Below is an excerpt from an interview with outgoing Special Court for Sierra Leone prosecutor Stepehn Rapp in Time Magazine. This is the first time I have heard him express this regret.
What problems came up in the pursuit of international justice in Sierra Leone?
The concern all of us had was that we were conducting justice in a comfortable courtroom with long trials and well-paid attorneys. Prisoners had single cells, and they had committed the worst crimes. A mile away in the local prison there were simply no resources. Cases can’t go forward, witnesses are lost, and people stay in detention for many years at a stretch. [If I was] to do it over, I would try to develop a court within the national system. That would be my preference. Maybe not a court that costs $30 million a year like the Special Court, but an appropriate court.
This is a longtime coming and i’m glad that someone stated this publically. I think there is a place for the SCSL in addressing impunity in SL but it stands in such contrast to the national judiciary that you can understand why people would question its process and the principles underpinning it, which at times seem grossly unfair. Let’s hope he has greater influence in his new role and greater emphasis is placed on bolstering domestic capacity in transitional justice.
Sorry, brief introduction. I’m a PhD student at King’s College, London. Looking at the role of Outreach in international justice. I looked specifically at SL. I have been following your blog for a while and am always interested to hear your thoughts on the SCSL and the region. I hope your PhD is going well. Jessica