Notes From Makeni Part 1: “What Charles Taylor’s Judgment Means in Rural Sierra Leone”

By Reta Raymond
Special Features Editor

I am a third-year student at Syracuse University College of Law, and spent this past summer as an intern at Access to Justice Law Centre, a NGO in Makeni, Sierra Leone. These journal entries document my time spent in Sierra Leone. The opinions expressed in this series are purely my own, and not those of Access to Justice Law Centre. 

“Charles Taylor couldn’t escape the law, and neither can your husband!” exclaimed Madiana, a Project Coordinator at Access to Justice Law Centre (“AJLC”).  I was at a community outreach event in a rural village, about thirty minutes outside of Makeni, in northern Sierra Leone.  That day, AJLC brought members of the community together to discuss the legal rights of women and children and provided resources for those seeking help.  The woman Madiana was addressing had been skeptical of the law’s ability to stop her husband from beating her.  This woman had once before reported her husband to the Family Support Unit of the Police Department, but to no avail.

Reta in Makeni, standing on the balcony of Access to Justice Law Centre.
Reta in Makeni, standing on the balcony of Access to Justice Law Centre.

I came to Sierra Leone after my second year of law school at Syracuse University to work as an intern at AJLC.  AJLC is a non-governmental organization that serves women and children throughout northern Sierra Leone.  They provide mediation, counseling, and litigation services.  It was at this community outreach event, during the first week of my internship, that I began to realize how a failed state could rebuild the rule of law.

Many local people I’ve spoken to agree that Sierra Leone was a failed state when the civil war ended in 2002.  The United Nations and the Sierra Leonean government created the Special Court for Sierra Leone as a way of seeking justice for the widespread atrocities that were committed against civilians during the war.   The Special Court was mandated to prosecute the few who bore the “greatest responsibility” for the war crimes.   Finally, on April 26, 2012, after a five-year trial, former Liberian President Charles Taylor was found guilty of eleven counts of aiding and abetting the war in Sierra Leone.

However, those who did not bear the greatest responsibility, but were responsible in fact for the atrocities, were reintegrated into society after the war.  This issue of reintegration is perplexing.  How can respect for the rule of law be instilled in former rebel soldiers who once killed and amputated the limbs of civilians and now work as motorbike taxi drivers or selling mobile phone airtime?  How do they react when they carry an amputee to the market?  How can perpetrators of atrocities and their victims live alongside one another, as if the war never happened? How do other victims respect the rule of law, when it was not applied to the individual perpetrators of the crimes against them?

An Access to Justice Program Coordinator speaks at a community learning session in a village outside of Kambia, Sierra Leone.

While it is hard to speculate on the true impact of Charles Taylor’s judgment, it is clearly has value in rebuilding the rule of law, here in Sierra Leone. The current government is working to set precedents in the area of anti-corruption by indicting top officials.  With steps like this Sierra Leone seems capable of proving that no one can escape conviction, not Charles Taylor, not ministers, and not abusive husbands in rural villages.

Through this series, “Notes from Makeni,” I hope to give readers an insight into some of my experiences here in Sierra Leone.  I am fortunate to be working with some very talented legal professionals here at Access to Justice Law Centre; they are engaged in strengthening this country, village by village.

War Crimes: Al-Shabaab’s Deadly Attacks on Somali Courthouse and International Aid Workers

By Hannah Stewart
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Al-Shabaab carried out a suicide attack on the court complex in the capital city on Sunday, and a bomb was detonated later on the airport road, leaving at least 30 people dead.

Women and children ran through the streets of Mogadishu after a suicide attack on the court complex occurred. (Photograph Courtesy of New York Times and Mohamed Abdiwahab/Agence France-Presse)

Al-Shabaab, an Islamist militant group, claimed the attacks.  The attack on the court consisted of a suicide bombing followed by additional explosions, and several assailants stormed the court complex shooting live rounds.  At least four legal professionals were killed, including a judge and three lawyers.  Shortly afterward a car bomb detonated hitting several cars carrying Turkish aid workers on the airport road several kilometers from the court complex.

