Students eagerly filed into the solarium room at the law faculty last Thursday to hear from Sidney Thompson, an associate legal officer in the Special Court for Sierra Leone that is presently trying former Liberian president Charles Taylor for war crimes.

Thompson is one of the five lawyers in the Taylor case chamber and who, among other duties, is in charge of drafting legal documents and ensuring just trial proceedings. Although she could not talk about confidential elements of the trial, Thompson discussed previous SCSL cases, including those dealing with rebel groups such as the Revolutionary United Front and the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council.

The Special Court was created as a bilateral agreement between Sierra Leone and the UN to try war criminals for crimes against humanity during the Sierra Leone Civil War, which was fought from 1996 to 2002.

This July, the SCSL became the first international court to sentence militia leaders for using child soldiers.

Thompson, described with nuance some of the most brutal and violent crimes she had ever come across, refraining from giving grisly details about her cases. Some experts estimate up to 100,000 people died during the civil war, with thousands more affected by acts of violence, including sexual violence.

Thompson emphasized the importance of maintaining a connection between the Court and the people of Sierra Leone. “The SCSL was designed to remain in situ, and facilitating access to the civilians is the one of the main responsibilities of the tribunal,” she said.

“[They’re] very dedicated,” Thompson added, describing the tribunal’s outreach programs. “[They’re] managing radio talks, one-on-one sessions, field trips with local school groups and having them walk through court grounds so children as young as nine or 10 can understand what’s going on and such.”

Thompson spoke of international criminal law as an expanding area of practice, and encouraged students to follow the ongoing Charles Taylor case, which is being broadcasted online.

She also urged pursuing an internship with the SCSL.

“We need you. There is so much evidence, so much work that we rely a lot on our interns,” Thompson said. She should know: she started out as an intern in 2005.

For more information on the Special Court of Sierra Leone, visit http://www.sc-sl.org or contact Sidney Thompson at [email protected].