About SLCMP
PROGRAMME DIRECTOR'S WELCOME MESSAGE:
By Mohamed Suma
Feb 17, 2005 - 12:21:21 AM

The Programme Director

Welcome to the official website of the Sierra Leone Court Monitoring Programme (SLCMP). We are an independent monitoring programme comprising human rights and civil society activists committed to promoting judicial accountability in Sierra Leone. We do so by monitoring the Special Court for Sierra Leone and our national institutions, starting with the National courts in Freetown. We hope soon to expand further to monitor the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC).

The Special Court is an international tribunal of mixed jurisdiction and composition established pursuant to an Agreement between the United Nations and the Government of Sierra Leone. It is mandated to prosecute persons who bear the greatest responsibility for serious violations of international humanitarian law and Sierra Leonean law committed in the territory of Sierra Leone since 30 November 1996. Since trials began in June 2004, the SLCMP has been monitoring proceedings and doing independent reporting to the public both within Sierra Leone and among the international community.

One of the root causes of the war in Sierra Leone was the fallen status of the judiciary, which had lost much of its once distinguished reputation at the hands of political manipulation. Subsequently, and in consequence, the Sierra Leone national court system was one of the institutions that suffered the most from the decade long conflict in Sierra Leone. With the consolidation of the peace, reforming the judiciary and upholding the rule of law thus essential. Now that the judiciary is being reformed, we hope to not only enhance civil society monitoring of the judiciary so as to ensure judicial accountability, but also to provide positive support for the challenging work of court officials. We hope that this will contribute significantly towards inhibiting the recurrence of war in this country.

The Anti Corruption Commission was established by the Government of Sierra Leone in the aftermath of the war, to investigate alleged corruption which has continued to plague the country. While the Commission is charged with the responsibility of monitoring all institutions in the country with the aim of preventing corruption, the question which remains to be answered is “who will watch the watchman”? This is why we think it is necessary to monitor the ACC and report on its activities to the people of Sierra Leone.

This website shall be providing regular updates on issues arising from the work of the above institutions with a view to making such institutions accountable to the people, ensuring civil society participation and proffering constructive recommendations to enhance their progress. While we do this, we are aware that our objectives cannot be achieved in isolation. We anticipate cooperation from all those committed to the development of Sierra Leone. As you go through this website, we shall be pleased to get feed back from you on the work we are doing and we encourage your contributions at all times.

On behalf of the SLCMP, I welcome you to our official website and wish that you enjoy the benefit of the information and analysis we have provided and will continue to provide.

Mohamed Suma,
Programme Director.