wfn.org | United Methodist bishop leads hearings in Sierra Leone

["NewsDesk" <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

April 16, 2003	 News media contact: Linda Bloom7(212)870-38037New York
10-21-31-71BPI{229}

NOTE: A photograph of Bishop Joseph C. Humper is available at
http://umns.umc.org/photos/headshots.html. 

By United Methodist News Service

The Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission, led by a United
Methodist bishop, began public hearings April 14 in Freetown to address the
wounds of that West African country's civil war.

Created by the 1999 Lome Peace Agreement and established by an act of
parliament in February 2000, the commission's mandate is to create an
impartial historical record of human rights violations and abuses during the
1991-99 armed conflict in Sierra Leone.

The goals of the hearings, which continue until mid-July, are similar to that
mandate, according to United Methodist Bishop Joseph C. Humper, who serves as
commission chairperson.

During an April 9 media briefing, Humper explained the commission hopes "to
provide witnesses with an opportunity to tell their stories either publicly
or in private and help relieve their grief through providing them a platform
that validates their experience and offers official acknowledgment of the
wrongs done to them."

Humper added that the hearings also will "create an opportunity for the
country to be engaged in a dialogue with itself about what went wrong and
what needs to change."

Besides listening to individual witnesses, the commission will hold three
other types of hearings. "Thematic hearings" are designed to produce a social
analysis in addressing patterns of abuse. With "event-specific hearings," the
commission will attempt to determine "whether particular events served an
especially catalytic role" in human rights abuses. "Institutional hearings"
will be used to consider whether specific civil or state institutions
warranted scrutiny for their role "in inflicting, legitimizing or ignoring
abuses."

Humper explained that closed hearings might be used as the commission
responds to the part of its mandate requiring it to learn about the
experiences of women and children, particularly in cases of sexual violence,
the testimony of a child or when testimony may jeopardize the witness's
reintegration into the community.

The bishop said the Truth and Reconciliation Commission "has a clear
understanding of the enormity of the task that lies ahead with regard to the
public hearings." He noted the commission had recently hosted Alex Boraine,
former deputy chairperson of the South African Truth and Reconciliation
Commission, for a four-day experience-sharing session.

The commission also has reached agreement with the United Nations Fund for
Women for a three-day, gender-based training event for members and staff.

The president of Sierra Leone appointed all seven of the commission's
members, three of whom are from outside the country. Besides Humper, the
Sierra Leone members are Justice Laura Marcus-Jones, vice chairperson,
Professor John Kamara and Sylvanus Torto. Other members are Professor William
A. Schabas of Canada, Santang Ajaaratou Jow of the Gambia and Yasmin Louisa
Sook of South Africa.

At the end of last year, more than 70 people were recruited and trained to
take statements of witnesses from various parts of the country. Thousands of
statements already have been collected. About 50,000 people died in the
conflict, which also left many others maimed or mutilated.

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United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://umns.umc.org