Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Rome (Agenzia Fides) – In the Seminar Reconciliation, Justice, and Peace in Africa, being held in Rome during the Second Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops promoted by the “Giuseppe Toniolo” Institute for the International Law for Peace and the Catholic Action International Forum, Bishop Giorgio Biguzzi of Makeni, President of the Bishops' Conference of Sierra Leone and Gambia, described the experience of the Commission for Truth and Reconciliation in Sierra Leone and the contribution of the Church to the peace process. The Bishop of Makeni recalled how the Interreligious Council of Sierra Leone (including Catholics, Muslims, Anglicans, and Methodists) intervened in talks with RUF (United Revolutionary Front) rebels after they had attacked the capital city of Freetown on January 6, 1999. After two years in Togo, finally in 2001, an accord was signed that brought peace back to Sierra Leone. The intervention of the association of religious leaders was made possible by the fact that the local population is very religious and the Interreligious Council was considered by all to be impartial in the matter.
During the conflict in Sierra Leone, horrendous crimes were committed, not only by the RUF rebels (infamous for their mutilation of victims and recruiting of child soldiers), but also by other parties engaged in the war. Following the example of South Africa and several Latin American countries, the Commission for Truth and Reconciliation was founded. The main objective of the Commission, Bishop Biguzzi says, is that of establishing the truth about crimes and researching the causes of the war. This is why testimonies have been gathered from across the country. The results of this study showed that the main causes of the war were not religious, tribal, or ethnic, but social and economic. The corruption and bad government of the 1980s had angered the local people, who had normally been a peaceful people, making way for the terrible explosion of violence in the 1990s.
From the audiences of the Commission, the people of Sierra Leone have learned that in war there are no winners. Everyone loses. It is not that one side is bad and the other good, but all have their responsibility. Even your enemy has a piece of the truth. But the main lesson of the Commission, the Bishop concluded, is the value of forgiveness, which has a freeing effect on the victim himself, whose heart is no longer eroded by hate and a thirst for revenge. (LM) (Agenzia Fides 21/10/2009)
