New Evidence of Atrocities in Sierra Leone

As the United Nations Secretary-General prepares to visit Sierra Leone, Human Rights Watch today released fresh evidence that civilian suffering continues unabated in the civil war there. In addition to providing details of ongoing atrocities by the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF), Human Rights Watch also documented how armed factions fighting on behalf of the Sierra Leonean government have also attacked civilians in recent months.

Printer Friendly Version Related Material Letter to Kofi Annan Letter, November 29, 2000 List of recent abuses documented by Human Rights Watch Background Briefing, November 1, 2000 Sierra Leone: A Call for Justice Graphic, May 1, 2000 Free Email Newsletter Contribute to Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch called on U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to ensure that UNAMSIL, the U.N. forces in Sierra Leone, do more to protect civilians. In a letter to the Secretary-General, Human Rights Watch urged that the Special Court for trying war crimes in Sierra Leone should be created without further delay and be given "Chapter VII powers" to enforce cooperation, and that it have jurisdiction over crimes committed from the beginning of the war in March 1991, instead of only since November 30, 1996.  
Human Rights Watch also warned that the United Nations should enforce the international arms embargo against the RUF, which is now making incursions and committing abuses against civilians in neighboring Guinea.  
 
A copy of the letter can be found here.  
 
A chronology of abuses can be found here.