The end of impunity
Finally, it is all over now, those days when the life of a chicken was more valued than that of a man, these were the days of the brutal war in Sierra Leone in which thousands of lives were lost.
The butchery, the cannibalism, the cutting of limbs and heads all documented for posterity has today ended with the sentencing of those found guilty. The days of impunity are indeed over.
The Special Court for Sierra Leone, in finally concluding the trial that has seen eight prominent war related personalities sent off to jail in Rwanda, shows we have done the deed that needs to be done.
As a way of punishing those bearing the greatest responsibility, the Special Court for Sierra Leone, is by extension, a part of the desire and belief among a large proportion of the people. The people, who were the silent majority, were observing passively while recording for posterity the evidence that has today ensured that the ones bearing the greatest responsibility are punished.
The crimes committed in Sierra Leone were too horrendous for the ones guilty to go unpunished. The crimes committed by Nazi Gestapo troops under Adolf Hitler when millions of Jews were exterminated resulted in the famous Nuremberg trials. Those bearing the greatest responsibility were tried and when found guilty sentenced and incarcerated or condemned to death.  Millions of dollars were spent in the Nuremberg trials. It involved huge material and human resources which might have been better spent on the hapless Jews who had suffered the holocaust and were suffering in camp.
In Sierra Leone, millions of dollars spent in the establishment and maintenance of the Special Court was seen by some to be a waste, and that the money should have been better spent on the civilian victims.
But there was a need to establish respect for law and justice and its accompanying reprisal factors, both in the case of Sierra Leone and that of Nazi Germany. This is the aspect of the Special Court that makes it important and equally of benefit to other nations and leaders in serving as a reminder to all who might nurture similar behavioural tendencies..
It was the Parliament of Sierra Leone that empowered the Special Court with the tacit support of the people, and through all its gains and pains, the court has been resilience in pursuing its mandate to its logical conclusion without fear or favour.
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