International humanitarian law, also called “the laws of armed conflict” is applicable in Somalia.  As such, the courthouse was not a legal military target and the aid workers are protected civilians.  These deliberate attacks, resulting in the death of civilians, are violations of the international humanitarian law.  However, an al-Shabaab spokesman told the media that the court was a legitimate military target as they were ruling contrary to Sharia, or Islamic law.

The number of fatalities from the attacks has continued to rise.  Medina Hospital, one of the Mogadishu’s main hospitals, told Human Rights Watch that it received at least 18 bodies and 4 people died at the hospital.  International and Somali media reported that at least 30 people died and dozens were wounded.

Among the dead were a Somali journalist who had acted as the courts’ media adviser and two human rights lawyers.  Respected attorneys Professor Mohamed Mohamud Afrah, the head of the Somali Lawyers Association, and Abdikarin Hassan Gorod were killed when al-Shabaab gunmen opened fire inside the court complex.

Afrah and Gorod had recently represented a woman who faced criminal charges after she accused government security forces of rape.  They also represented a journalist who had interviewed the woman, and also faced charges in a politically motivated trial that received international attention.  This woman was initially sentenced for “falsely accusing” government forces; however, the court of appeals eventually dropped all charges.

Al-Shabaab once controlled almost all of Mogadishu; however, African Union and Somali forces reclaimed the city in 2011.  As such, Sunday’s events marks the deadliest Islamist militant attack in years for the city.  President Hassan Sheik Mohamud, called the attack “nothing but a sign of desperation by the terrorists, who’ve lost all their strongholds and are in complete decline, right across Somalia.”

For more information, please see:

All Africa – Somalia: New Al-Shabaab Attacks are War Crimes – 16 April 2013

Human Rights Watch – Somalia: New Al-Shabaab Attacks are War Crimes – 16 April 2013

The Guardian – Tributes Paid to Somali Human Rights Lawyers Killed in al-Shabaab Attack – 15 April 2013

The New York Times – Coordinated Blasts Kill at Least 20 in Somalia’s Capital – 14 April 2013

Syrian Revolution Digest: Monday, 15 April 2013

Screwed by Design?

The U.S. is secretly “feeding” us, while Russia and Iran are “secretly” arming Assad, now he has a “second wind,” and we are doubly screwed. For fear of “mission creep,” the U.S. has so far been indulging in mission crap. By refraining from doing what should be done, that is, supporting moderate rebels and imposing a no-fly zone, and by keeping secret its humanitarian aid to the Syrian population, thus allowing extremist to claim credit for it, the U.S. has weakened moderate forces, strengthened the hand of extremists, and gave Assad all the leeway he needed to plunge the country, and perhaps the region, into chaos and mayhem. Had this been by design it wouldn’t have worked so perfectly.

Death Toll: 75 martyrs, including 7 women, 4 children and 1 martyr under torture: 47 reported in Damascus and Suburbs, most in Douma; 9 in Aleppo; 7 in Daraa; 5 in Idlib; 3 in Deir Ezzor; 3 in Homs; and 1 in Hama (LCC).


News

U.S. feeds Syrians, but secretly So secretive is the operation, however, that almost none of the Syrians who receive the help are aware of its American origins. Out of concern for the safety of the recipients and the delivery staff, who could be targeted by the government if their affiliation to the United States were known, the Obama administration and the aid workers have chosen not to advertise the assistance…

The bakery is fully supplied with flour paid for by the United States. But Waisi credited Jabhat al-Nusra — a rebel group the United States has designated a terrorist organization because of its ties to al-Qaeda — with providing flour to the region, though he admitted he wasn’t sure where it comes from.
Assad’s forces break rebel blockade in north.

SNHR Casualties Report: Monday, 14 April 2013

The Syrian Network for human rights documented 66 victims, on Monday, 15 April 2013 all across Syria, including 4 children, 5 ladies, 5 tortured to death, and 14 armed rebels

Damascus and countryside : 53 victims
Homs : 1 victim
Aleppo : 3 victims
Idlib : 2 victims
Dier Alzoor : 1 victim
Daraa : 6 victims