YouSaid · the spoken record

Rapp

lines on the record: 36
first: 2007-06-08
most recent: 2009-07-16
sittings or episodes: 2
sources: un-security-council

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“Mr. Rapp: I wish to join President Winter in thanking the Council for convening this meeting and you, Sir, for presiding over it. I should also like to thank Council members for their presentations on behalf of member States, and particularly for their commendation of and praise for the work of the Special Court. I think I speak for the staff of the Special Court, and in particular the staff of the Office of the Prosecutor, in saying that those who are working in this endeavour will continue until our mandate is complete to work in such a way that we are worthy of the support that the Security Council has provided.”
2009-07-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6163 (2009) · source
“As envisioned by the Security Council in resolution 1315 (2000), that will contribute to reconciliation and respect for the rule of law. It will also send a powerful message that the international community strongly supports institutions established to hold to account those responsible for such atrocities, and by doing so deter their perpetration in the future, thus saving others from the violence, the injury, and the death visited on the innocent people of Sierra Leone.”
2009-07-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6163 (2009) · source
“We all wish to express our profound gratitude to the Secretary-General for his letters to Member States on our behalf, most recently on 16 March 2009. At this point, while we recognize that the Security Council is not directly involved in financial issues, we would respectfully request the Council and its President to consider urging Member States to pledge and to contribute so that the Special Court can conclude the RUF appeal in Freetown and the historic proceedings in the Charles Taylor case in The Hague. The commission of serious crimes against the civilian population of Sierra Leone motivated the creation of the Special Court. We ask for the cooperation and support necessary to complete its mandate, so that justice can be achieved for the Victims of those crimes.”
2009-07-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6163 (2009) · source
“While the future funding of the residual mechanism must be addressed, the Court's immediate financial situation may now be fairly characterized as an impending crisis. Even if all pledged donations from donors for this year come in early - and that is as yet uncertain, as the President told the Council - at the moment, the funds on hand will be exhausted in August. If those contributions come in early this year, our funds will nonetheless run dry early next year, before the next round of donations. The Special Court will not have the resources necessary to complete its work. We are deeply appreciative of the support of Member States that have provided the voluntary contributions that have permitted the Special Court to reach this point, when its mission is so close to completion.”
2009-07-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6163 (2009) · source
“It is therefore necessary to reach agreements with States for enforcement of sentences that provide that the enforcing State will cover the cost of caring for the prisoners, or to provide funding through the residual mechanism to meet these expenses on an ongoing basis. Those are but two of the challenges that must be met during the post-closure period. The Court and its Management Committee are working on proposals for a very small residual mechanism that may provide a model for the other international courts that will close after us. However, even if it is very small, we will still need a secure source of funding that will remain in place until all prisoners have served their sentences and all the challenges have been managed.”
2009-07-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6163 (2009) · source
“Therefore, the prosecution has been in discussions with authorities in Sierra Leone and two other States and will take steps before the Special Court concludes its active proceedings to ensure that Koroma can be prosecuted thereafter within a national system. President Winter spoke of the need for State cooperation in the enforcement of our sentences. It is well accepted that the prison sentences of the Court's convicted persons must be served in facilities that are secure and that meet international standards. The Government of Sierra Leone expressed its wish that these sentences be served outside of Sierra Leone. We in the prosecution share that view because of our concern for the safety and the security of the witnesses and also for the personnel of the Special Court.”
2009-07-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6163 (2009) · source
“However, despite significant efforts, the prosecution has not been able to find and identify his remains, and rumours persist of his whereabouts in the subregion. Mr. Koroma was head of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) and served as the effective chief of State during the nine months in 1997 and 1998 that an AFRC-RUF junta ruled in Sierra Leone. Three other leaders of the AFRC have been tried and convicted. It would be unacceptable for the country and for international justice were Koroma to surface after the closure of the Court and never have to answer for his alleged crimes in a court of law.”
