By Hajaratu Kalokoh
The Residual Special Court for Sierra Leone has sought permission from the Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone (HRCSL) to preserve the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) archive.
The Residual Special Court was established by an agreement between the United Nations and the Government of Sierra Leone to oversee the continuing legal obligations of the Special Court for Sierra Leone after its closure in 2013. The Special Court tried those held responsible for crimes committed during Sierra Leone’s elevn years civil war.
Part of the Residual Special Court is the Sierra Leone Peace Museum, which operates as an independent national institution and honours the victims of the war, preserve the history of the war and the story of the peace process, build peace, and promote a culture of human rights. The Museum hosts a full copy of the Special Court's public archives, as well as the archives of Sierra Leone's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and other important historic documents for use by researchers and scholars. It also houses an exhibition of pictures and artifacts to narrate the history of the war and the story of the peace process.
There is a Memorial Garden designed by Sierra Leonean artists, serving as a place of reflection to honour the war victims. The Memorial Garden however serves as a form of symbolic reparation to the war victims, fulfilling a recommendation of the TRC.
Officials fear that little attention has been given to the Museum, occasioning the possibility of losing important aspects of the country’s history.
Bintu Mansaray, Residential Court Register, explained that a professional archivist has been hired to review all the index, verify index since five years ago, change rust clippings, protect scanned documents and change of boxes containing documents. According to Mansaray, work cannot be done on just the Special Court records without doing same on the TRC records. She said because the HRCSL is the custodian of the TRC archive, they therefore thought it fit to seek permission for action.
“Reason for this permission is that we should not allow the national treasure to die a natural death” she told a meeting with HRCSL officials on Tuesday.
Patricia Narsu Ndanema, Chairman of the HRCSL, in the meeting held in the premises of the Commisison, granted permission to the Residual Special Court to properly process and preserve the TRC archives for posterity as it is doing for the Special Court archives.
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