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US lawyer appointed prosecutor for Sierra Leone war crimes court

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday appointed US lawyer Brenda Hollis as the prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL). Hollis was appointed in consultation with the government of Sierra Leone, and the appointment was effective as of February 16. Prior to her appointment, Hollis was leading the prosecution against former Liberian president Charles Taylor. Hollis previously worked in the office of the prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. Hollis succeeds Stephen Rapp, who resigned last year after US President Barack Obama nominated him as the US Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues. In November, the SCSL handed over its detention facility to the Sierra Leone Prison Service in a monumental step towards the court's resolution. In October, eight men judged guilty of war crimes by the court were transferred to Rwanda to serve out their terms. Three of the men, leaders of the Revolutionary United Front, had their appeals rejected in October, and are now serving sentences between 15 and 25 years. With these final sentences, the SCSL has largely fulfilled its purpose and will continue taking steps to close down. The only remaining indictee of the SCSL is Taylor. His trial, which could take up to four years, is being held in The Hague due to security concerns. The SCSL was created in a joint endeavor by the government of Sierra Leone and the UN to provide a forum to try those responsible for serious violations of international humanitarian law and Sierra Leonean law, committed in Sierra Leone.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on February 23, 2010 (boomark / email).