The News Review:

- SIERRA LEONE: UN troops to leave by the end of the year
- … Criminal Courts and Tribunals: Sierra Leone, East Timor,…
- Cathedral dons anti-poverty band
- Asylum – politics and the law
- General News of Friday, 1 July 2005

SIERRA LEONE: UN troops to leave by the end of the year
IRINnews.org – Jul 1, 2005
About 3,400 peacekeepers remain in the West African nation, three and a half years after the official end to a brutal civil war, which shocked the world with its images of drugged-up youths hacking the arms, legs, ears and lips off civilians. The UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) was created in October 1999 to help restore peace to Sierra Leone. At its height, it boasted 17,000 troops and was the biggest UN peacekeeping operation in the world. The force was originally supposed to withdraw from Sierra Leone at the end of last year, but its mandate was extended because of security concerns in neighbouring Liberia and Guinea and delays in preparing the Sierra Leonean army and police to take over full responsibility for internal security.

… Criminal Courts and Tribunals: Sierra Leone, East Timor,…
Free with registration – Estudios Internacionales – AccessMyLibrary.com – Jul 1, 2005
Their bench consists of both international and national judges that can apply both international and national law. These features justify treating them together as “internationalized” criminal courts and tribunals (the adjective adopted by the editors as opposed to the adjectives “hybrid” or “mixed”, which are sometimes used in literature). The book “Internationalized Criminal Courts and Tribunals: Sierra Leone, East Timor, Kosovo, and Cambodia” addresses three active and one anticipated jurisdiction of this kind: the Serious Crimes Panels in the District Court of Dili (East Timor); the ‘Regulation 64′ Panels in the courts of Kosovo; the Special Court for Sierra Leone; and the so-called Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia. The book originates in a conference on internationalized criminal courts and tribunals held in Amsterdam in January 2002 and jointly organized by “No Peace Without Justice”, the Pioneer Project on Interactions between National and International Law at the Amsterdam Center on International Law, University of Amsterdam, and the Project on International Courts and Tribunals, at New York University and University College, London. The book consists of a set of.

Cathedral dons anti-poverty band
BBC News – Jul 1, 2005
Other world landmarks like Australia’s Sydney Harbour Bridge and a giant cotton tree in Sierra Leone will also bear the bands on the eve of Live 8. Messages from children urging education for everyone in the world will be taken to embassies in London on a bus later. The events are part of the Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP). School buildings across the UK are also donning the white bands.

Asylum – politics and the law
BBC News – Jul 1, 2005
“Asylum” – and who should be eligible to seek it – is one of the most hotly debated issues of our time. But what does the law really say about who can and cannot stay in this country?How can a Court of Appeal judge call female circumcision an ‘evil practice’ in breach of Human Rights Law, and yet fail to grant asylum to a young woman who fears it will happen to her if she is forced to return to Sierra Leone? Seventeen year old Zainab Fornah was denied asylum on the ground that as a woman she is not a member of a ‘particular social group’. She has not been deported though. She has been permitted to stay in the UK for 3 years under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. To try to disentangle the often emotive politics from the legal reality we brought together Humphrey Malins MP, a solicitor and judge, as well as the Conservative spokesman on immigration and asylum, and Judith Farbey, a barrister specialising in this kind of case.

General News of Friday, 1 July 2005
ghanaweb.com – Jul 1, 2005
The course was to provide the participants with the necessary tools to meet the job requirements and challenges to enable them to contribute to the efforts of ensuring peace and stability in their country and the sub-region as a whole. It was organised by the Ghana Armed Forces with financial support from the United Kingdom and the Sierra Leonean government. Dr Addo-Kufuor said information about such a force should widely be disseminated and civilians should be part of the ideology of that force. The composition of the forces, its funding and regulations for deployment, among others, he stated, should be clearly spelt out. Dr Addo-Kufuor observed that it was only when there was such an arrangement for conflict resolution that the sub-region would have the conducive environment to pursue socio-economic development. He reminded the military that they were in a new era in which civil society was wide awake and was very conscious of the need for good governance for the observance of the rule of law, and safeguarding of the rights and responsibilities of citizens. Dr Addo-Kufuor said in the current situation, the military must regard itself as a serious development partner, as well as a bulwark against chaos and disorder.