Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Freetown (Agenzia Fides) - “This is a first step towards justice and reparation towards victims, which should be followed by more similar acts,” Agenzia Fides was told by Fr. Gerardo Caglioni, Xaverian missionary present for years in Sierra Leon and author of significant works on the history and evangelization of the country, commenting on the recent sentence issued by the Special Court of Sierra Leon for three of the highest-ranking generals of the United Revolutionary Front (RUF, the main guerrilla group active in the country during the civil war). Issa Hassan Sesay, Morris Kallon, and Augustine Gbao are the first people in the world to be condemned for attacking international peacekeeping forces and for “forced marriages,” which General Prosecutor Stephen Rappo has called “inhumane acts.”
“These indictments, declared by the Special Court of Sierra Leon, are only the tip of the iceberg in a long process of reparation of the wrongs suffered,” says Fr. Caglioni. Sierra Leon has recently emerged from a great civil war (1991-2002), characterized by unspeakable atrocities (amputation of limbs, repeated sexual offenses, etc.). The Special Court was established in 2002 in order to bring to justice those who were accused of the most atrocious crimes during the war, which left 50,000 victims. Several RUF guerrillas, unfortunately infamous for their practice of recruiting child-soldiers, were condemned in 2007. Also facing a judicial process was the former President of Liberia, Charles Taylor, accused of having contributed to the prolongation of the conflict in Sierra Leone, simultaneous with the conflict in his own country (between 1989-2003), for his involvement with the trafficking of diamonds from Sierra Leon.
“There is still a long road ahead to rebuilding the country. Thanks be to God, we are receiving aid from the international community, without which the national institutions would not be able to get back up on their feet. It is obviously not a disinterested effort, considering how Sierra Leon is a land rich in diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and strategic minerals like bauxite and rutile,” the missionary concluded. (LM) (Agenzia Fides 26/2/2009)