2009-07-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6163 (2009) · source
“It is also the court that has placed the highest priority on outreach, in providing accurate information about its proceedings to the population throughout Sierra Leone, and, for the Taylor case, to Liberia as well. For as important as it is to do justice, for all those that the Court intends to serve it is also important that justice be seen to be done. As the Special Court concludes its proceedings, we must address the need for a mechanism to deal with residual issues. President Winter mentioned several of these issues. Let me focus on one that falls directly within the responsibility of the prosecution. This concerns the case of the Court's one indictee-at-large, Johnny Paul Koroma. Witnesses in the Taylor trial have testified to hearing reports that Koroma was killed in Liberia not long after he was indicted.”
2009-07-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6163 (2009) · source
“The Court's work has helped implement Security Council resolutions 1325 (2000) and 1820 (2008), which recognized that the protection of women and girls in armed conflict can significantly contribute to international peace and security, called on parties to protect them from gender-based violence and emphasized the shared responsibility to end impunity and prosecute those responsible for such crimes. All of these accomplishments have been achieved by the Special Court for Sierra Leone, an institution that represents a partnership between an African nation and the international community. It is a court in which 60 per cent of the workforce is Sierra Leonean, and in which Sierra Leone citizens hold senior positions in every organ, including my own Deputy Prosecutor, Joseph Kamara.”
2009-07-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6163 (2009) · source
“In pursuing this wider range of offences, and by alleging that they were among the acts of terrorism, the prosecution was able to present a case showing that these acts of sexual violence were committed as part of a strategy for dominating and instilling fear in the civilian population. In the recent RUF trial judgement, again for the first time, leaders of an armed movement were held responsible for these offences, whatever their physical distance from the actual acts, because the commission of these crimes was part of a common scheme or plan.”
2009-07-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6163 (2009) · source
“This precedent sends a clear message in the conflict zones around the world, wherever the United Nations, through its Member States, has provided and today is providing forces to maintain peace and security. The Special Court continues to make a significant contribution to bringing justice to victims of sexual violence and gender-based crimes, of which there were so many during the Sierra Leone civil war. The Court pronounced the first-ever convictions on the charge of sexual slavery, both as a war crime and as a crime against humanity. It further recognized forced marriage as an inhumane act constituting a crime against humanity and rendered in February the first convictions on that charge.”
2009-07-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6163 (2009) · source
“Most well known was the groundbreaking precedent recognizing that the use of child soldiers - persons under the age of 15 - in armed conflict was an international crime, followed thereafter by the convictions - the first in history - of five individual defendants for that offence. The Special Court also pronounced the first-ever conviction on the charge of acts of terrorism in a non-international armed conflict. The recent trial judgement in the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) case included the first convictions in history for the specific crime of attacks on United Nations peacekeepers. This was an offence that was defined in the 1994 Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel.”
2009-07-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6163 (2009) · source
“This very week saw the commencement of the defence case, with the presentation of its opening statement, followed by the accused himself, former President Taylor, taking the stand to begin his testimony. Thereafter, other defence witnesses will testify, and the accused will be assured of his right to fully contest the indictment against him. We feel confident that the trial will be conducted and managed to allow for the entry of judgement by mid-2010 and for finalization on appeal by very early in 2011. As President Winter has mentioned, the proceedings in Freetown have resulted in historic developments in international humanitarian law.”
2009-07-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6163 (2009) · source
“That was the trial of Charles Taylor, the former President of Liberia. Since then, some 91 individuals, almost all of them from Sierra Leone or Liberia, have travelled to and from The Hague to present their testimony. They were able personally to bear witness in this historic proceeding because their presence in the Netherlands was made possible by the Security Council in resolution 1688 (2006), which facilitated the conduct of this trial away from the seat of the Special Court in the interests of regional security. Since the witnesses began their testimonies in January 2008, the Taylor trial has proceeded smoothly, with a high level of transparency, efficiency and fairness.”
2009-07-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6163 (2009) · source
“For the victims - the thousands who had been mutilated, the tens of thousands who had been murdered, indeed the hundreds of thousands who had been subjected to sexual violence - the Special Court offers justice by holding to account those alleged to bear the greatest responsibility for these crimes. As President Winter has reported, the Special Court has completed three multiple-accused trials in Freetown. Two of those cases have now been finalized on appeal, and the appeals proceeding in the third should be concluded by October 2009. Members will recall that the last time that the principals of the Special Court addressed this body, in June 2007 (see S/PV.5690), we reported that the fourth trial had just commenced with the presentation of the prosecution's opening statement.”
