(Rapaport…January 9, 2002) Two leading candidates have emerged for the position of prosecutor for the Special Court for Sierra Leone. David M. Crane, senior inspector general for National Security Systems in the U.S. Department of Defense, was nominated by the U.S. government, and Ken Fleming, who served as a prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, was nominated by the Australians. The United Nations wants a prosecutor in place by the end of January.
A UN team is currently scouting Freetown for a venue for the court and working to establish a legal framework for the court. The UN and the Sierra Leone government are expected to sign an agreement on the establishment of the court on January 16.
The special court will try persons in Sierra Leone accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity and other violations of international human rights law committed since November 1996, the date of the Abidjan Peace Accord.