UN Official meets with Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commissioners

The senior United Nations official in Sierra Leone has met with members of Sierra Leone's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a UN spokeswoman announced today.

At a meeting on Thursday in the Sierra Leonean capital, Freetown, the Secretary-General's Special Representative, Oluyemi Adeniji, told the Commissioners that the UN had worked closely with the Government to meet the challenge to establish transitional justice organs in Sierra Leone, spokeswoman Hua Jiang explained.

Both the UN Mission and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights had worked closely to ensure that experienced and capable persons were appointed as commissioners, according to Mr. Adeniji.

The Special Representative also informed the commissioners that fund raising for the Commission had not been as successful as hoped - less successful than the similar appeal set up to support the Special Court for Sierra Leone - and he voiced hope that more donors would come forward so the Commission could meet its mandate.

The seven-member Commission, composed of four national and three international commissioners, was set to be inaugurated today by the President of Sierra Leone, Ahmad Tejan Kabbah.