Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-04-24-Speech-5-075"
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"en.20090424.7.5-075"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the European Commission has made a strong commitment to assisting the transition by Sierra Leone from a post-war situation to a situation of growth and development. The Commission certainly supports the country’s commitment to the consolidation of peace, stability and, above all, democracy.
In this regard, the Commission recognises and welcomes the vital role that the Special Court for Sierra Leone has played and continues to play within the context of the reinstatement of peace and stability in Sierra Leone. We are convinced that the Special Court’s activities can transmit to all the message that no serious crime against humanity, no genocide and no war crime will remain unpunished.
The Special Court for Sierra Leone has, in fact, played an essential part in the development of international law, by virtue of the case law that has been created on issues such as the recruitment of child soldiers and forced marriages, which were the subject of the Special Court’s first judgments. To this end, the Commission has been supporting the Special Court’s activities since 2003. We have given the Special Court EUR 2 700 000 through the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights. The aim of this funding is to support the activities of the Special Court on communicating its objectives of promoting the rule of law, international humanitarian law and human rights in Sierra Leone and the region of western Africa as a whole.
Furthermore, in 2008 the Commission adopted a project, funded by EUR 1 million, under the 10th European Development Fund, conceived together with the Special Court and the Sierra Leone Government. The project, which is to be carried out during 2009 and 2010, will integrate previous activities and sets out to ensure a lasting legacy on which to rely after the conclusion of the Special Court’s activities, in particular through the capacity-building of legal professionals and the strengthening of institutional capacity within the Sierra Leone legal system as a whole.
Having been informed of the Special Court’s budget problems, in 2008 the Commission provided it with emergency aid to the tune of EUR 2.5 million, funded from the Instrument for Stability and intended to cover the funding costs, and chiefly the salaries, of the Special Court’s employees. On this point, the Commission was pleased to learn that the Special Court has managed to cover the budget deficit for several months. We are confident that, despite the world financial crisis, the international community will manage to find the resources necessary for the Special Court to carry out its tasks successfully and in full, and to complete the trial of Charles Taylor, former president of Liberia.
Before I conclude, I would like to express my support for the request for further examination and investigation into the roles and functions of the various special courts, and on this point I am pleased to inform you, on behalf of the Commission, that two initiatives are to be funded in this sector under the human rights ‘conflicts and security’ heading within the Seventh Framework Programme on research."@en1
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