Communicating Justice

The Government of Sierra Leone has started registration for victims of the war in Sierra Leone for the implementation of a reparations program.

The government implementing agency for the reparations program, National Commission for Social Action (NACSA), Monday began the registration process throughout the country for those that will be eligible.

Ibrahim Satti Kamara is the NACSA’s Outreach coordinator for the reparations programme. He said the main objective of the reparations program is to address the needs of those who are presently in a vulnerable state due to inhuman treatments and torture they encountered during the conflict in Sierra Leone.

Kamara said those that stand to benefit include the amputees, victims of sexual violence, severely wounded, those who lost their husbands as a result of the war (widows) and children.

He said the registration centres are scattered at NACSA's district offices in the regions and the western area.

“We have trained registration officers in these centres and only eligible victims who fall into these categories will be registered to claim benefit from the program,” Kamara said.

Applicants have been advised to come along with some form of documentary evidence, he added, such as registration cards from prior programs dealing with war victims or an attestation from their paramount chiefs or head men. “They can even come along with medical reports,” he said.

Kamara explained that, after the completion of the registration exercise, NACSA would cross check the lists of registered victims, comparing them with other records such as the lists drawn up by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), non-governmental and other organisations that have been dealing with victims of the war.

He said this is to ensure that they find out those victims that have benefitted from previous programmes, the type of benefits they have received and what would be their present needs.

“This will lead us through as to the nature and kind of benefits individual beneficiaries will get,” Kamara told this reporter.

He explained that they want to ensure that that those victims who have benefitted from previous programs will not be provided that same benefit under the reparations program.

Kamara further explained that victims such as ex-combatants, ex-military men and widows of former soldiers are not allowed to register and are not eligible to be part of the reparations program.

He said this was because these categories of people have had benefits from previous programs that were implemented by the government of Sierra Leone.

“We target civilian victims, as recommended by the TRC,” Kamara noted. “Already we have secured a budget of three million United States dollars from the UN Peace Building Fund for the implementation of this program.”

He added the program would also take the form of symbolic reparations such as memorials, reburials and remembrances.

Lamin Jusu Jaka is chairman of Sierra Leone’s amputee association. He said his organisation welcomes the news.

He said this has been a long dream which they have been yearning for and that they hope to see where these benefits will take them to during their life time. “We will take these gestures but we cannot easily forget what happened to us,” Mr Jaka said.

He said they want to see that the exercise is conducted in a transparent and fair manner that will satisfy the victims themselves and even the donor community.

But retired Lance Corporal Farma Jalloh, who heads an organisation representing war-wounded ex-service men, said the reparations program was biased. He said war-wounded ex-combatants should not be excluded since they had not benefitted much from previous government programs.

He said they suffered the most in the conflict and that most of them were abandoned by the government after the war.

“Look at my present situation, I lost my eye sight during the war,” said  Jalloh. “As a blind man, my family largely depend on me even though I am unemployed.”

Jalloh said he hoped the government would look into their situation and review its decision. “We are appealing to them through the almighty God, we can't fight them but let them consider us,” he said.

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Street scene, Freetown, Sierra Leone
Photo © BBC Archives

Freetown, December 4, 2008