No money for S Leone amputees

2005-09-22 15:16

Freetown - Sierra Leone attorney general Frederick Carew said on Wednesday it was impossible to accommodate compensation demands from victims from the West African country's decade of war.

"Our government is hard-pressed financially and economically to meet the demands of the amputees," he said, noting that Freetown had not received any help from the international community to assist the people whose arms were hacked off by marauding rebels during the conflict from 1991 to 2001.

Despite hundreds of millions of dollars in international aid and what was at one point the largest-ever peacekeeping operation, Sierra Leone remains among the world's poorest countries.

Free medical service, education

"Cabinet has approved free medical service and free education for amputees and their dependants and government will assign tractors to them to form co-operatives and be part of the drive for food self-sufficiency," Carew added.

It is not known just how many civilians had their arms hacked off by the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF) during its murderous campaign against the government of President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, considered among the most brutal wars in modern history.

A report by the country's Truth and Reconciliation Commission published in October last year recommended "programmes to address and respond to the specific needs of victims rather than cash handouts", advising the government to offer education and skills training and micro-credit initiatives to the war victims.

Demands scaled down

At a conference last week in the capital, the Amputees and War Victims association demanded a monthly $3 000 pension but scaled demands back on Wednesday to $300 per month, said association chairperson Lamin Jarka.

"We have also asked the government to provide free transportation to our members travelling to the provinces as commercial drivers discriminate against us because of our disabilities," he said.

Three senior leaders of the RUF are facing trial at the UN-backed war crimes tribunal judging those who bear responsibility for the greatest atrocities committed during the war, including the amputation that was crassly known as 'long sleeves' and 'short sleeves'.

RUF founder Foday Sankoh died in custody and his nefarious right-hand man Sam "Mosquito" Bockarie died on the battlefield in neighbouring Liberia.

- AFP