Part I: Summary of Recent Events and Parties Impacting
the Media in Sierra Leone
The Lomé Peace Accord
The Lomé Peace Accord is not the first peace agreement between the Kabbah
government and the RUF. On November 30, 1996, President Kabbah and RUF leader
Sankoh had signed the Abijan Peace Accord, which was also hailed as a promise of
peace for Sierra Leone. The AFRC/RUF military junta had also signed the Conakry
Peace Agreement with ECOWAS on October 23, 1997.
However, hope does exist
among the citizenry, that this agreement will finally bring a lasting peace.
But, without the strong presence of an foreign peacekeeping UN force to enforce
the peace, and adequate international funding to rebuild the country, the Lomé
Accord will not resolve Sierra Leone's instability or severe
developmental/societal problems. Nor is it alarmist to forecast renewed
fighting if the 2002 elections, or the government policies preceding them, are
not endorsed by all parties in the new "shared-power" government.
The Lomé Peace
Accord, which was characterized by a British diplomat as "a very dirty deal, but
unfortunately the only one available," provides amnesty from prosecution for
human rights violations and allows the 1996 elections to be compromised by the
RUF's use of force to gain power. Yet this was by no means the only option
available: Greater financial and logistical support for ECOMOG was an option
repeatedly requested, but not taken.
Now that the agreement has become reality, it is the responsibility of the same
international community that encouraged and witnessed the signing of the Lome
Accord to ensure that the peace is adequately guaranteed, and that those
responsible for gross violations of human rights do not repeat these crimes with
impunity in the future.
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