Truth or Reconciliation Mechanism – 2003
2003
Intermediate Implementation 
The TRC hearings held two weeks of public hearings with individual witnesses in Freetown, starting on April 14, 2003. The TRC also started both public and closed hearings in the districts. There was one week of hearings in each district.
Victims of sexual violence who did not want to testify in public, all children below the age of 18, and perpetrators or ex-combatants who did not want to talk openly gave testimonies during closed hearings. The Commission guaranteed the anonymity of those witnesses. For those who testified on sexual violence, the Commission was composed of female commissioners and female staff members only.
A counselor assisted every witness before, during, and after the hearing.1