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Police, Army Fail to Meet Benchmarks

Concord Times (Freetown)
NEWS
April 1, 2004
Posted to the web April 1, 2004

By Osman Benk Sankoh
Freetown
The failure of the Sierra Leone Police (SLP) and Republic of Sierra Leone Armed
Forces (RSLAF) to satisfy benchmarks which would have made it possible for the
mandate of the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) to have ended
this year has left the United Nations with no alternative but to extend its
mandate in the country until mid next year.
Reasons for this, according to a UN Security Council Resolution 1537 Monday
noted, " progress towards the benchmarks remain fragile, and senior major gaps
still remain, in particular with regard to the capacity of the Sierra Leone
Police and Armed Forces to maintain security and stability effectively."
Security Council urged government to, " intensify its efforts to develop an
effective and sustainable police force, army, penal system and independent
judiciary, so that government can rapidly takeover from UNAMSIL full
responsibility for maintaining law and order throughout Sierra Leone " Though
the Council noted that a residual presence will remain in the country for an
initial period of six months until September 2004, it however reiterated, " the
importance of the effective consolidation of stability and state authority
throughout Sierra Leone, particularly in the sensitive diamond -producing areas
and in the border areas." The Resolution also emphasised the importance of a
free, fair and transparent local elections in May and called on the Truth and
Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to produce its report as soon as possible.
Concord Times gathered that both police and the army have only satisfied 23 out
of the 49 benchmarks that were set up for UMAMSIL's draw down.

   

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