- Lomé Peace Accord
The Lomé Peace Accord was a peace agreement signed on
7 July ,1999 between the warring parties in thecivil war that grippedSierra Leone for almost a decade. PresidentAhmad Tejan Kabbah signed with theRevolutionary United Front (RUF) leader,Foday Sankoh , granting Sankoh a position in the transitional government as well asamnesty for him and all combatants. The accord is named forLomé , the capital ofTogo , where the negotiations took place and the agreement was signed.Context
The conflict had been dragging on since a RUF
coup attempt against Kabbah in1997 . The RUF had been able to garner allies, and by 1999 was receiving support fromLiberia ,Burkina Faso , andLibya . Sierra Leonean politicians at home and abroad were ready to negotiate with the rebels, includingOmrie Golley andPallo Bangura (AFRC/RUF junta's "foreign minister"). At the same time, president Kabbah was worn down from the fighting, the coup attempt, the siege ofFreetown (Sierra Leone's capital), and the weakening support of theNigerian s inECOMOG , apeacekeeping force in the country. Kabbah wanted peace, and was willing to make sacrifices. Sankoh wanted power, and was willing to fight for it. On18 May , in the presence ofUnited States special envoyJesse Jackson and Togolese presidentGnassingbé Eyadéma , Kabbah and Sankoh signed an initial cease-fire in Lomé. As a result, Sankoh, along with a negotiation team consisting of field commanders and allies, went to Lomé for negotiations with Kabbah's delegation, headed by Attorney GeneralSolomon Berewa . After delays, the negotiations began in Lomé on26 May .Negotiations
The RUF demanded that a four year
transitional government of national unity be formed with Sankoh as itsvice president . Berewa conceded some seats for RUF members in the transitional government and that the RUF could form a political party in elections to be held in 2001 but would not grant the vice presidency. Fourcabinet posts and four deputy-ministerial positions were eventually granted to the RUF, subject to approval by theParliament of Sierra Leone , and on the RUF side, on the agreement of senior rebel commanderSam Bockarie , as well as some other field commanders. A RUF team headed by People's War Council chairmanSoloman Y. B. Rogers returned to Sierra Leone to garner the support of rebel command. Bockarie pushed for more seats, but rescinded after Charles Taylor intervened. Finally Kabbah and Sankoh signed the agreement in Lomé on7 July , 1999. The Parliament unanimously ratified the accord on16 July .Contents of the agreement
The Lomé Peace Agreement contained thirty-seven articles and five annexes. It was largely a rehash of the
Abidjan Peace Accord . It included commitments to end hostilities, reestablish theCommission for the Consolidation of Peace , provide for demobilization and disarmament, and aid in the reintegration of combatants into civil society. It also granted amnesty to Sankoh and all rebel combatants (Article IX), and allowed for the RUF to become a political party. In order to achieve these goals, it called for the UN observer Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL ) andECOMOG to form a neutral peacekeeping force, and all mercenaries to leave the country, as well as a creation of a new Sierra Leone Army.Sankoh was offered chairmanship of the Commission for the Management of Strategic Resources, National Reconstruction, and Development (Article V), which was to have the status of Vice President, in that he was to be only answerable to the president.
Aftermath of the agreement
Immediately after the signing of the agreement, thousands of civilians and rebels made their way into the cities from the countryside searching for food and overwhelming aid agencies capabilities. However, with government hired mercenaries (especially
Executive Outcomes ) out of the country, the number 2 in the RUF,Sam Bockarie , refused to disarm. Rebel activity continued (notably that of new group, theWest Side Boys ), and Freetown was again under siege by May, 2000. Disarmament of rebel forces finally began in earnest in May 2001.Criticism of the agreement
The granting of Amnesty was highly objectionable from the perspective of the UN.
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights ,Mary Robinson , instructed UN representativeFrancis Okelo not to sign the agreement. However, Okelo was able to convince the UN that his signature was necessary for peace, and he signed with the caveat that the UN would not recognize amnesty for acts ofgenocide , crimes against humanity, war crimes, and other serious violations of international humanitarian law, as per the request of the UN Security Council.ee also
*
Amnesty law
*Command responsibility References
* [http://se2.isn.ch/serviceengine/FileContent?serviceID=23&fileid=F561BE6B-A3FF-F6A7-33E0-CF99E6AA3658&lng=en Accord in fulltext (PDF)]
*Text of the accords at US Institute of Peace webpage [http://www.usip.org/library/pa/sl/sierra_leone_07071999_toc.html]
* Hirsch, John L. "Sierra Leone: Diamonds and the Struggle for Democracy". Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2001
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