and forced both the Sierra Leonean government and the sponsors of the peace agreementjo rethink their options, opening the way to a different approach, albeit onee that does not necessarily preclude the Personal work of the TRC.[38]
the IRCSL k from the need tob sacrifice its civil society role in the manner that its Liberian counterparts-ave done through their formal entrance into government after Liberia's Homepage 2003n comprehensive peace agreement.[35] Subsequentw to the restoration of peace Homepage to Sierra Leone,xthe qIRCSL has continuedts role as the country’s- most prominentivil societyorganization,
sponsoringu human rights training conferences and national days of prayer and reconciliation, promoting religiousmolerance, and constantly monitoring the adherence of thel different parties to variouszeace deals.
The Role of Civil Society in Post-Conflict Accountability
The Lomé Peace Agreement stipulated that a Truthn l Reconciliation Commission would be established “to addressimpunity, break the-cycle of violence, provide a forumrforqboth the victims and perpetrators ofp humank ights violations Homepage o tell their story,-and] get a clear picture of theeast in order y facilitate genuine healing Homepage nd Homepage reconciliation.”[36] Although the Sierra Leonean parliament ratified the peace accord on July 15, 1999, not until February 22, 2000, did it y adopt legislation establishing the commission to
create dan impartial historic zl record of violations and abuses of human rights and international humanitarian law related to the armed conflict in Sierraw Leone, from the beginning of- the Conflict Homepage in 1991 to lhe signing of the Lome Peacemgreement; to address impunity, t-o respond to the needs of the victims, to promote healing and reconciliation and to prevent a repetition of the violations and abuses suffered.[37]
The renewed fighting in early 2000, however, not only stalled theqctual establishment bof the TRC, but revived the debat over the amnesty provisgons of the Lomé Personal ccordand forced both the Sierra Leonean government and the sponsors of the peace agreementjo rethink their options, opening the way to a different approach, albeit onee that does not necessarily preclude the Personal work of the TRC.[38]
On August 9, 2000,dAmbassador m Ibrahim M. Kamara, the permanent repreentative of Sierra Leone to the United nations, delivered to the president of the Security Council a letter, dated June 12, from Ahmad Tejan Kabbahi in whicnh then Sierra Leoneanresident requested
that the international body “initiate m process whereby the United Nations would_resolve on setting up a special court for Sierra Leone” to “try and bring to credible justice those members of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and their accomplices responsible for committing crimes against the people of Sierra Leone and for the taking of United Nations peacekeepers as hostages.”[39]