14TH BI-WEEKLY MEDIA BRIEFING ON THE TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION
COMMISSION (TRC) HELD ON WEDNESDAY 26TH MARCH 2003 BY THE DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON, MRS JUSTICE LAURA MARCUS-JONES

 

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen,

Welcome once again to the 14th edition of media briefing on the activities of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

As you may all be aware, the count down to the next phase of our assignment is getting lower every day. The statements taking phase, which has pre- occupied the Commission since December 2002 will gradually on 31st March 2003. This will usher us into one of the most crucial phases of our mandate, which is the Hearings Phase

I wish to state here that the role played by the media and many of our NGO partners during this phase in particular and in the activities of the Commission generally has been quite commendable and highly appreciated by the Commission. May I use this forum to publicly appreciate on behalf of the Commission your individual and collective contributions to the success of the Commission so far. I know that when the story of TRC is told, mention must be made of our joint effort in making it a success

Let me also say that the journey is not yet over. We therefore solicit your continued support for the Commission.

Ladies and Gentle men, all arrangements are gradually being put in place for a qualitative and authentic report that will capture the experiences of the people of Sierra Leone during the period of the conflict. As part of the preparations, the Commission will be hosting Dr Alex Boraine for a four day experience sharing visit. Dr Boraine who is the President of the International Center for Transitional Justice ICTJ and former Deputy Chairperson for the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission has traveled on invitation to many parts of the world especially to countries emerging from conflicts or those in transition from dictatorship to democracy to advance the course of transitional justice.

Dr Boraine is unquestionably one of the brains behind the South African TRC and his work in the area of transitional justice is acclaimed worldwide. It is therefore a great privilege to host him especially at a time our work here is gathering momentum.

Dr Boraine will deliver a public lecture on transitional justice at the TRC Conference Room on 30/03/03 at 5.00 pm. It is my pleasure therefore to invite all of you to come and benefit from his wealth of experience.

Also as part of our preparations, we have organized an in- house training workshop for Commissioners and members of staff in the areas of trauma counseling and other psycho social skills needed for our assignment. The philosophy behind the training is simply to equip all members of the Commission that will be involved in dealing especially with victims and witnesses that have experienced violations and abuses that may be adversely affected when they recount their experiences. The Commission has invited experts from some of the NGOs that deal with such issues while some of our experts compliment their efforts.

Ladies and gentle men of the press, during our last media briefing we promised that the Commission was going to officially release the hearings plan to you in a special briefing. I therefore have the honor to officially release the program for our hearings phase which will kick-off on 14th April 2003. Copies will be made available to all of you. Once again we are counting on you for the media coverage of the hearings. Modalities to that effect are still being worked out. We wish to assure our partners both local and international that we are committed to the mandate and we hope to complete the assignment within the time frame allocated to us.

In conclusion, let me emphasise the Commission's commitment to accomplishing its task on time.

Thank you all.