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The civil war in Sierra Leone left behind a trail of human rights violations, a traumatised population, and broken down communities. No less than sixteen specific categories of violations were identified by a report made by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Most of these violations may be characterised as torture or organized violence (TOV), including physical and psychological torture and maiming, forced witnessing of TOV, abduction of boys and girls to serve as child soldiers and/or sex slaves, rape, abduction of women to serve as sex slaves, arbitrary detention, looting, and extortion. The estimated number of people killed was approximately 20,000; 1,600 were maimed, close to half a million were refugees in neighbouring West African countries, and an estimated 2 million persons were internally displaced.

In order to restore a society based on the rule of law and to support reconciliation after these atrocities, two transitional justice mechanisms were established in Sierra Leone, partly overlapping in time: the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Special Court for Sierra Leone. The present study has focused on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, predominantly on generating knowledge on about its role in community re-integration processes, and about interventions in support of them, if any, based on such knowledge.

The overall objective of the present study was to document and analyse the relevance of the Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission for the prevention of torture and organised violence (TOV) in 8 selected communities. This was done with a view to generating knowledge that may inform and shape future civil society interventions and advocacy in order to prevent TOV.

To the vast majority the commission is seen as relevant for the prevention of TOV by inspiring and re-energizing already existing and to some extent already functioning local reconciliation practices and institutions. Among other the study unveiled the important role of local reconciliation initiatives in promoting co-existence in the communities, especially between victims and perpetrators. Various traditional methods were employed locally to heal war wounds and ensure social cohesion once again among various settlements. These methods include: organising sporting activities, sustained religious teachings, organising communal dance and discos, joint agricultural ventures, formation of youth groups, counselling from elders, formation of cooperatives, consultative meetings, secrete societies, and matrimony. In the end local reconciliation processes may inform civil society interventions and advocacy to prevent TOV.

Over half of the participants indicated that victims and perpetrators were able to co-exist in the communities and even reconcile after the war. However, they also stressed the need for timely reparation in the widest sense in order to consolidate the gains from the processes of reconciliation. This includes addressing the plight of victims and perpetrators simultaneously in a re-integration effort.

It may be concluded from the study that such re-integration and reconciliation efforts are not one-off events such as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, but they must be addressed continuously at national and regional levels and not least by the communities themselves, by strengthening and energizing local mechanisms and processes for sustainable community healing and rehabilitation.

Of particular importance is the study’s recommendation to address the extensive physical and psycho-social needs of victims or survivors of torture and organized violence.

Written by Heidi K. Tokle