It's vital that the court be supported in its work and that the justice system in Sierra be rebuilt to bring to justice those crimes that are outside the scope of the special court. Write a letter to the Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs urging the government to support efforts to bring human rights violators in Sierra Leone to justice. Canada should work to ensure that the Special Court has the expertise to deal with crimes such as rape and the forced recruitment of children. Canada should work to ensure that the international community supports Sierra Leone in rebuilding its legal system and caring for the survivors of torture. For ten years, civilians in Sierra Leone have been subjected to mass abductions and acts of torture and murder committed by all sides of the conflict, but especially by rebel forces.
Women appear to have been specifically targeted.
The vast majority are still unable to safely return to their homes. More than 300,000 Sierra Leonean refugees are in Guinea. These women, men and children first fled to camps and makeshift settlements near the border with Sierra Leone. In recent months they have been forced to flee further into Guinea to escape the fighting that erupted after cross-border raids by Sierra Leonean rebel groups. In the same region of Guinea, there are almost 200,000 refugees from neighbouring Liberia who have also been uprooted by armed conflict.