MEDIA RELEASE
Released By:
Downer
Australia will increase its support to the Special Court for Sierra Leone so it can continue trying those responsible for serious violations of human rights and of the law of Sierra Leone.
In response to a request from United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Australia will contribute a further $300,000, bringing our total voluntary contribution to the Special Court to $600,000 since 2001.
The Special Court was set up jointly by the Government of Sierra Leone and the United Nations. To date 11 people stand indicted by the Special Court, charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The charges range from murder, rape, extermination, acts of terror, enslavement, looting and burning, sexual slavery, conscription of children into an armed force, and attacks on United Nations peacekeepers and humanitarian workers.
This funding is additional to support for the former United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone, to which Australia has contributed more than $7 million since 2004.
Australia has also provided more than $17 million since 1999-2000 for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, established after the Rwandan genocide of 1994.
Australia's aid program has an important role to play in promoting peace and stability in Africa, and this latest contribution recognises the Special Court's good record to date in prosecuting those most responsible for war crimes during Sierra Leone's civil war post 1996.
Media contacts:
Chris Kenny (Minister's Office): 0419 206 890
AusAID (Public Affairs): 0417 680 590