2009-07-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6163 (2009) · source
“Mr. Rapp: In beginning my presentation, let me echo the sentiments of President Winter and thank the Council for its decision to convene this briefing on the Special Court for Sierra Leone. In resolution 1315 (2000), the Security Council responded to a request that came from the Government of Sierra Leone, and it also recognized the serious crimes committed against the people of that country, in requesting the Secretary-General to negotiate an agreement to create an independent special court. It was to be a credible system of justice and accountability that could hold individuals criminally responsible for serious violations of international humanitarian law and, in doing so, contribute to the restoration and maintenance of peace.”
2009-07-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6163 (2009) · source
“We look forward to continuing our work at the Special Court for Sierra Leone, following up on the resolutions of the Council to establish justice and bring closure with regard to the grave crimes committed on the territory of Sierra Leone after November 1996.”
2007-06-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5690 (2007) · source
“It is critically important that the Court have the resources necessary to provide an effective defence for each of the accused individuals. That has been the situation since the time of the establishment of the Court, and it needs to be the situation until its very end. That is why we continue to urge Member States to support the Court and to provide the resources necessary not just for investigation and prosecution, but also for defence representation. At the end of the day, what is most important is not only that a trial be fair, but also that it be seen to be fair by the victims and the whole world community. I thank the members of the Security Council, as well as the other representatives who have come forward to make their representations and submissions.”
2007-06-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5690 (2007) · source
“There is an office in The Hague, an office in Freetown and, with the assistance of the United Nations Mission in Liberia, now an office in Monrovia. As the Registrar has commented, the legal services available here exceed, or at least equal, those provided at other tribunals. I believe that there are now some practical issues that the judges and the Registry are working through, with regard to, perhaps, a new co-counsel coming into the case to replace one who is departing. We believe that those issues can be resolved in good faith and will be resolved. I think that the whole issue of legal representation is very important as we look at the voluntary contributions and the base of the Court. Clearly, our Court's ability to provide legal assistance to indigent accused cannot be constrained by the absence of resources.”
2007-06-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5690 (2007) · source
“There is, or course, the issue of the adequacy of the representation and investigative assistance available to Mr. Taylor. Those issues have been raised with the Registry on numerous occasions. It is to be noted here that - as I said in my remarks - the accused has claimed indigence, and therefore his legal services are being provided at the expense of the Court. The Registry has entered into a contract with his chief counsel that provides for substantial augmentation of the resources available, exceeding those of other accused before the Court. He has access to a counsel, a co-counsel and several legal assistants to investigators, both domestic and international - all paid for by the Court from its funds.”
2007-06-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5690 (2007) · source
“That assignment carries with it a solemn responsibility to continue in the proceeding and to represent the accused to the best of the counsel's ability, even if the counsel is not as fully instructed as the counsel might wish. I should now like to refer to the events and the particular issues raised by Mr. Taylor and his counsel. They have previously raised issues regarding the need for additional time and resources, to which the Court and the Registry have responded in the past. The Court has twice provided additional time for defence preparation. The opening of the trial was delayed from April to June. Additionally, by a recent decision, well before 4 June, the judges of the Trial Chamber provided an extra three weeks to work with his counsel to prepare for the calling of the first witnesses.”
2007-06-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5690 (2007) · source
“In a few cases, individuals have elected to absent themselves from entire trials. The practice of the Special Court for Sierra Leone and that of international tribunals - consistent with the practice in many countries - is not to force such individuals to attend but to make certain, by seeking to communicate with the accused, that the decision to absent himself or herself from the proceeding is voluntary and that it is understood that, in the absence of the accused, the proceeding will nonetheless continue. The arrangements for representation by defence counsel provide that defence counsel is assigned to represent individuals for whom the counsel appears.”
2007-06-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5690 (2007) · source
“Mr. Rapp: I thank participants for their comments today and for their strong support of the mission of the Special Court for Sierra Leone. It is profoundly appreciated by those of us who are involved in this effort, and we look forward to, in some cases, visiting their capitals and discussing further the work of the Special Court. There was, I recall, one question, from the representative of the Russian Federation. I think it is appropriate that I make a response. The question drew attention to the absence of Mr. Taylor from the opening of the trial, this Monday, 4 June. I have been involved in this field for several years, previously at the Rwanda Tribunal. I will say that it is not uncommon for individuals who are accused to absent themselves from the proceedings.”
