International Tribunals (Sierra Leone) Bill [HL]

My Lords, I beg to move that this Bill be now read a second time. This Bill will enable us to show, through concrete action, our commitment to the United Nations, to international justice and to Sierra Leone. A vicious war ravaged Sierra Leone throughout the late 1990s. Wanton killing, mass rape and sexual slavery, mutilation, amputation, the burning of homes and destruction of property shocked the world. Tragically, those who perpetrated such crimes often used children as soldiers in their war. They enslaved them. They armed them. They made them commit terrible crimes, often against their own loved ones. I am proud that, through our military intervention in May 2000, the United Kingdom helped to bring peace to Sierra Leone. Our forces did a remarkable job, as ever, in a place that some people said was beyond saving. Since then, we have supported the Government of Sierra Leone as they have built on that peace and worked to put the years of war decisively in the past. But peace in west Africa is fragile. We should not forget that the people of Sierra Leone continue to live with the legacy of the crimes committed and inflicted on them, just as others do in the Balkans and in Rwanda. In 2002, the Government of Sierra Leone and the United Nations negotiated an agreement to establish the Special Court for Sierra Leone. We supported that because we recognised the horror of what had come before, and we were mindful of the need to send a message that such crimes could not be allowed to go unpunished; there should be no impunity. The special court is an international criminal tribunal, which incorporates domestic and international law. Sierra Leonean judges and staff sit alongside international colleagues. We have consistently supported the special court as it takes forward its mandate to try those most responsible for the serious violations of international humanitarian law that took place during the civil war. If we want to stop fresh atrocities in Africa, or in any part of the globe, we need to send a strong message: some crimes, whatever the circumstances, will be punished. It is, of course, for the court to determine the truth regarding the allegations against those individuals facing trial. In doing so, it will help to close this chapter of conflict and help Sierra Leone to overcome its bitter legacy. Our support for the court, as for other international criminal tribunals, such as those for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda, is not just financial. As my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs said in June, if we want to live in a just world, we must take responsibility for creating and fostering it. In practice, that means that we, and other states, must provide strong support to such tribunals as they take forward their important work. We do that by sharing information, by taking witnesses into our relocation system and by imprisoning some of those convicted by the tribunals. It is for that reason that the International Criminal Court Act 2001 makes provision, among otherthings, for our entering into sentence enforcement agreements with the International Criminal Court and with other international criminal tribunals established by resolution of the United Nations Security Council. The Special Court for Sierra Leone was established with the full agreement and participation of the Government of Sierra Leone. A UN Security Council resolution was not, therefore, required. None the less, a resolution authorised the UN Secretary-Generalto negotiate the founding agreement with the Government of Sierra Leone. The reality is that an international criminal tribunal established in this way was not entirely foreseen at the time of the drafting of the International Criminal Court Act. This short, two-clause Bill will extend the International Criminal Court Act’s provisions on sentence enforcement to the Special Court for Sierra Leone. It will enable the United Kingdom to enter into such an agreement with the special court. That is further concrete evidence of our support for the resolution of this history of difficulty. I can assure the House that the Special Court for Sierra Leone enjoys full support from the whole of the international community and fully deserves our practical support. Some may ask why we are taking this step now in the particular case of the Special Court for Sierra Leone. The first reason is the United Kingdom’s commitment to peace, security and development in Sierra Leone. We have shouldered that responsibility from intervention through to finishing the job. We told everyone—the Sierra Leoneans, the ECOWAS community of west Africa and, not least, our forces that started this difficult job—that we would finish this difficult job. Secondly, it is through actions such as this that we safeguard the investment that the United Kingdom has made militarily, politically and financially in Sierra Leone. Thirdly, we shouldered that responsibility to give effect to our commitment to imprison former Liberian President Charles Taylor if he were convicted by the Special Court for Sierra Leone. Perhaps I may speak now about that commitment. Former President Taylor was transferred to the detention facility of the Special Court for Sierra Leone in Freetown on 29 March 2006, when he was indicted for alleged crimes against humanity and for war crimes. Within a short period, considerable security concerns arose regarding former President Taylor’s presence in Freetown. There were fears that his supporters might take action to destabilise the region; there was evidence, which I regarded as significant, that they were planning such action. For that reason, the Governments of Sierra Leone and Liberia, with the support of the United Nations, proposed that former President Taylor’s trial should take place away from the court’s headquarters in Freetown. The Government of the Netherlands agreed to allow the special court to sit in The Hague to hear former President Taylor’s trial, and the International Criminal Court agreed to allow the special court to use its facilities for the trial. The Dutch, however, insisted that, if former President Taylor were convicted, he must serve his sentence in another state. The then UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, in the light of the security concerns and on the advice of UN staff operating on the ground, added his urgent call to that of the regional Governments and requested that the United Kingdom agree to make the necessary commitment to the Dutch. On 15 June,I informed the House that my right honourablefriend the Foreign Secretary had agreed that, subject to parliamentary legislative approval, the United Kingdom would allow former President Taylor to enter the UK to serve any sentence imposed by the Special Court for Sierra Leone, if he were convicted and if circumstances required that. In the following days, former President Taylor’s transfer to The Hague was authorised by the president of the Special Court for Sierra Leone and was confirmed by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1688. On20 June, he was transferred to The Hague, where he now awaits trial. A real threat to peace and security in Sierra Leone and the wider region had been overcome. I emphasise that our decision was taken entirely without prejudice to the outcome of the trial of former President Taylor or any other individual on trial before the Special Court for Sierra Leone. I am absolutely clear that former President Taylor is entitled to a fair trial and I am absolutely confident that the Special Court for Sierra Leone will ensure that he receives one. In short, the Bill and any subsequent signingof a sentence enforcement agreement represent a contingency arrangement. Imprisonment in the United Kingdom would take place only if former President Taylor were convicted, if the special court requested that the United Kingdom imprison him and if the United Kingdom agreed to do so. After contact with the Scottish Executive, it was decided that it was sufficient for the territorial extent of the Bill to be limited to England and Wales. It follows, therefore, that any sentence of imprisonment would be served in a prison in England or Wales. The Bill, and any sentence enforcement agreement signed as a result of its provisions, will not apply specifically to former President Taylor. The Bill, which comprises two clauses only, simply establishes the legal basis under which the United Kingdom may sign a sentence enforcement agreement with the special court. None the less, I confirm that the request that was made to us and the political undertaking that we have given relate only to imprisoning former President Taylor, should that be necessary. We have not received a request in respect of any other individual on trial before the Special Court for Sierra Leone. Indeed, we expect that any other individuals convicted by the court will serve their sentences elsewhere. To put this into context, in total, 10 persons are on trial before the Special Court for Sierra Leone. In closing, I should like to recall that the United Kingdom has placed itself at the forefront of the international community’s efforts to ensure that those accused of the most serious crimes known to humanity are held to account. The Bill follows in the tradition of the UK’s staunch action to achieve that objective in relation to the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda and more recent challenges, such as those in northern Uganda and Darfur. It sends yet another powerful signal to those who abuse high office and commit low crimes: there can be no impunity; justice must be served. The Bill matches our words with actions. I commend it to the House. Moved, That the Bill be now read a second time.—(Lord Triesman.)