28 July 2005
COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
Sub-Commission on the Promotion and
Protection of Human Rights
Fifty seventh session
Item 3 of the provisional agenda
Statement of Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights
Thank you Mr. Chairman.
My organisation is particularly interested in the subject of transitional justice under this agenda item. We will be making some specific suggestions for possible future Sub-Commission work on this topic at tomorrow afternoonÕs session of the Working Group on Administration of Justice. However in this intervention we would like to briefly note the advocacy work we are continuing to do in connection with the transitional justice mechanisms in Peru and Sierra Leone. We have also prepared more detailed written interventions on each case in NGO documents 24 and 25 to this Sub-Commission.
In Sierra Leone, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission has estimated that 75,000 persons were killed, and as many as 2 million displaced. All sides of the conflict were responsible for committing human rights abuses. The conflict in Sierra Leone was also characterized by cross-border involvement from Liberia, as well as the struggle for control of diamonds and other natural resources.
The Lome Peace Agreement included an amnesty for all parties to the war and an agreement to establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The Commission was created by act of parliament, finished its work and released its final report last October.
In May 2004 a Minnesota Advocates delegation travelled to Sierra Leone to monitor the transitional justice process in that country. In addition to documenting the human rights abuses committed during the conflict, the team examined the transitional justice process in Sierra Leone.
We applaud the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and look forward to the promised publication of additional sections of the final report. We call upon the government of Sierra Leone to make every effort to swiftly implement the recommendations made by the Commission, particularly as they relate to the needs of victims and institutional reform. We urge that the Sierra Leone Parliament create an effective National Human Rights Commission with adequate resources to function.
Minnesota Advocates found that many of the conditions which gave rise to the conflict -- particularly widespread corruption, weak rule of law, lack of access to education, poverty and the inequitable distribution of natural resources -- still exist. We are greatly concerned that if these issues are not immediately addressed, the conflict in Sierra Leone will resume after UNAMSIL withdraws.
Finally, we call upon the government of Nigeria and the international community to bring Charles Taylor to justice by ensuring that he stands trial at the Special Court for Sierra Leone.
Minnesota Advocates will release a public report of its findings and recommendations concerning the transitional justice process in Sierra Leone in the fall of 2005. The full text of the report will be available on our website.
Turning to the case of Peru, we have been following this truth and reconciliation process since 2002. We sent a first delegation in November 2002, released a preliminary report in May 2003, and sent a second delegation to Peru in August 2004 to monitor further implementation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's report.
In general, we applaud the work of the TRC Commission and the Peruvian government's commitment to accept the Commission's recommendations as binding. Further, we commend the active participation of sectors of the Peruvian civil society, especially organisations composed of victims, who have taken on the task of justice, truth and reconciliation. We believe the success of the Peruvian Commission can be partly attributed to the fact that civil society organisations are playing an unprecedented role in supporting the work of the Commission.
We affirm the importance of the Commission's final report and particularly the recommendations related to reparations of victims and the search for justice. We applaud the creation of a High Level Multisectoral Commission in March 2004 to oversee implementation of the TRC's recommendations. We strongly recommend to the Government of Peru that it take immediate action to ensure this Multisectoral Commission functions effectively and quickly, with adequate resources, including in the setting up of a National Registry of Victims and a National Plan for Exhumations.
We also call on the government to prosecute effectively the crimes specifically identified by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. To date, only a small proportion of the cases investigated by the Commission have been forwarded to the Attorney General's office for prosecution. We will release a public report of our findings and recommendations concerning the Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation process this fall. The full text will be available on our website.
Thank you Mr. Chairman.