2007-06-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5690 (2007) · source
“Additional funds of approximately $60 million are needed to finance the Court's operation until the completion of its mandate. The challenges facing the Special Court are serious, and I encourage all Member States to renew their support for the Court and its efforts to ensure justice for the crimes committed in Sierra Leone. I would like to leave members with these words from our opening statement in the Taylor trial. "The people of Sierra Leone have a saying: no matter how long the night, light will come again. For years the accused's crimes have remained in the dark. Today we start to shed light on his responsibility for the suffering of the people of Sierra Leone." Let us continue to work together to help the people of Sierra Leone look forward to a future of light and of hope.”
2007-06-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5690 (2007) · source
“The success of those efforts would open the way for compensation for victims and also send a signal to others that they cannot gain from such crimes. We urge Member States to provide all appropriate legal and technical assistance. We in the Office of the Prosecutor are ready to cooperate in any way to ensure success. Finally, as Justice King stated, the Special Court needs funding. The Court has demonstrated itself to be a transparent and cost-effective operation. In order to provide Member States with a clear picture of the resources required until the conclusion of its work, a completion budget has been presented for each of the remaining years of its mandate, namely, 2007, 2008 and 2009. Current funds in the Special Court's accounts will be exhausted at end of October 2007.”
2007-06-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5690 (2007) · source
“The investigations require extensive cooperation from Member States to track, freeze and gain access to possible assets. That may lead to the discovery of substantial assets that could also be made available to a national process of victim compensation. In our view of the evidence, the crimes that we are prosecuting were motivated in part by a desire to control and exploit mineral resources. Justice requires that any remaining proceeds of that plunder be made available to its victims. I know of the ongoing efforts of the Committee established pursuant to resolution 1521 (2003) concerning Liberia to implement the freeze of assets of Charles Taylor and his close associates in compliance with Security Council resolution 1532 (2004).”
2007-06-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5690 (2007) · source
“Many of the witnesses who appear before the Special Court do so at great risk to their and their family's safety, demonstrating courage and determination. The Court has an obligation to protect them and to relocate high profile and vulnerable witnesses. Thus far, the Court has signed agreements for the relocation of witnesses with three countries and entered into ad hoc arrangements with two more. Additional agreements are needed to ensure that all witnesses of the Special Court receive the protection they deserve. All of the accused before the Special Court have declared themselves to be indigent and are receiving legal assistance at the Court's expense. It is important that the Court's Registry have the capacity to conduct further investigations to ascertain the validity of those claims of indigency.”
2007-06-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5690 (2007) · source
“The historic trial of Charles Taylor shows that, after the mayhem and terror that were rained upon Sierra Leone and its people, there are those in the world who are ready to uphold the law and decide that, no matter how high the position of the person responsible, there will be a day of justice. As President King indicated, it is expected that the Court will complete its legal proceedings by December 2009. However, the actual implementation of the Court's completion plan will require continued support from all Member States. In the course of the CDF, AFRC and RUF trials, the prosecution presented 220 witnesses. Overall, 354 have been heard by the Chambers to date. In the Taylor trial, the prosecution estimates that it will be calling 139 witnesses.”
2007-06-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5690 (2007) · source
“The Special Court is indeed the first international criminal tribunal to charge and try individuals for the recruitment of child soldiers as a violation of international humanitarian law. In addition, the Special Court is the first international tribunal to charge forced marriage as a crime against humanity. The judgments as to those crimes that are expected 12 days from today in the AFRC case will be the first of their kind in the history of the world. These trials are evidence of the international community's commitment to ensuring accountability for crimes as heinous and widespread as those committed in Sierra Leone. They make a clear statement that crimes such as mutilations, the chopping off of arms and legs, the sexual enslavement of women and girls, and the use of child soldiers cannot continue to go unpunished.”
2007-06-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5690 (2007) · source
“In my opening statement, I made it clear that the prosecution will seek to ensure that the trial embodies the principles of fairness and due process at all times. In the months to come, the prosecution will be calling witnesses and offering documentary evidence that, in our evaluation, will provide strong and compelling proof of Mr. Taylor's culpability in planning, instigating, ordering, aiding and abetting the crimes charged in the indictment: crimes against humanity, war crimes and, additionally, the crime of violating other provisions of international humanitarian law by conscripting or enlisting children under the age of 15 years into armed forces or groups, or using them to participate actively in hostilities.”
