On behalf of the Board and Management of the Centre for Accountability and Rule of Law (CARL), I wish to thank everyone, including donors and implementing partners across the country, for their invaluable contributions to our work over the last twelve months. Without your support, guidance and ever increasing willingness to share, CARL would not have made the progress it made in 2013. It was by no means an easy year, but the organisation was able to achieve some of its critical benchmarks for the year. This year’s experience will be useful in coordinating our efforts at meeting CARL’s institutional and programming goals for 2014. The challenges of 2013 have only made us even more determined to work harder and collaborate better.
It has been a generally productive year for us in many respects. First, CARL was able to expand its geographical reach by opening an additional office in Kambia District, Northern Sierra Leone, thanks to support from the US Government’s Office of the Secretary’s Office of Global Women’s Issues (S/GWI). Through this grant, we hope to reach at least one million five hundred people (directly and indirectly) while at the same time recruiting and training 42 Court and Community-based monitors in the Kambia District. The project essentially seeks to ensure that law enforcement and justice institutions as well as community members play an active role in reducing violence against women and girls. CARL also made strong efforts to expand its network by working with new partners and strengthening its ties with the existing ones. Accordingly, CARL entered into partnership and sub-grant agreements with a number of organisations in Bo, Kenema, Koinadugu, Makeni and Moyamba to help implement projects aimed at promoting transparency and citizens’ participation in local government. Some of our partners include the Centre for Democracy and Human Rights in the North, Gender Awareness Programme in Moyamba District, Human Empowerment and Development Foundation in Bo, and Movement for Restoration and Rural Development in Kenema District. At the regional and global levels, CARL partnered with a number of organisations to promote justice at local and international levels. In particular, CARL is pleased to have partnered with Civitas Maxima to institute an action against Ibrahim Bah or Balde, a former ally of ex-Liberian President, Charles Taylor for his alleged role in the conflict in Sierra Leone. Although the Sierra Leone Government helped Bah escape justice by ordering expulsion, our action was part of efforts to help foster accountability and justice for victims of the conflict in Sierra Leone.
Additionally, CARL made some progress in its fundraising efforts. Without doubt, funding is absolutely critical to the survival of every civil society organisation, especially for organisations like ours. In 2013, the management and staff of CARL stepped up fund-raising efforts. I am pleased to thank the staff and board members of all our donor organisations, including the US Government’s Office of the Secretary’s Office of Global Women’s Issues (S/GWI) and the National Endowment for Democracy. Traditional donors such as TROCAIRE, OSIWA and FGHR were extremely helpful not only through their financial support, but their ongoing technical support has had tremendous impact on our institutional and programming objectives. The increase in the organisation’s funding level means that our services will reach many more Sierra Leoneans, but more importantly, we can plan on a long term basis. There are a few more critical issues that CARL would like to focus on, which is why the organisation will continue to seek funds as well as make efforts to recruit some of the best and committed personnel available.
In terms of project, some of our key projects include “Promoting Transparency and Citizens’ Participation in Local Government”, “Enhancing Access to Justice”, “Reducing Gender and Sexual-based Violence”, among others. These projects are implemented in nine of the country’s 14 districts either directly by CARL staff or through some of the organisation’s sub-grantees. These projects have been implemented with the aid of community-based monitors who have been exceptionally committed to promoting accountability for sexual and gender-based crimes and transparency in governance. CARL’s 120 community-based volunteers across the country have done an incredibly brilliant job of extending our services and presence in over 50 villages and towns across the country. Through these monitors, CARL helped in fostering accountability for sexual and gender-based crimes by helping victims to come forward and file complaints with the Family Support Unit of the police. These monitors also helped and continue to help vulnerable groups, including women and girls, to get fair and equitable decisions in the Local Courts. They also contributed to efforts at changing the negative traditional attitude by men against women.
CARL’s advocacy project – spoken and written – also covered most of the country. Through our flagship publication – The Monitor – CARL shared observations of Court Monitors and Outreach Officers with public officials and members of the public. CARL undertook extensive discussions on emerging opportunities and challenges in the country, particularly those relating to justice and accountability. Through our media and community outreach events, we were able to raise awareness on various legal and human rights issues, while at the same time teaching communities about their role in holding their leaders accountable. Our court monitoring work received a boost this year when the organisation’s monitoring report sheet was reviewed by one of the several interns we worked with in 2013, thanks to our partnership with ACIPP. The review ensured that our current template captures a lot more useful data which helps our analysis.
