Special Court In Sierra Leone Gets $787,000 From EU For "Legacy Project"

The European Commission has made a donation o 6,00,000 ($787,000) to the Special Court for Sierra Leone to continue the Court’s Victims Justice and Legacy Project.
According to a dispatch from the Court Public Affairs in Freetown, the EC grant is part of the European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights. Since the Project was started in January 2004, the EC has given more than 1.9 million to the project.
The Victims Justice and Legacy Project aims to provide a broader understanding of justice to the victims of Sierra Leone’s decade-long civil conflict. Through various sub-projects, the Special Court seeks to leave a legacy to Sierra Leone and to international criminal justice.
The main activities of the Project are conducted through the Witness and Victim Support Programme, the Grass Roots Awareness Campaign (Outreach), the Audio Visual Programme, the Intern and Pro-bono Support Programme, the Court Interpreters Professionalising and Training Programme, and the Library and Archives Development Programme.
The Project targets all areas of the Sierra Leone public and civil society, in particular victims and witnesses, ex-combatants, national grassroots organizations and community leaders. In the coming months it will begin programmes to inform the people of Sierra Leone and Liberia about the upcoming Special Court trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor in The Hague.
The Victims Justice and Legacy Project is part of the Court’s overall legacy programme, which seeks to promote the rule of law, human rights, and international humanitarian law.

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. To date, the Prosecutor has indicted eleven persons on various charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other serious violations of international humanitarian law. Ten indictees are currently in the custody of the Court.