Introduction

Sierra Leone , one of the smallest countries on the African Continent was, prior to the conflict in 1991, quite literally a ‘nation of children’. Statistics from the Central Statistics Office showed that in 1991, approximately half of the estimated 4.5 million populations were composed of children. In other words, half of the population was made up of persons below the age of 18 years. However, the conflict in Sierra Leone impacted heavily on children, as they became prime target for abuse by the fighting factions. Hundreds of children were abducted; forcefully recruited to fight (according to CARITAS more than 5000 combatants were children below the age of 18 years.); raped and forced to serve as sexual slaves. Some of them were mutilated; and had their limbs cut off. Most of them were subjected to torture and forced labour.

On the eve of the war, children were marginalized and deprived of their basic human rights. The break down of democratic institutions; the collapse of the rule of law and the mismanagement of the country’s resources further exacerbated the continued violation of the rights of children in Sierra Leone.

Laws in Sierra Leone relating to children were and are still outdated, uninformed and grossly inadequate to guarantee the protection and promotion of their rights. Crimes against children including rape, sexual violence, child labour, child trafficking etc. have most times gone unpunished, aided further by the culture of silence and impunity that prevails.

This article will look at the anomalies in national legislations in Sierra Leone and how the adversely affect the interests of children. In is important to note children in Sierra Leone are governed under the general law and customary law which are mostly unwritten. The article will examine the anomalies in this context as oppose to other international instruments such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child ( CRC), and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. It will also examine specific issues where the rights and status of children come into focus.

Definition of a Child and Juvenile

In Sierra Leone, laws relating to children are often in conflict with those at the international level. That is to say, they are inconsistent with customs and practices in the global realm. In Sierra Leone, according to The Children and Young Persons Act (Cap 44), Laws of Sierra Leone 1960, a child is defined as a person under the age of 14; s.2 of Cap 31 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Children Act defines a child as a person under the age of 16, whilst under customary law, the age of a child is not fixed and varies depending on the purpose for which it is considered and from one ethnic group to another. A juvenile according to Cap 44 of the Laws of Sierra Leone 1960 includes ‘children’ and ‘young persons’. The Act further defines a young person as a person who is fourteen years of age or upwards and under the age of seventeen years. The age of majority under the common law is 21 years. Under s.31 of the 1991 Constitution of Sierra Leone, a citizen who is18 years old and above has voting rights; meaning such persons can reason well in terms of decision-making. Criminal responsibility, however, starts at the age of 10.

The above state of affairs creates a high degree of confusion and uncertainty, as there are multiple definitions in various pieces of legislation as to the age below which one is legally considered a child. It has been noted that this state of affairs affects children at both civil and criminal levels due to the lack of clarity as to whether they are entitled to protection as children or to be treated as adults. Under the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice, a juvenile is defined as a young person under the age of 18 whose treatment for an offence is different from adults. This definition, which is consistent with the definition of a child under Art.1 of the Convention of the Rights of the Child ( CRC), clearly contradicts various definitions of a child under Sierra Leonean law.

Sexual Violence and Cruelty

Violence against children constitutes a crime under the general law and applies to all persons, irrespective of age. There are specific laws prohibiting cruel treatment and violence against children. Under the Prevention of Cruelty to Children Act (Cap 31 of the Laws of Sierra Leone, 1960), it is a crime for someone to commit acts of cruelty including sexual and other related offences against a child and such crime is punishable either by imprisonment or by paying a fine . It also includes people that are in custody of a child and “willfully assaults, ill-treats, neglects, abandons or exposes such a child or causes or procures such a child to be assaulted, ill-treated, neglected, abandoned or exposed, in a manner likely to cause such a child unnecessary suffering or injury to health (including injury to or loss of sight, hearing, limb or organ of body and any mental derangement)…”. There is no provision for the protection of children under customary law as the rights of the child are being violated.

Unlawful Carnal knowledge

Unlawful carnal knowledge is a criminal offence punishable under sec. 6 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Children Act, for a period not exceeding two years if committed against any girl below 13 years of age. Also sec. 9 of the said Act includes indecent assault and attempted carnal knowledge against children less than 14 years having the same punishment. On the other hand, rape of a person over the age of 16 is considered a felony and carries a maximum sentence of fifteen years. The deficiency here is that perpetrators who rape children under the age of 14 are only liable to two years of imprisonment whilst those who rape children over 16 are jailed for fifteen years. This certainly trivializes the prosecution of sexual crimes thus leaving children unprotected from sexual offences.

Adoption Law

Adoption takes place under both general law and customary law. However, the Adoption Act 1989 does not recognize adoptions being carried out under customary law which governs the majority of the people in Sierra Leone. Customary law is equally vague and unclear with regard to the fostering and guardianship of children. In other words, there are no defined guidelines regulating the relationship between the adopted child and the foster parents. The problem here is that when neither rights are allocated to the adopted child or responsibilities to the foster parents, there is the propensity for the rights of the adopted child to be grossly abused since there are no binding rules regulating the conduct of both the adopted child and those of the foster parents.

Early Marriages

There are 4 types of marriages in Sierra Leone, namely; Islamic, Christian, civil and customary law marriages. Under customary law, there is no minimum age of marriage applicable throughout Sierra Leone. Under Islamic and customary law, a girl below the age of 10 can be given for marriage given their levels of maturity. It is confirmed from studies that because of this early marriages, negative impacts are cited in their full developments as regards their education, economic autonomy, physical and physiological health. Most adolescents who marry young begin childbirth at a very early age. This normally leads to high maternal and infant mortality. Thus early marriage is an abuse of the right of the girl child which practice is detrimental to the development of the young girl.

Child Labour

According to Caps.212 of the Employees and Employers Act of the Laws of Sierra Leone 1960, the minimum age of employment of children is 12 years and above, except in the case where they are approved by an authority as a member of the family. Even when they are permitted, their hours of work are strictly laid down. Also, the Act prohibits the employment of street traders under the age of 18 at night. These laws, however, are hardly enforced given the commonness of children engaged in street trading and mining. In Freetown and other big towns in the provinces, a good number of children below the age of 12 are usually seen roaming the streets and hawking commodities in the name of petty trading whilst others are employed as shop attendants.   In Kono and other diamond mining areas, some are employed in gangs to mine diamonds. This practice is in clear breach of the Employees and Employers Act of Sierra Leone.

Inheritance Law

Under customary law children are entitled to one third of their father’s estate when he dies intestate. On the contrary, however, they are not entitled to their mother’s property upon her death since everything goes to the husband. If a child is born illegitimate, such a child is not entitled to any property of the father. That is to say, such a child is not recognized according to law to be the child of the deceased. This greatly affects the child’s psychological and physical well-being; on the one hand, the child is estranged from other members of the father’s family and on the other, if the mother is not financially strong enough to take care, such child may drop out of school.

Recommendations

Laws and customs in Sierra Leone are in urgent need of reform as in many instances; they are archaic, inconsistent and fall short of international standards. As I write, Parliament is still debating the Child Welfare Bill. SLCMP is urging Parliament to speedily enact into law the proposed Bill. Since children are the most vulnerable group in every society, all possible measures must be taken to protect and promote their rights, as they are the leaders of tomorrow. To this end therefore, it is important to approve these laws in order to drastically reduce child rights violations.

Finally, the Government must see the protection of children’s rights as a moral as well as a contractual obligation. It should therefore ensure that it is committed to whatever international treaty it signs and not just paying lip service to it.