International Tribunals (Sierra Leone) Bill [HL]

My Lords, I, too, commend the Bill and adopt all that the noble Lord, Lord Hannay, said, particularly his general point that now tyrants and those who have committed themost awful crimes against humanity will not go unpunished. I also note that my noble friend said that this Bill relates to a specific request from the United Nations and that there has been a specific undertaking by the Government only in respect of Charles Taylor, the former President of Liberia—if he is convicted, although we know that he was the principal sponsor of the RUF and that the RUF was responsible for some of the most atrocious crimes of recent years. It is also worth noting that although the request is specific, the Bill is general. Presumably, if there were to be other requests by the special court in the cases of the other nine indictees, at least the Bill would open the way for us to receive one or more of those. One thinks, for example, of the late Sam Hinga Norman who, after a four-year trial in Sierra Leone in the special court—that is far too long a trial for anyone—eventually died after medical treatment in Dakar. Perhaps my noble friend will confirm that the Bill does open the way for other indictees—I think there are 10 in total. I also assume that the special court is very much an ad hoc court because of the necessary agreement between the United Nations and theSierra Leone Government. The Rome statute that established the International Criminal Court is not retrospective and did not come into force until 1 July 2002. Are there other special courts covering the interim period before the ICC came into force? I also note what my noble friend says about the position in relation to Scotland. It is true that foreign affairs are the responsibility of the United Kingdom as a whole, but there are separate legal jurisdictions. With the precedent of Lockerbie one thinks that the Scottish courts in some cases would have had parallel legislation to this, but that was obviated by the agreement with the Scottish Executive. It is right, of course, that we gave this undertaking, and it is right that we are prepared if necessary to receive Taylor under the sentence enforcement agreement. It is right that we shoulder the burdenin such cases as a good example not only of international solidarity—yes, of Commonwealth solidarity—but because of the special links that we have with Sierra Leone. I have had links with Sierra Leone since the late 1950s when I had some very close friends at university. When I visited Sierra Leone first in the 1960s, it was a time of relative stability, although the Creole population of Freetown, as a result of democracy, had their privileged position threatened by the Mende and Temne tribes. Alas, the subsequent history has been chequered with military coups. Over the years, I have met a succession of exiles from Sierra Leone, all of whom seem to end up in Muswell Hill for some odd reason. Alas, one met a great effluxion of talent from that country. We have served Sierra Leone well. In 2000, we had 800 British paratroops who secured the airport, evacuated British citizens and captured Foday Sankoh, the rebel leader, in what was probably a model of international humanitarian intervention—one of the best—which gained us much credit among African countries at the time. It is also fair to say that Britain has been a leader in post-war reconstruction. There are 80 British personnel serving with the International Military Advisory and Training Team, IMATT, in Freetown. DfID has a good record in disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration, proposals for good governance, anti-corruption and capacity building, and even direct budgetary support. There has been substantial progress in Sierra Leone in the transition from war to peace. It is also clear that the transition has not been easy, with many of those problems which led to the civil war still existing, reducing the impact of the good work which has been done. Yes, there is the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme for blood diamonds, but one hears that there is now increasing smuggling of diamonds from Sierra Leone into neighbouring countries. The Minister might mention some of the evidence for that. There is, of course,still corruption, poor administration and high youth unemployment in, according to the human development index of the United Nations Development Programme, the second poorest country in the world. There isalso regional instability. Liberia is much better placed, but President Conté in Guinea is under increasing pressure from insurgents. Finally, we know about the good work we have done thus far in Sierra Leone. We also know that it faces elections on 28 July for both the president and the Parliament. It is good that President Kabbah, unlike certain other presidents, is respecting the constitutional bar on standing again. These elections can be a positive factor in stabilising the country. I hope that the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth and possibly the European Union are ready to help in those elections if called on. I ask the Minister what help we are prepared to give, both logistically and with monitoring. This could be another majorstep on the road to long-sought stability in that Commonwealth country.