Human Rights Watch congratulates you on your recent appointment as minister of state in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. We look forward to the same dedication to contemporary human rights problems in Africa as you displayed during the antiapartheid struggle.

I am writing to bring to your attention the critical situation in Sierra Leone. The United Kingdom has taken a leading role in the international response to the civil war in that country, and your predecessor Tony Lloyd chaired several meetings of the Sierra Leone Contact Group. While we welcome this commitment, much more is needed. The U.K. must take a lead to ensure that the recent progress towards an end to war is not reversed by a failure to commit resources to secure the peace.

As you know, the U.N. Security Council is due to adopt a resolution on Sierra Leone which will establish a U.N. peacekeeping presence in the country to replace the Nigerian-led forces of ECOMOG. It is crucial for the future of Sierra Leone that this resolution be adopted soon, that it provide for a credible peacekeeping complement, and that the forces authorized be deployed without delay thereafter. Although the Security Council has already voted for the number of unarmed military observers in the country to be raised to 210, it is only with the arrival of peacekeeping soldiers that Sierra Leoneans will begin to have any confidence in the peace process.

Under domestic pressure to reduce its financial and human commitment to Sierra Leone, the Nigerian government has already begun to withdraw its troops. Last week, the Nigerian information minister was reported saying that two thousand soldiers would return to Nigeria immediately and that an additional two thousand would be withdrawn every month until all have returned home. On August 31 just under 500 Nigerian ECOMOG troops left Sierra Leone. While other Nigerian government statements have indicated that the Nigerian ECOMOG troops would remain until a U.N. force was deployed, this news is very concerning and underlines the need for urgent action by the international community. Additionally, the Malian contingent of ECOMOG already left Sierra Leone in mid-August. While President Kabbah formally requested additional troops from ECOWAS, as mandated by Article XIII of the peace agreement, shortly after it had been signed, these troops have not arrived. .In the short term, before U.N. troops can be deployed, the Nigerian government should be urged to maintain its commitment to ECOMOG. Although Human Rights Watch has reported its concerns about the sometimes undisciplined behavior of the ECOMOG soldiers, they remain the only force on the ground at the moment, and essential to maintain such peace as there is. At the same time, steps must be taken—starting with a robust Security Council resolution—to ensure that ECOMOG soldiers are supplemented and replaced as soon as possible by a substantial and well-trained U.N. force.

Without U.N. troops, the disarmament of combatants, especially rebels, is unlikely to succeed. Although the peace agreement to end the civil war was signed by the government and the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF) on July 7, there is still no official disarmament process. While a few sites have been identified and announced, there has been no announcement as to when disarmament will begin. Rebel troops are understandably reluctant to hand over weapons to forces of ECOMOG, who are seen as party to the conflict, and though U.N. military observers can assist to dispel some mistrust, it is only U.N. troops that will be seen as impartial.

In the meantime, the security situation is deteriorating. There have been several reports of ambushes of taxis and trucks carrying aid or commercial goods along the northern and eastern roads leading to Port Loko and Masiaka. There have also been reports of looting raids by rebels around Port Loko, in which at least two civilians were allegedly killed. There are several reports of infighting between members of the former Sierra Leonean Army (SLA) and the RUF including the August 30 abduction of several high level RUF commanders within the Occra Hills. The insecurity has led aid agencies on several occasions to suspend their work within the areas of Makeni and Lunsar.

Even in Freetown, the security situation is problematic. Rebels who have come to the town have harassed civilians. The rebel leaders that, under the peace accord, have come to the capital have also been engaging in disorderly and drunken conduct, while demanding cars and housing from the government. The government did informally agree to provide some accommodation and cars though the RUF demands have been seen as unreasonable. On August 20, three rebel commanders stormed the offices of 'FOR DI PEOPLE', the largest circulation daily, and attempted to assault the editors, who they complained had written an insulting article reporting this behavior. Several of the committees provided for in the Lomé peace accord to oversee the peace process have still not been formed, even though their formation was stipulated for fourteen days after the accord was signed. Despite the RUF's commitment in the May 18 ceasefire, repeated in the July 7 peace agreement, only 345 of thousands of children believed to have been abducted by the RUF during the civil war have been officially released.

The U.K. has, with the United States, taken the lead among the international community in assisting the peace process in Sierra Leone. Yet the commitment shown to Sierra Leone falls far short of that shown to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, especially Kosovo, even though the atrocities committed in Sierra Leone match or surpass anything seen in the Balkans. We call on you to push forward the adoption of a Security Council resolution on a peacekeeping operation in Sierra Leone, and to ensure that the force deployed is of a sufficient size to keep the peace. Without compromising the peacekeeping force in Kosovo, we suggest that the deployment of British troops to Sierra Leone would be a clear indication that the U.K. takes its responsibilities to its former colony seriously.

While the first priority for Sierra Leone is to ensure that the fragile peace process is sustained, and therefore that a credible U.N. peacekeeping force be deployed, Human Rights Watch also believes that for long term peace to be secured the question of impunity for human rights violations must be addressed. We urge the U.K. to support the creation and operation of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, with a strong investigation component, as required by the Lomé accord. In addition, we urge support for the work of Bethuel Abdu Kiplagat, appointed by U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson to explore the possibilities for establishing an international commission of inquiry into human rights violations in Sierra Leone.