Because of the importance of the mission with which the Special Court for Sierra Leone has been invested, the Center established a permanent monitoring program in Freetown in June 2004.We believe that only an ongoing presence and attendance at trials, day in and day out, will enable us to report on and evaluate the work of the Special Court in a comprehensive manner.This program, in cooperation with the Human Rights Center, U.C. Berkeley, and the International Center for Transitional Justice, monitors the trials and Special Court's Outreach and Witness Programs. |
Our monitors have attended daily court sessions since the first trial began. Their weekly reports, in conjunction with interim and thematic reports, cover the initial phase of the trials. Our website is updated with their information on a regular basis. Apart from the commitment and dedication of the monitors, acknowledgments are also due to the International Center for Transitional Justice with whom we share information and cooperate on issues regarding the Special Court, to our partners at the Human Rights Center at UC Berkeley, and to the Wang Family Foundation for their ongoing support of this project.
David Cohen, Director |
Interim Analyses and Thematic Reports
The Special Court for Sierra Leone trial monitors and other researchers periodically produce special reports and papers providing thematically coherent, in-depth analysis on Sierra Leone. All past reports can be browsed and downloaded through the Special Reports Archive.
Interim Analyses:
Thematic Reports:
Outreach and Service
In collaboration with the International Center for Transitional Justice and the Sierra Leone branch of Amnesty International, WCSC monitors have helped implement a national monitoring program comprised entirely of Sierra Leoneans by assisting in the hiring and training of local monitors. Former monitors have disseminated information about the work of the court by giving invited lectures in the United States and the United Kingdom. They have appeared on Radio UNAMSIL, the UN-based country-wide radio station located in Sierra Leone's capital, to discuss their "Silencing Sexual Violence" report. Their discussion was translated into Krio, the lingua franca of Sierra Leone, and broadcast to all of the provinces.
Virtual Tribunal of the Special Court for Sierra Leone
Professor David Cohen, Director of the Berkeley War Crimes Studies Center (WCSC), and Professor Ruzena Bajcsy of the Department of Computer Science are currently partnering on an interdisciplinary project that brings together cutting-edge Berkeley research in computer science, humanities, and human rights.
The Virtual Tribunal provides a modular rich media educational tool for preserving the legacy of the Special Court in a way that will enhance the Special Court’s historical, educational, and cultural potential to educate in Sierra Leone and around the world. It brings cutting-edge information technology to bear on what has previously been conceived as a largely archival function of preserving the documentary record of ad hoc courts and tribunals. The Virtual Tribunal will breathe life into the historical record of the Special Court for generations to come through its unique integration of archival materials, videos of the trials, photographs, hundreds of hours of interviews with participants and Sierra Leoneans, expert commentary and analysis, and three-dimensional imagery.
For more information, check out the new webpage: Virtual Tribunal of the Special Court for Sierra Leone
