Special Court prisoners sent to Rwanda to serve their sentences

Eight persons convicted by the Special Court for Sierra Leone for serious crimes committed during the country’s civil war were today transferred from the Court’s detention facility in Freetown to Rwanda, where they will begin serving their sentences. Amid tight security, the eight men were flown by helicopter from the Special Court compound to Lungi International Airport, where they boarded a UN-chartered plane for Kigali, Rwanda. The plane departed at 3:50 p.m. local time. The prisoners were accompanied by officials from the Special Court’s Security and Detention sections.

Those transferred included three former leaders of Sierra Leone’s Revolutionary United Front (RUF), whose sentences were upheld on appeal earlier this week: Former RUF Interim Leader Issa Hassan Sesay, Senior RUF Commander Morris Kallon, and former RUF Security Chief Augustine Gbao.

Also transferred today were three former leaders of Sierra Leone’s Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC): Alex Tamba Brima, AKA: “Gullit”; Ibrahim Bazzy Kamara and Santigie Borbor Kanu, AKA: “Five-Five,” and two former leaders of the Civil Defence Forces (CDF): Moinina Fofana and Allieu Kondewa.

The prisoners will be incarcerated at Rwanda’s Mpanga Prison under an agreement signed between the Special Court and the Rwandan government last March. The part of the facility where they will be held was originally built to house persons convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), and meets the international standards for treatment of prisoners which are required for persons convicted by international tribunals.

At present, no facility in Sierra Leone meets the required international standards.

The prisoners have been sentenced to sentences ranging from 15 to 52 years, with credit given for time served while in detention at the Special Court.

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The Special Court is an independent tribunal established jointly by the United Nations and the Government of Sierra Leone. It is mandated to bring to justice those who bear the greatest responsibility for atrocities committed in Sierra Leone after 30 November 1996.

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