Mohamed Suma, Executive Director
Welcome to the official website of Centre for Accountability and the Rule of Law (CARL-SL). CARL is an independent organization working towards a just society for all persons in Sierra Leone, through monitoring institutions of accountability, outreach and advocacy for institutional transparency, capacity building and empowerment of citizen.
The Special Court is an
international tribunal of mixed jurisdiction and composition
established pursuant to an Agreement between the United Nations and
the Government of Sierra Leone. It is mandated to prosecute persons
who bear the greatest responsibility for serious violations of
international humanitarian law and Sierra Leonean law committed in
the territory of Sierra Leone since 30 November 1996. Since trials
began in June 2004, CARL has been monitoring proceedings and doing
independent reporting to the public both within Sierra Leone and
among the international community.
One of the root causes of the war in Sierra Leone was the fallen status of the judiciary, which had lost much of its once distinguished reputation at the hands of political manipulation. Subsequently, and in consequence, the Sierra Leone national court system was one of the institutions that suffered the most from the decade long conflict in Sierra Leone. With the consolidation of the peace, reforming the judiciary and upholding the rule of law thus essential. Now that the judiciary is being reformed, we hope to not only enhance civil society monitoring of the judiciary so as to ensure judicial accountability, but also to provide positive support for the challenging work of court officials. We hope that this will contribute significantly towards inhibiting the recurrence of war in this country.
The Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) was established by the Government of Sierra Leone in the aftermath of the war, to investigate alleged corruption which has continued to plague the country. While the Commission is charged with the responsibility of monitoring all institutions in the country with the aim of preventing corruption, the question which remains to be answered is “who will watch the watchman”? This is why we think it is necessary to monitor the ACC and report on its activities to the people of Sierra Leone.
This website shall be providing regular updates on issues arising from the work of the above institutions with a view to making such institutions accountable to the people, ensuring civil society participation and proffering constructive recommendations to enhance their progress. While we do this, we are aware that our objectives cannot be achieved in isolation. We anticipate cooperation from all those committed to the development of Sierra Leone. As you go through this website, we shall be pleased to get feed back from you on the work we are doing and we encourage your contributions at all times.
On behalf of CARL-SL, I welcome you to our official website and wish that you enjoy the benefit of the information and analysis we have provided and will continue to provide.
Mohamed Suma,
Executive Director.