Migrant Stories

What Hope of Reparations for Sierra Leone's War Victims?

Seven years after the official end of the conflict in Sierra Leone,
work has finally begun in acknowledging the atrocities inflicted on
civilians, including women and children over a 12-year period.

The setting up of a reparations programme, a key recommendation
of Sierra Leone's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in
2004, has taken time, not least because of the difficulties in
defining the worst atrocities, identifying the most vulnerable
among the war victims and in raising the funds to provide eventual
and actual assistance.

Of all Sierra Leone's war victims, those whose limbs were
chopped off in acts of needless violence, or were wounded in the
war, or were victims of sexual violence as well as war widows and
orphans, have been deemed to be in particularly pressing need of
relief and recognition.

Reparations, identified as a key to achieving national healing
and rehabilitation in the aftermath of a vicious war, will largely
be delivered through medical, educational, vocational and, for
particularly vulnerable victims, housing assistance.

The National Commission for Social Action (NaCSA), a government
agency, has been given the job of implementing the programme. The
UN's Peace Building Fund has provided US$ 3 million dollars to
cover the programme for a year with a contribution of US$ 250,000
from the Sierra Leonean government.

So far, 28,000 people have registered for assistance with 20,000
of them having received US$100 as a micro-grant or for educational
support. About 200 victims of sexual violence have received medical
assistance including fistula surgery. But limited funds, tens of
thousands of people likely to require reparations assistance, and
the need to provide reparations in a fair, effective and
transparent manner - and fast - has made NaCSA's job extremely
difficult.

It now has the support of IOM, which with its extensive
expertise in large compensation and restitution programmes
worldwide, is providing technical assistance to NaCSA. Tangible
results in 2009 for impatient victims, resentful at having their
plight and needs ignored for so long, will be key to securing full
funding for the programme. A future of peace and stability in
Sierra Leone also rests on providing renewed hope to those unable
to live a life like others through no fault of their own.

Here, NaCSA's head, Commissioner Saidu Conton Sesay,
talks to IOM's Jemini Pandya about the challenges he and his
team are facing.

Q: Why are reparations necessary for
Sierra Leone?

Commissioner Sesay: I think they are necessary for
several reasons. They are really for civilians who didn't take up
arms. And looking at the fact that the war was against the State,
for civilians to really have suffered means that they suffered
unjustly. They need to be acknowledged - that yes, they went
through this punishment. It was not their fault. It was the fault
of others. They need to feel confident that the government has
recognised that this harm has befallen them and that the State is
there to aid and support them.

We (NaCSA) are there to make sure that the rights that have been
violated are actually restored and to recognise that their dignity
was really trampled upon. Reparations are an expression of concern
over what happened to them as well as an expression probably of the
fact that the government didn't quite fulfil its own obligation in
providing protection to these people.

Q: Why has it taken so long to get the
reparations programme underway – hasn't its delay caused
unnecessary concern and suffering among those who needed the
greatest attention?

Comissioner Sesay: Yes, I think concerns have been raised
both by the public and the victims themselves. The TRC report was
published in 2004 and the expectation was that immediate action
would follow in providing reparations. But we are only starting
now. And that time lag can actually insinuate a lot of things
– neglect, lack of attention. But that is really not the
case. I think it has basically been a question of mobilising the
necessary support, mobilising the necessary wherewithal, including
the logistics, systems and support, to be able to actually start
this process. Yes there is anxiety out there. There is a lot of
anxiety. It is one of the challenges we have in implementing the
programme. How are we going to manage the expectations already out
there given the limited resources we are able to lay our hands on?
But as I said, there was nothing deliberate to delay the
process.

Q: But demobilised soldiers were given
assistance in the immediate aftermath of the conflict…..

Commissioner Sesay: That is exactly the point that
victims themselves are putting forward - that those that actually
inflicted these atrocities on them have got some attention while
they - they are still out there, unattended to.

However, let's not forget that it is crucial to disarm those
that are behind the violence and to bring them back into the
civilian fold if there is to be any chance of long-term peace and
stability. It was necessary. But so is the reintegration of victims
through reparations for sustainable peace and true
reconciliation.

Q: You spoke earlier about the challenge
of managing expectations among the victims. Is that your main
challenge?

