A/HRC/16/78 new agreement on the setting up of a Residual Special Court to facilitate the transition from the Special Court to the residual mechanism upon closure. The Residual Special Court will be mandated to try the only remaining indictee at large, Johnny Paul Koroma, if the case is not transferred to national jurisdiction, preserve and manage the archives, provide protection and support to witnesses and victims, respond to requests for access to evidence by national prosecution authorities, supervise enforcement of sentences, review convictions and acquittals; conduct contempt-of-court proceedings, provide defence counsels and legal aid for the conduct of proceedings before the Residual Special Court, respond to requests from national authorities with respect to claims for compensation, and prevent double jeopardy. 51. The United Nations Peace-building Fund has secured seed money in the amount of 195,000 dollars to assist the Government in establishing a Peace Museum within the complex of the Special Court. The project has three components: archiving of transitional justice-related documents, building of a monument dedicated to war victims, and building a museum that reflects on sufferings during the war, and the process underway towards achieving lasting peace in the country. 52. In retrospect, a better balance between retributive justice and efforts to strengthen existing structures in areas such as the administration of justice and reparations may have contributed to more effective results in developing the country’s capacity to promote and protect human rights. Therefore, it may be timely to open discussion on how to ensure the best impact of transitional justice mechanisms on human rights and institutional capacity building. Conclusions from this debate may then be applied to other post-conflict situations. 53. In May 2010, the Government proposed to set up an inquest into the execution of 29 individuals which took place in December 1992 under the regime of the National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC). While the Government maintains that the inquest is not politically motivated, but rather aims to fight impunity, prominent members of Sierra Leone People’s Party stated that it was designed to target its leading members, including some potential presidential candidates for the 2012 elections. They argue that it would be contrary to the Lomé Peace Agreement of 1999 which grants amnesty and pardon for offences committed during the civil war. Furthermore, HRCSL stated that the investigation is unnecessary because the Truth and Reconciliation Commission has extensively reviewed the circumstances of those executions. At the time of writing this report, there had been no further move on the part of the Government on the issue. IV. Human rights activities of the Human Rights Section 54. Monitoring, capacity building, technical assistance, financial support, training and sensitization activities have been conducted with partners and stakeholders. The Section also provided logistical support such as hiring of office space, communications, including means of transport, and furniture to district human rights committees. Advocacy and sensitization activities were conducted, including radio programmes, activities with pupils in schools, workshops, support to partners in celebrating human rights days, and direct engagement with a number of institutions. A. Human rights monitoring 55. The Human Rights Section of UNIPSIL continued monitoring incidents of human rights violation and conducted periodic monitoring of Court proceedings, as well as inspections of prisons and police cells. The issues identified in the monitoring exercises were discussed with Government authorities at the local, regional and central levels with 12

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