HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS TO VISIT SIERRA LEONE

HR/99/57
22 June 1999

Mary Robinson to Draw Attention to Plight of Civilian Victims of Atrocities
and to Support Peace Process


United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson is travelling to Sierra Leone on 24 June for a two-day visit during which she will seek to lend support to the ongoing Lome peace talks and encourage action for the protection and promotion of human rights in the war-ravaged country.

Mrs. Robinson will be accompanied by a panel of prominent African and international personalities, including the former President of Botswana, Ketumile Masire; Ambassador Kemal Morjane of Tunisia, Chairperson of the African Group at the UN Commission on Human Rights; Ambassador Catherine Von Heidenstam of Sweden, Chairperson of the Working Group on children in armed conflict, and Gay McDougall, Director of the International Human Rights Law Group and member of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

The visit comes as talks to end the armed conflict in the country continue in Togo. The High Commissioner will be emphasizing the establishment of some form of mechanism to establish the truth over the atrocities that have been committed in the country and work towards reconciliation.

The launching of the "Human Rights Manifesto for Sierra Leone" on 24 June is expected to be one of the high points of the visit. The Manifesto reaffirms the commitment of the Government and Sierra Leonean civil society "to the unwavering and non-discriminatory promotion of all human rights for present and future generations in Sierra Leone."

Mrs. Robinson and the delegation will, in visits to survivors of abuses and to sites of atrocities, also draw attention to the plight of children, women and other civilians who have borne the brunt of the excesses of the armed conflict, as well as show solidarity with the country's communities of human rights defenders.


In talks with Sierra Leonean President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah and senior Government officials, the High Commissioner will explore the possibility of the future establishment of a presence of her Office (OHCHR) in the country. The delegation will also hold discussions with the head of the United Nations Observer Mission in Sierra Leone, Special Representative of the Secretary-General Francis Okelo, as well as with representatives of non-governmental organizations and of UN agencies.