Alpha R. Jalloh, Vanguard Freetown Bureau Chief.
Journalists in Sierra Leone are receiving training on transitional justice reporting.
The training is being done by the BBC World Service Trust. Other countries in Africa that are benefitting from the training scheme are Liberia , Congo and Sudan. Among the journalists being trained is Alpha R. Jalloh, The Patriotic Vanguard’s Freetown Bureau Chief
A ‘Discussion Session’ was held at the Kimbima Hotel , west of the capital Freetown on Tuesday October 9.
Editors were urged to give their support in the training programme.
The essence of the training programme is to equip journalists with the tools to do conflict and post-conflict reporting. Sierra Leone experienced a ten year civil strife that raged from 1991 to 2001.
The 4.9 million population of the coastal West African country were subjected to horrendous experiences that ranged from the hacking off of limbs and hands, torture, gang-raping, burning alive of victims, summary executions and many other atrocities, which were described as the worst in contemporary history.
Many of the warring faction leaders including ex-president Charles Taylor of neighbouring Liberia, who was accused of supporting the Revolutionary United Front rebels, are now on trial at a UN backed court in the capital Freetown and the Netherlands.
At Kimbima Hotel on October 9, editors of different newspapers and managers of radio stations met and had a discussion with the BBC World Service Trust Team.
The discussion was moderated by Hassan Arouni, BBC’s news presenter. Steven King, the director of BBC World Service Trust explained to journalists the mission, vision and strategies of the WSTF.
The Trust uses media and communications to reduce poverty and promote human rights, supporting transitional justice report training in post-conflict countries and strengthening the media sector through the building of professional capacity and infrastructure among other things. The aim of transitional justice reporting is to raise awareness on post-conflict issues.
Peter Andersen(photo), the Chief of Press and Public Affairs of the Special Court for Sierra Leone said lessons have been derived from the war crimes court set up in Rwanda.
‘It was discovered that it was very expensive. The Special Court’s mandate was therefore different,’ he said.
During the war, many atrocities were committed. A Truth and Reconciliation Commission was set up during the post-war era but many victims yearned for justice.
Anderson said "justice can’t work in a vacuum" and that the the Special Court for Sierra Leone has been less expensive compared to other courts in Africa.
‘We should leave footprints in the legacy of Sierra Leone," he said, adding that transitional justice cuts across institutions. He urged journalists to cross check facts and on the whole to be objective in their reportage.
Justice Laura Marcus Jones, former TRC chairperson told editors that transitional justice involves justice, stability and the rule of law. She underscored the fact that without justice there would be no peace. She stressed that in sustaining peace the independence of the judiciary is a sine qua non. She said the media should not be an instrument of sending hate messages.
“It is important that the media acts with responsibility’, she said.
The president of the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists Ibrahim Ben Kargbo pointed out that prior to the end of the war, the Lome Peace Accord was signed which among other things, mentioned the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the obligation of government to implement it. He recalled that during the war journalists took different ‘ideological positions’; some preferred a military option to the war while others preferred a diplomatic solution to the war.
He said the Special Court was hailed at the initial stage because it was seen as a vehicle to try perpetrators of war crimes, but later perceptions changed.
He however pointed out that the culture of impunity which prevailed in Sierra Leone had to be stopped.
Julia Crawford of the BBC is the project director and Nesryn is the coordinator. They put aside some time to acquaint themselves with journalists in the country.
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