Reverend Alfred SamForay of Indiana, USA,is well known for his steadfast and unflinching loyalty to war crimes indictee and former CDF leader Samuel Hinga Norman.
He has written numerous commentaries on the Special Court for Sierra Leone,the ongoing trials and the Sierra Leone government
In his latest commentary Reverend SamForay bitterly responds to remarks made by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in Freetown recently. He also announced the death of the spouse of another indictee, Alieu Kondewa.
Commentary
What Was Kofi Annan Thinking?
By Alfred Munda SamForay
As a right thinking Sierra Leonean, I am greatly revolted by the recent speech to the so-called special court for Sierra Leone by the Secretary General, Mr. Kofi Annan during his recent visit to Freetown. Firstly, I am appalled by the level of ignorance of the operations of the court as indicated by the Secretary General’s speech and commendation of the staff. If, as the Secretary General states, that he was involved from the beginning, when the idea of setting up the so-called special court was just an idea, then there is reason to believe that Mr. Annan is either not entirely knowledgeable or fully honest about what a fiasco his idea has become in Sierra Leone.
I am particularly dismayed by Mr. Annan’s statement that this is a court, and I quote: “that is putting on trial criminals who have done lots of damage to this country, criminals who have terrorized the population and destroyed the economy and the social fabric of this country that we are now all trying to put together.” Never in the history of international diplomacy has a Secretary General of the United Nations being so recklessly unrepresentative of the high honors commensurate with his high office.
Indeed, Mr. Annan’s statement referring to indicted persons as criminals is legally unethical, uncharacteristically stupefying and diplomatically impolite. The laws of international jurisprudence and diplomatic courtesy dictate that all persons accused of crimes are held innocent until they are judged to be otherwise. Certainly, Mr. Annan knows that common sense and the respect of his high office require that he retain his personal opinions and lack of understanding of international jurisprudence to himself. His comments are neither helpful to the cause of justice nor the process of peace and reconciliation for which Sierra Leoneans have shed blood, sweat and tears and are presently still suffering.
Furthermore, it is grossly disingenuous for the Secretary General to lecture the people of Sierra Leone on international criminal behavior. After all, the sons of both Mr. Annan and Mr. Kabbah are or have at various times and places been involved in highly questionable if not international criminal activities. In the case of the Secretary General, we are all painfully familiar with his son, Kojo Annan’s participation in unethical and possibly illegal activities in the oil-for-food program in Iraq. In the case of Mr. Kabbah, his son’s leadership of tri-continental drug smuggling into the United States and his subsequent arrest and detention by the United States Drug Enforcement Agency are well known to the international community.
The international tax payers who pay for the operations of the United Nations are also painfully aware that Mr. Annan has presided over unarguably the most corrupt administration in UN history. So since when did either Mr. Annan or Mr. Kabbah become arbiters of international jurisprudence when their own children have been allowed to escape international justice with abject impunity? Indeed, it is obvious from the report of the investigations into the Iraq oil-for-food program by former United States Federal Reserve Chairman, Paul Vocker, that Mr. Annan “had more knowledge of, or was closer to, his son Kojo’s activities with Cotecna - the company whose role in the scandal seems so pervasive - than previously thought”. In effect, Mr. Annan in all likelihood misled the international community about his knowledge of his son’s activities.
With respect to Mr. Kabbah who negotiated for the establishment of the so-called special court, his family and government’s involvement in questionable arms deals during the war including the so-called arms for Africa are well noted. Furthermore, during his visit to Freetown, the Secretary General appeared to ignore the fact that his court allowed the real culprits of the atrocities in the Sierra Leone war to escape justice including RUF leaders, Foday Sankoh and Sam Bockarie and AFRC junta leader, Johnny Paul Koroma. Mr. Annan also failed to recognize that the court has so far failed to enforce its own rules of evidence in requiring Mr. Kabbah to appear as a witness for the defence as required by the statutes of the court.
I would hope that the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative to Sierra Leone will use his good offices to inform and advise the honorable Secretary General that his comments in Sierra Leone were rude, inconsiderate, ill-advised, legally unethical and generally speaking not in the overall interest of international justice and the welfare of our people.
ON A RELATED MATTER
It has been over two months since the Registrar of the so-called special court for Sierra Leone was petitioned by Counsel for Chief Hinga Norman as well as the family of the ailing chief for permission to leave the country for urgent medical treatment abroad. Since the rufusal of Ghana to accept Chief Norman, the Registrar has yet to come up with an alternative solution to this very nagging problem. One would have hoped that with the CDF trial on recess until September that the court will find it within its humanitarian corridors to permit Mr. Norman to go abroad for medical treatment with the hope of returning to Sierra Leone in time to conclude his trial in September. This, however, has not happened. Instead, the court is regrettably paranoid about Mr. Norman not returning to Sierra Leone if he were to travel abroad as if Chief Norman has ever given anybody any notion that he had any desire to live in anyone else’s country besides his own. But somehow this silly notion has taken precedence over Mr. Norman’s health and welfare.
DEATH IN THE FAMILY
While on the subject of humanitarian matters, we regret to announce the death of Mrs. Sallay Kondewa which sad event took place at Mbaoma, Bumpe Ngao Chiefdom, Bo District on Monday 10 July 2006. Mrs. Kondewa was a driving force behind the Kamajor Movement in the Southern Region and in particularly Bonthe District. She was preceded in death by her son, Mohamed Kondewa, a Kamajor Field Commander extraordinary who fought valiantly and scored many victories against the AFRC / RUF rebels in Bonthe District until he was ambushed and slaughtered by the rebels.
May the souls of mother and son be forever united in perpetual peace. They fought a good fight and never lived to enjoy the freedom and peace for which in the case of Commander Kondewa, he paid the ultimate sacrifice. In the case of Sallay Kondewa, it can be said that she survived the war and succumbed to the turmoils of peace. We are sadly informed that the detention authorities have no plans to allow Dr. Kondewa to bury his wife. The rites of Islamic burial have also been deferred indefinitely due to Kondewa’s imprisonment and the lack of family resources.
Photo: Kofi Annan at the Special Court premises in Freetown.
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