HIGH COMMISSIONNER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS NAMES EXPERT TO STUDY LINK BETWEEN TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION BODY IN SIERRA LEONE AND POSSIBLE COMMISSION OF INQUIRY

HR/99/74
6 August 1999






The following statement was issued today by the Office of the High Commissionner for Human Rights:

"The United Nations High Commissionner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, after consultations with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Francis Okelo, having regard to Article XXVI of the recently signed peace agreement which established a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to address impunity and to deal with the question of human rights violations since the beginning of the Sierra Leone conflict in 1991, and mindful of the role that Commissions of Inquiry have played in similar situations, has requested Bethuel Kiplagat of Kenya to prepare an in-depth report, based on consultations with all concerned, on the nexus between a Truth and Reconciliation Commission and a Commission of Inquiry, and the possible future role of the latter, and to submit recommendations to the High Commissionner, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and the Secretary-General of the United Nations".