STALLED REPARATIONS PROGRAMME: NEARLY TWO DECADES AFTER THE TRC, WHAT WAS DELIVERED, WHAT WAS MISSED, AND WHO IS ACCOUNTABLE

By Hassan Solokoh Bockarie (ATJLF/MRCG Fellow 2026)

Nearly two decades after Sierra Leone’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) released its landmark report recommending reparations for victims of the civil war, thousands of survivors still wait for justice that was promised but never fully delivered. The TRC’s final report, published in 2004, urged the government to prioritise reparations for amputees, war-wounded, victims of sexual violence, war widows, and children affected by the conflict. It described reparations as “a moral and legal obligation of the State to acknowledge the suffering of victims and assist them in rebuilding their lives.”