between the aims of the outreach and conflict mapping projects.

The second “training” workshop trains selected individuals 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.  Following that, conflict mapping recorders take their first record, which is reviewed by the conflict mapping team before the final two records are taken from key people selected by the conflict mapping recorders in consultation with the conflict mapping team.  As part of the team building process and development of the ownership of the process by conflict mapping recorders, NPWJ designed and produced t-shirts and identity badges for each of the conflict mapping recorders hired by NPWJ as part of the conflict mapping process.

These processes have already begun to show results, many records having been collected from the Western Area during the third phase of training.  These records undergo a thorough review process in which the content and organisation of the records are scrutinised by NPWJ staff with the conflict mapping recorder.  The fact that this process takes place after the collection of each conflict mapping recorder’s first record and before the collection of subsequent records enables NPWJ to undertake a thorough system of quality control on an ongoing basis.

NPWJ has spent a great deal of time in January to March 2003 debriefing 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.  It was considered that the level of this key person and the type of detailed information he has in his possession meant that NPWJ staff should undertake this debriefing, rather than delegating this responsibility to a conflict mapping recorder.

NPWJ also began developing the structure of the database, into which both information gathered by the conflict mapping recorders 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.  On this basis, NPWJ has begun developing a data entry manual so as to ensure the consistency, correctness and completeness of the database.  It is anticipated that this work will continue throughout April, with an estimated completion date of the final database and data entry manual in May 2003.
NPWJ hired a data entry operator – Annette Nichol – in March 2003, who has begun inputting the records collected by conflict mapping recorders and the drafts prepared by the Fourah Bay College Human Rights Clinic on the geopolitical history of Sierra Leone.  Ms Nichol will also assist the librarian, Avril Rowe, in inputting the library listing in the likely hiatus between her inputting of the records we already have and the time at which more records will be received from the conflict mapping recorders.

3. Conclusions
The developments within the Special Court, particularly in relation to the indictments and arrests, have increased 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.  One example of this is the training sessions conducted by the SCWG with support from NPWJ that were held at the time the arrests were made, which were extremely well attended and raised many interesting questions.  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.