VZCZCXRO5793
RR RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHFN #0529/01 1810903
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 300903Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY FREETOWN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9972
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0162
RUCNFB/FBI WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 FREETOWN 000529 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/W, DRL, IO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREL SL
SUBJECT: OHCHR FIELD OFFICE NEEDS TO WORK HARDER ON TRC 
IMPLEMENTATION 
 
REF: SECSTATE 73151 
 
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Summary 
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¶1.  The UNIOSIL Human Rights Section manages UNHCHR 
activities in Sierra Leone.  The Section Director told 
PolAsst that the primary activities of his office were 
dissemination, sensitization, and implementation of the 
Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) 
recommendations.  Recently, the mandate was expanded to 
include activities related to rule of law.  Unfortunately, 
lack of resources, strategic focus and political will has 
caused TRC implementation to stagnate.  UNIOSIL's TRC 
activities have not been as visible as those of NGO's. 
Greater collaboration between UNIOSIL and civil society may 
help overcome the GoSL's lack of political will for 
implementation.  End Summary 
 
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UNIOSIL Contributes to TRC Awareness and 
Increasing Rule of Law 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  On June 27, Pol Intern met with Benedict Sannoh, UNIOSIL 
Human Rights Section Director, to discuss the activities of 
the OHCHR field presence in Sierra Leone.  The mandate of the 
Human Rights Section includes dissemination, sensitization, 
and implementation of the TRC recommendations and improving 
rule of law.  Sannoh's office created a 75 page summary of 
the full 2,032 page TRC document for mass distribution. 
Also, the office is sponsoring music CDs and video dramas to 
sensitize illiterate populations to the contents of the 
report.  Sannoh said that his office has also helped to 
create local human rights councils in every district in 
Sierra Leone, to ensure that human rights concerns are 
addressed at all levels. 
 
¶3.  The OHCHR recently expanded the mission mandate to 
include strengthening rule of law.  DFID is funding a major 
project on the same topic through the Justice Sector 
Development Program.  The UNIOSIL Human Rights Section plans 
to complement the current DFID agenda and focus on any gaps 
not filled by DFID activities.  Sannoh said that programs 
would most likely focus on capacity building in the 
prosecutorial system.  (Comment:  The human rights mandate 
was only recently expanded to include rule of law, so program 
activities have not been finalized.  Nevertheless, rule of 
law is an important issue in Sierra Leone and assistance to 
the prosecutorial system will probably be well received.  End 
Comment.) 
 
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TRC Implementation:  Lacks Political Will 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  Sannoh said that the greatest impediment to TRC 
implementation (as required by law) has been lack of 
political will and strategic organization.  He has had the 
most difficulty getting the government to support reparations 
for war victims.  He said that the government lacks resources 
and is waiting for international assistance; however, 
assistance will only come after the government has made a 
good faith effort to assist its citizens.  On a positive 
note, UNIOSIL recently collaborated with NaCSA (Sierra 
Leone's successor to the National Commission for 
Resettlement, Reconstruction & Rehabilitation), to host a 
seminar discussing institutional arrangements for a 
reparations program. 
 
¶5.  Sannoh also explained that because the government never 
created an official strategy for TRC implementation, many of 
the TRC recommendations have been implemented without credit. 
 (Note: Creation of the Anti-Corruption Commission, Child 
Rights Bill, and judicial code of conduct are examples of TRC 
recommendations that have been implemented without being 
acknowledged as such.  End Note.)  Sannoh said that this lack 
of strategic focus makes it appear as if the GoSL is not 
doing anything to support implementation when, in reality, 
they are making some progress. 
 
¶6.  The Human Rights Section is also encumbered with a dual 
mandate, which requires that it report both to DPKO and 
OHCHR.  However, because the office is not strictly under the 
auspices of OHCHR it does not have full access to the 
resources OHCHR has to offer.  Sannoh argues that this lack 
 
FREETOWN 00000529  002 OF 002 
 
 
of resources is another factor that makes it more difficult 
to support TRC implementation. 
 
--------------------------------- 
Civil Society More Visible on TRC 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  The most publicized efforts to draw attention to the TRC, 
however, have been through the NGO community.  NGO's WITNESS 
and Conflict Management & Development Associates (CMDA) have 
a joint TRC follow-up project, which included a media 
campaign that coincided with the release of "Witness to 
Truth," a documentary film about the TRC.  The media campaign 
was followed by a WITNESS-sponsored TRC workshop at 
Parliament, an effort to encourage MPs to implement 
legislative reforms recommended in the TRC Final Report. 
 
¶8.  WITNESS also convinced UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador (and 
former Tomb Raider) Angelina Jolie to visit Sierra Leone to 
push for swifter government action on TRC implementation. 
After an ever-so-politely confrontational joint press 
conference between Jolie, the Attorney General, and NGO 
representatives, the Government released a long-awaited White 
Paper response to the TRC Final Report. 
 
¶9.  A New York-based NGO, the Civil Coalition for Truth & 
Reconciliation, started keeping a public "score card" of the 
Government's progress in implementing the TRC's 
recommendations.  In December 2005, the Government scored and 
"E", the lowest rating, on 31 out of 47 items tracked, and 
the report received wide coverage in the local press. 
 
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Comment 
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¶10.  The UNIOSIL Human Rights Section has not been able to 
make implementation of the TRC recommendations a priority for 
the GoSL.  Though the dissemination and sensitization 
campaign has been effective (thanks to parallel efforts from 
NGOs) implementation is seriously lagging. 
 
¶11.  Direct reporting to OHCHR may provide additional 
resources and institutional clarity, but on the ground, 
UNIOSIL does not appear to be maximizing its potential 
leverage with the government.  Strategic thinking vis a vis 
TRC implementation is occurring in the NGO community and 
UNIOSIL could use its influence with the government to 
transfer that thinking to GoSL officials.  However, the GoSL 
may be implementing TRC recommendations selectively because 
it does not agree with all of them, such as abolition of the 
death penalty.  End Comment. 
HULL