CASE STUDIES
Restorative Justice
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Author of case study: Marcela Torres Molano
Geopolitical location of space:
Jomo Kenyatta Rd
Freetown, Sierra Leone
Extant? Yes
Architect:
Not specified
Start date: 2000, with the request creation of a special court
End date: 2013
The building became The Sierra Leone Peace Museum in 2013.
The special court served the transitional justice process in Sierra Leone. The SCSL was a hybrid criminal court (combining international and domestic law), by the United Nations and Sierra Leone justice system, to prosecute perpetrators of crimes committed during the Sierra Leone Civil War.
The court was created to prosecute those responsible for human rights violations during the conflict. It was part of the approaches to give some relief to Sierra Leone after a decade of civil conflict marked by intense violence against civilians, recruitment of child soldiers, corruption and bloody struggle for control of diamond mines.
The court was created to prosecute those responsible for human rights violations during the civil conflict.
Perpetrators of serious crimes committed during the Sierra Leone Civil War.
In the beginning the site was a very secured place, guarded by UN peacekeepers. Later in 2013, it became a public museum of peace.
The Special Court for Sierra Leone was established to “prosecute persons who bear the greatest responsibility for serious violations of international humanitarian law and Sierra Leonean law committed in the territory of Sierra Leone since 30 November 1996.”
(Article 1 of the Agreement between the UnitedNations and the Government of Sierra Leone on Establishment of a Special Court for Sierra Leone) The Special Court for Sierra Leone was set up in 2002. It was divided into two main functions: the Appeals and the Trial chambers. There were eight Judges in the Special Court, from seven different countries. It was an independent court, created as a “hybrid” international criminal tribunal, using both international and Sierra Leonean laws, judges and staff. It was created to address serious crimes against civilians and UN peacekeepers committed during the country’s civil war (1991-2002).
“It was the first modern international tribunal to sit in the country where the crimes took place, and the first to have an effective outreach programme on the ground.” It was also the first international court to be funded by voluntary contributions. In 2013, it became the first court to complete its commission and transition to The Residual Special Court for Sierra Leone. The residual court works on witness protection, supervision of prison sentences, and management of the SCSL archives.
The site is located in the center of Freetown. Through the period of the Special Court the site housed the Court situated in the main building, Special Court’s staff offices, and a detention centre. The court building located in the middle of the site, as a central element, was designed as a contemporary architecture structure. The interior of the courtrooms were decorated with wood, and arranged in a circle form with judges seated in the front of the room. The public was separated from the official workers and those being charged by a glass structure.
The staff offices were housed in rows of containers, with space for 280 staff, composed of 120 internationals and 160 Sierra Leoneans. The detention’s cells were twice the size of minimum international standards and detainees were allowed to be outside of their cells from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. each day.
When the Special Court finished all of its cases, the building was left as a symbol of justice. This modern building houses an archive and law library containing the documents related to the conflict, including the public records of the SCSL and of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The space also includes a memorial to victims, an exhibition on the war’s history and the peace process, and spaces for training.
During the Sierra Leone Civil War numerous atrocities were committed including war rape, mutilation, and mass murder, causing many of the perpetrators to be tried in international criminal courts, and the establishment of a truth and reconciliation commission. All sides of the conflict, including the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC,) and the Civilian Defense Forces (CDF), were responsible for committing human rights abuses. The conflict was also characterized by cross-border involvement from Liberia, as well as the struggle for control of diamonds and other economic resources.
The government of Sierra Leone and the RUF signed a peace agreement in Lomé, Togo in 1999. The Lomé Peace Agreement included amnesty for all parties to the war and an agreement to establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). In August 2000, in response to a request from Sierra Leone President Kabbah, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1315 mandating the creation of the Special Court for Sierra Leone to prosecute “those persons who bear the greatest responsibility for the commission of violations of international humanitarian law” perpetrated between November 30, 1996 and 1999.
The Government of Sierra Leone allocated land in Freetown for the use of the Special Court. The court formally closed its doors on December 2, 2013. The land was gradually transferred back to the Government of Sierra Leone. The site was turned into a museum dedicated to peace. The museum became a national institution to preserve the truth, honour the conflict’s victims, and promote lasting peace.
is an author, speaker, columnist, and podcaster in the fields of architecture and decorative arts. She is completing her MA in Art History at Concordia University, Montréal, and holds a Bachelor of Commerce with a major in Marketing from John Molson School of Business. She studied Industrial Psychology in Los Angeles, California. Sicotte is the author of two published books on design (2015, 2018) published by Les Éditions Cardinal.
is a Colombian PhD candidate in the Department of Art History at Concordia University. She has a background in architectural design and community activism and holds a master’s degree in Building and Urban Design from the Bartlett School of Architecture in London, England. Her interests focus on socially-engaged art, social movements, collaborative activism in post-conflict scenarios, collectively-produced art, and art produced in relation to the built environment.
is a PhD candidate in Humanities at Concordia University. His research focuses on spatial agency, social aesthetics, youth narratives, and graphic representations of urban memory. He has published on the relationship between children, play, and public space in Cartagena, Colombia. He has also worked as an editor on literary projects, including Territorio Fértil, which received the María Nelly Murillo Hinestroza award for Afro-Colombian literature.
is Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Architectures of Spatial Justice (Tier 2) at the Peter Guo-hua Fu School of Architecture at McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada. Her research interests include low-income housing and participatory design, civil protest and urban design, and campus landscapes and race. Her publications include the co-edited book, Orienting Istanbul (2010) and solo-authored book, Istanbul Open City (2018).
is an artist and a professor of Art History at Concordia University. Her work focuses on women and the history of the built environment, urban landscapes, research-creation, and oral history. She has published on the spatial history of the suffrage movement, public art, gardens, and the politics of urban change. In addition to her research on the spaces of restorative and transitional justice, she is leading an oral history project on the urban memories of diverse Montrealers.
is Associate Professor in the Department of Theatre at Concordia University, Montreal (Quebec, Canada). He is also the second co-director of Concordia’s Centre for Oral History and Digital Storytelling. His latest publications explore listening in the context of post-conflict performances of memory. For instance, see ‘Facilitating voicing and listening in the context of post-conflict performances of memory. The Colombian scenario.’ In: De Nardi, S., Orange, H., et al. Routledge Handbook of Memoryscapes. Routledge: London. (2019), and his article ‘Not being able to speak is torture: performing listening to painful narratives’. International Journal of Transitional Justice, Special Issue Creative Approaches to Transitional Justice: Contributions of Arts and Culture. (March, 2020)