Commissioner Sesay: I would say it is one of the major
challenges. There is also the question of whether what we are
delivering now constitutes sufficient reparations in the eyes of
the victims. The amounts of resources we foresee being required for
this kind of work we think are very huge. And the government has
the responsibility of providing these. So the starting point would
have to be the government's own resources. But, you know, these are
very limited. We also have to rely on external support to augment
what the government provides. But it is not clear what the extent
of that support will be.

There is also another challenge further down the road. We have
funds for one year. We are now looking for support for another
three years. But we may not have fulfilled all that is required
within these four years in terms of providing reparations. How are
we going to take that process forward?

Q: But people could argue that if Sierra
Leone's 'blood diamonds' were used to fund the conflict, why can't
diamonds fund reparations to innocent victims?

Commissioner Sesay: From an outsider's point of view,
that sounds like a legitimate assumption. But the reality is
different. Yes there are diamonds, but the government itself
doesn't mine. Mining is in the hands of private people and private
external companies. What the government relies on is taxes levied
on the miners' proceeds. And of late, the mining industry has not
been yielding much – as much as is expected. This is because
in the past, we had what is called alluvial mining where you can
just go scratch the ground somewhere and find something. Now it is
much deeper, deep mining which requires huge investment and there
are not many companies engaged in that. And so, we don't get as
much back from the diamonds as the outside world would imagine.
Other areas of revenue are really basically other forms of
taxation, which are very limited. So if we put that side by side
with other huge, competing priorities, I think the government is in
a corner.

Q. What are these competing
priorities?

Commissioner Sesay: Well, there are issues around primary
and secondary health as well as maternal and child health. Sierra
Leone has the highest child and maternal mortality rates in the
world for example. We need to strengthen the agricultural sector so
that there is enough food for the people. We have to develop
sources of energy so that industries can come and flourish and
provide employment for people. There is the issue of
infrastructure, roads, which are in a very poor state.

Q: Given the stigma around rape, how will
you get women and girls to come forward and register and protect
them?

Commissioner Sesay: We have an obligation to protect
their identity and the information they provide to us. The staff
handling this would receive technical support from qualified people
to help manage that kind of information. And we are also working
with women's groups in order to build the confidence of the women.
They can talk to their peers and that information can be
transmitted to us. This way, we hope to reach them.

Q: But by giving them assistance, they
will be identifiable.

Commissioner Sesay: I agree. But those who will receive
medical treatment, you can't easily conclude that that person had
gone to the doctor's because of a rape act. It will also depend on
the medical personnel handling those cases to make sure that
whatever information the patient gives out, is kept in
confidence.

Q: Does that mean victims of sexual
violence aren't eligible for housing assistance?

Commissioner Sesay: Some will be. I think we are looking
at the worst cases. Not just those who suffered rape but those who
sustained some injury that would make it difficult to remarry,
would make it difficult to bear children. These are the more
critical cases. We will rely on the doctors to identify them.

Q: Who decides who gets help and what
that help is?

Commissioner Sesay: The registration process actually
records what kind of support that they are looking for. It also
identifies the various categories..the amputees, the war wounded,
victims of sexual violence, war widows, child victims including
children born out of sexual violence …All this information
goes into a database. And once we have that information, we have to
do a validation check carried out in the community with community
elders and representatives to be assured that yes, victim A is
really eligible. Once that is done, a steering committee takes the
policy decision on whether we can proceed with delivering services
or not.

Q: You say the programme is there to help
the most vulnerable. How do you define that?

Commissioner Sesay: This is all really about livelihood
as much as it is about dignity and respect. If we approach it from
that angle then the most vulnerable would be those who would find
it difficult to sustain their lives on their own without any
external support. So for me, if you have both of your hands chopped
off, that renders you essentially inactive. If you sustain an
injury that makes it difficult for people to come around you, that
makes people ignore you, neglect you, in my own judgement, that
makes you one of the most vulnerable.

Q: What are the implications of the
programme not going beyond year one due to lack of funds?

Commissioner Sesay: It would have implications for the
maintenance of peace itself. We are talking about a group of people
that have been terribly hurt and not to make any effort to make
sure they feel belonged and to feel cared for – well I would
not expect such category of people to cooperate, or to respect
authority. I can expect tension which can trigger other
uncomfortable circumstances within society. Above and beyond that,
I think that we actually live in a society that is fairly close. We
have may have chopped each others arms and legs, but we are
generally close. This mutual care and support for each other is
what has helped most people. Not taking this programme forward
would probably destroy that kind of culture. 

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    target="" title="">Reparations for Sierra Leone's War Victims
    Essential for Country's Future