2007-06-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5690 (2007) · source
“The Office of the Prosecutor has continued to conduct investigations in Sierra Leone and elsewhere in relation to the case against Charles Taylor. On 7 March 2003, the Special Court confirmed the indictment of Charles Taylor for war crimes, crimes against humanity and other serious violations of international humanitarian law. On 29 March 2006, Mr. Taylor was surrendered to the Special Court. Taking note of concerns expressed by regional leaders, the President of the Court formally requested that Taylor be tried in The Hague, in the Netherlands, by a Trial Chamber of the Special Court. On 20 June 2006, Taylor was transferred to The Hague. Last Monday, four days ago, the case officially began in a courtroom of the International Criminal Court in The Hague.”
2007-06-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5690 (2007) · source
“The prosecution and defence concluded the presentation of evidence in the trials of Allieu Kondewa and Moinina Fofana of the Civil Defence Forces (CDF) and Alex Tamba Brima, Brima Bazzy Kamara and Santigie Borbor Kanu of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) at the end of 2006. With the trial phases of both the CDF and AFRC cases now complete, our Office is awaiting judgments and devoting its efforts to preparing for possible appeals. On 2 August 2006, the Prosecution concluded its case in the trial of Issa Hassan Sesay, Morris Kallon and Augustine Gbao of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF). The defence began the presentation of its 07-37400 witnesses on 3 May 2007, and it is anticipated that the trial will be concluded by early 2008.”
2007-06-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5690 (2007) · source
“The Office of the Prosecutor has therefore concentrated its investigations and prosecutions on a limited number of individuals alleged to have been in a position of responsibility and/or command and to have played a major role not only in carrying out the crimes, but also in planning and implementing the campaign of terror that engulfed Sierra Leone for almost 10 years. The prosecution has issued 13 indictments, all of which were confirmed by a justice of the Special Court. Eleven individuals have been apprehended and transferred into the Court's custody. Two of them, Foday Sankoh and Hinga Norman, died of natural causes while in detention; one was killed in Liberia before arrest; and, as President King indicated, the whereabouts of another remain unknown. Nine individuals are currently before the Court as accused persons in four trials.”
2007-06-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5690 (2007) · source
“In addition, in March 2007 - not very long ago - the Council adopted resolution 1750 (2007) mandating UNMIL to provide support to the Special Court for activities conducted in Liberia with the consent of the Liberian Government. I am therefore most grateful for this occasion to brief the Security Council in my capacity as Prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone and to provide the Council with an overview of the work my Office is performing and the challenges that lie ahead. The Special Court has a very focused jurisdiction. It is mandated to prosecute those who bear the greatest responsibility for the violations of humanitarian law committed in Sierra Leone since 30 November 1996.”
2007-06-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5690 (2007) · source
“In 2005, the Council adopted resolution 1638 (2005), which included in the mandate of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) the apprehension, detention and transfer of Charles Taylor to the Special Court in the event of his return to Liberia. In March 2006, that resolution made possible Taylor's handover to the Special Court in Freetown after he was arrested attempting to cross the border from Nigeria into Cameroon and had been brought to Liberia. Then, in June 2006, the Council adopted resolution 1688 (2006), requesting that all States cooperate to effect the transfer of Charles Taylor to the Netherlands for the purpose of his trial by the Special Court. That endeavour stands as a remarkable example of collaboration by the international community.”
2007-06-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5690 (2007) · source
“Mr. Rapp: In beginning my presentation, I would like to reiterate the comments made by President King and thank the Council for its decision to convene this briefing on the Special Court for Sierra Leone. I would also like to thank the Security Council for its invaluable role in strengthening peace and security in Sierra Leone and the West African region and for the assistance provided to the Special Court in its pursuit of justice. As members are well aware, this past Monday saw the commencement of the trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor. His trial marks a watershed event for international justice, and the Security Council deserves tremendous credit for helping to make that happen.”
2007-06-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5690 (2007) · source