We also undertook massive advocacy in order to enhance access to justice, particularly for vulnerable groups. At the moment, there are serious physical and financial problems relating to access to the justice. Apart from the fact that court buildings and Family Support Unit posts are sparsely located in the country, there is a dearth of lawyers, members of the bench and law officers across the country. There are still too many circuit courts for justice to be delivered in a timely manner. Plus, the fact that poor litigants must cover long distances to testify or pay transportation fare for witnesses is inhibiting many citizens from accessing justice. CARL has repeatedly called on the Sierra Leone Government to increase funding to the justice system, particularly the judiciary, in order to address the personnel and logistics challenges that confront the institution. There are indications of progress as the judiciary is likely to receive more funds in the 2014 budget than in previous years. Of course, the judiciary still faces challenges that are quite unrelated to funding shortfalls. First, the judiciary still faces an increasing public perception gap regarding its independence. Many think the institution has lost its independence to the politicians and private interests. For instance, the judiciary needs to better in developing a case management system. The current method doesn’t allow for predictability in terms of allocation of files. This contributes to the perception gap that exists. Members of the bench also need to do a lot more to inspire public confidence. Most complaints against the judiciary relate to the alleged unfair handling of politically-motivated disputes. Money can help recruit more personnel and address the institution’s logistics related challenges, but integrity cannot be procured and installed like a computer software. When the integrity of law enforcement and justice officers is constantly in question, it raises serious doubts about that country’s justice and human rights credentials. The Sierra Leone judiciary needs to do a lot more in this respect. CARL will continue to advocate for a more transparent and accountable justice system in 2014.
Closing the implementation gap in our laws remains one of the country’s major challenges. Sierra Leone has passed some of the most progressive laws aimed at addressing discrimination against women as well as protecting vulnerable sections of the population, including the youth. Unfortunately, implementation remains a key challenge. In the last six years alone, Parliament has passed the four “Gender Laws”, namely, the Domestic Violence Act, the Devolution of Estates Act, the Registration of Customary Marriage and Divorce Act, and the Sexual Offences Act. It also enacted the Legal Aid law in 2012, aimed at enhancing access to justice for indigent Sierra Leoneans. Our parliament also repealed the 1963 Local Courts Act and passed a rather progressive Local Courts Act in 2011. While CARL has repeatedly commended the promulgation of these laws, it is regrettable that implementation is still ineffective. Apart from the fact that there are still no functional Safe Houses for victims of domestic violence in the entire country, victims of sexual violence are reportedly still being asked to pay fees for medical reports, contrary to the Domestic Violence Act 2007. The Legal Aid Act was hailed as one of the most progressive laws on the continent when it was passed in 2012, but a Legal Aid Board has still not been inaugurated by the President. No funds have been set aside for the operations of the Board. CARL is committed to working with government officials, international partners and civil society organisations to address these challenges in 2014.
In light of the increasing spate of police brutality against civilians, including alleged unlawful killings, CARL played a critical role in calling for increased accountability for police officers. Thankfully, there is a gradual but recognizable effort on the part of the leadership of the Sierra Leone Police to foster accountability for police officers who commit serious human rights abuses. At the moment, there are at least three police officers facing charges relating to unlawful killing. Sadly, many more police officers are still being shielded from facing justice. The leadership of the Sierra Leone Police must show greater commitment to combating impunity within the force. CARL will continue to press for reforms and increased accountability in the police force.
Looking ahead…
The experiences of 2013 will certainly inform our efforts and strategies in 2014. CARL will step up its partnership with civil society and other partners to play a meaningful role in the constitutional review process. CARL will continue advocacy for increased access to justice for victims of sexual violence and for the need to strengthen accountability mechanisms across all levels. Through a police accountability project that CARL intends to start in 2014, we will monitor complaints against police officers to see how the current internal accountability mechanism of the Sierra Leone Police handles them. Sierra Leone’s anti-corruption efforts received a setback when the Board of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) failed to reselect Sierra Leone for a compact award because the country failed MCC’s corruption indicator in 2013. It was a huge blow because the country missed out on potentially one of the biggest, if not the biggest single grant that it would have ever received. This is why everyone or every institution needs to play its own part to address Sierra Leone’s biggest impediment to economic development and national prosperity – corruption. On our part, CARL will continue to monitor corruption-related cases before the courts with the view to reporting any unwholesome observations as well as providing useful commentary on court decisions. Finally, CARL intends to start an impact litigation project next year, which requires selecting and pursuing lawsuits as a tool to achieve broad and lasting effects, beyond the particular case involved, on both public policy and legislation. It is hoped that through this strategy, CARL will begin to address the implementation gap that confronts many of the country’s laws.
Once again many thanks for your support in 2013, and we look forward to working with you all in 2014. Best wishes for a productive and wonderful year ahead!