The News Review:
- Sierra Leone: War Crimes Court Impeded by Lack of Funds
- Sick officer may die in jail: colleague
- UN Chief Seeks 30,000 More Troops for Peacekeeping
Sierra Leone: War Crimes Court Impeded by Lack of Funds
hrw.org – Sep 8, 2004
-Backed Court Makes Great Strides, But Key Concerns Remain(New York, September 8, 2004) The U. -backed court for war crimes in Sierra Leone needs funding to ensure justice for victims of atrocities committed during the countrys 11-year civil war, Human Rights Watch said in a. The Special Court for Sierra Leone today resumes the trial of leaders of the government-backed Civil Defense Forces.
Sick officer may die in jail: colleague
The Age – Sep 8, 2004
Superintendent Peter Halloran is in a prison hospital in Sierra Leone suffering from high blood pressure, the after-effects of pneumonia and gastric problems. He is unable to drink the local water because of an outbreak of cholera and is surviving on two bread rolls a day. He has been charged with having a sexual relationship with a Freetown schoolgirl whom he had allegedly hired to work in his home. Mr Abe Haddad, a former Victorian policeman who has returned to Melbourne after a 12-month stint with the UN Special Court in Sierra Leone, said there was no evidence to justify the charges. “The system there is very much geared towards the prosecution and not to the defence…
Sources in Sierra Leone said that the alleged victim in the case had made at least three contradictory statements and that a UN board of inquiry found there was no evidence to sustain charges. Halloran’s lawyer, who tried to charge him US$20,000 for appearing at a bail application, has abandoned the case and left the country. Halloran has told friends he believes pressure has been placed on local police to prosecute the case. Local sources said that, when the young girl refused to swear to her original statement of complaint, members of her family were arrested and imprisoned. Halloran, the former head of the Victorian homicide squad and senior investigator for the National Crime Authority, took 12 months leave of absence from Victoria Police to work for the UN Special Court investigating war crimes and genocide.
UN Chief Seeks 30,000 More Troops for Peacekeeping
MONUC RD Congo – Sep 9, 2004
‘s 17 peacekeeping operations currently in force extend from Cyprus and Georgia to Sierra Leone and Western Sahara. The four new operations authorised this year are in Liberia, Cote d’Ivoire, Haiti and Burundi. Annan is seeking more troops despite plans to downsize at least two existing U. operations: the 11,500-strong U.