by ibakarr | Jun 12, 2014 | Blog
In August 2013, the Sierra Leone Police arrested 18 personnel of the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF) on suspicion that they were planning mutiny against the Government of Sierra Leone.
The personnel, including Private Momoh Kargbo, Warrant Officer Frederick Johnson, Private Abdulai Coker Suma, Corporal Momoh Conteh, Private Alpha Mansaray, Corporal Alex Jibao Koroma, Private Mustapha Quee, Private Kellie Kamara, Private Musa Fabai, Private Bobor Rogers, and Captain Prince Sesay were detained for nearly eight months (August 10 2013 to March 2014) without arraigning them before a court to respond to any allegations against them.
Human rights groups, including the Centre for Accountability and Rule of Law (CARL) criticized the government for violating the rights of the detainees (detaining them beyond the constitutionally-mandated period of 10 days without arraigning them). The Justice Ministry gave a number of excuses for the delay in commencing their trial, including the lack of resources to fund the judicial process. CARL described the prolonged detention of the personnel as a breach of their constitutionally guaranteed rights, and urged the state to either ensure their speedy trials or release them without delay. Consequently, in March 2014, the government announced the establishment of a court martial to try 14 of the 18 personnel who had been arrested. In the absence of information regarding the whereabouts of the others, CARL pressed the government to provide more information on the four others. In April 2014, the government decided to release the four personnel.
In May, CARL released a report chronicling a number of human rights and fair trial rights issues relating to the ongoing matter. In the report, CARL drew the attention of the government to a number of violations which the accused had suffered, and the need to respect their rights as accused persons going forward.
CARL urged the government to seriously consider a compensation package for the 18 military personnel who were illegally detained, and ensure that four soldiers who were later released are reinstated in the army. CARL characterized the detention as illegal because contrary to a constitutional provision requiring the suspects to have been brought before a judge within ten days, the state failed to arraign them and in fact kept them in custody for eight months.
Consistent with the cardinal principle of presumption of innocence in common law systems, CARL urged the tribunal allow the accused to have access to their bank accounts as they were not facing charges for financial or economic crimes. CARL also pointed out that the accused are family heads and needed to take care of their children.
In light of the excessively lengthy period it had taken for the state to set up the tribunal, CARL was disappointed that the tribunal was pretty much in a stop-start mode as defence lawyers were frequently boycotting proceedings for lack of pay. CARL urged the government to honour its obligation by paying the salaries of lawyers, while at the same time urging the tribunal to ensure expeditious and fair trial. Finally, CARL opined that by dismissing an objection to his qualification and competence to preside over the proceedings, the Judge Advocate may have breached a principle of natural justice – by being a judge in his own court.
Since the report was released, a number of commendable steps have been taken by the state to respond to the issues. First, a couple of days after the report was released; the State paid the fees owed the defence team. In addition, after several previous attempts, the defence team finally succeeded in their application for the accused to have access to their bank accounts.
A few days after the report was handed down, the Judge Advocate did mention during one of the sessions that in light of the huge public interest in the matter, he would no longer entertain unnecessary delays in the proceedings. He urged everyone to be efficient.
CARL will continue to monitor the proceedings and produce regular updates.
by ibakarr | Apr 1, 2014 | Blog
The Bo Remand Home situated within the Benemix Community is intended to house juveniles who come in conflict with the Law and are on remand awaiting commencement of trials, during trials and while serving their punitive term of detention. According to the Remand Home Ordinance, in-mates should not exceed six months on remand; they should be bailed, released or committed, except for offenders kept for felonious offences. Sentenced male and female offenders serve their terms here too as facilities exist to house them.
While the Child Rights Act requires Remand Homes to provide rehabilitation for in-mates as their primary focus, such facilities as schooling, literacy classes and skills training facilities are entirely lacking here, much as provisions for recreational activities (football, checkers, Ludo and physical exercises) are, added to their lack of medical attention, water supply and foam mattresses.
At the time of interview the remand home in Bo had 13 in-mates (all males) 2 serving sentences and 11 on remand. Female in-mates are said to be seldom brought in, the latest having been brought in between December and January 2013. The most pronounced facility enjoyed by the boys is the three square meals of tea and bread for breakfast and rice for lunch and dinner. Little wonder that they look comparatively good as confirmed by their female cook and the boys themselves. Two compartments (rooms) exist for sleeping, with a male and female guard dwelling by the in-mates separately. This is intended to guard them from escaping since four boys broke through the iron bared windows and escaped last December. The foam mattresses, 2 inches thick, are old, tattered and not enough for them all. So the concrete-bed structures are now abandoned as the plank crossings over them are absent; so they spread the foam on the bear floor without sheets and coverings. The facility is protected by a ten-foot high fence run over with barbed wires and there is infrequent electrical supply. There is no safe drinking water such as runs from a tap; and the only well from which water is hand-pumped is out of use, and the in-mates go out to fetch water from other neighbourhoods in the community.
The CARL/SL observer visiting this Home met the boys playing a handball game called ‘Tent’ or ‘Sox-ball’. No football, checkers, Ludo or other facilities for physical exercise exist. Worse still is the absence of formal or non-formal training facilities for the youngsters. So they are virtually condemned to confinement without going through any reform process. They leave the Remand Home traumatised, hardened and having learned nothing other than varieties of criminal skills from their in-mates, their only role models. The sad result is that they return to their communities without having learned any job skills, or continued education of any kind.
In the recent past Defence for Children International (DCI) was providing these youngsters some forms of non-formal education (Literacy Classes), and CARL/SL offering them paralegal services to assist them in their court trials. Other forms of assistance have been in the form of a set of DVD players and a medium sized deep freezer in September 2011 donated by Prison Watch, and then a portable bedroom fridge offered by the Ministry of Social Welfare Gender and Children’s Affairs (MSWGCA).
The Home has eight (8) staff members: five (5) from the MSWGCA and 3 from the government prisons department, the latter running security protection on weekly shifts. In past years only once had 3 in-mates escaped at night (last December), at a time when a part of the high walled fence had broken, but the escapees were caught not long after.
Three of the in-mates interviewed, all aged 16, were on remand for adult-like offences ranging from house breaking and larceny to assault and wounding with intent. The first among them had just graduated from serving a two years sentence in Kenema prison and within a forthright was caught in Bo city carrying a bag containing an iron bar and a knife, mazing between houses after 2:00 am. The second stabbed his fellow in a mere scuffle at Tokpoi Town Section in Bo city. A third confessed that he had a case that had been committed to the Bo High Court and for which he was standing trial. It is as if Lucifer has pronounced doom on the youth of our age!
The Remand Home is credited for its impressive separation of in-mates from adult and more seasoned criminals save for their joint cells during police investigation and detention. However, there are a number of challenges facing staff of the facility. The more urgent challenges for the MSWGCA staffs are the lack of sufficient furniture in the office for their use and for accommodating visitors, and the low salaries they are paid. The virtually broken steel bars across the windows need urgent rehabilitation to secure the unit and prevent in-mates from escaping. The Remand Home needs to have additional staff to augment the effort of the 2 prison guards that work twenty four hours and throughout the week on rotational shifts, and their salaries need to be increased.
The in-mates urgently require a rehabilitation of their concrete-walled beds, and they need to be provided with bed sheets, bed covers, plank crossings, sufficient foam mattresses, soap, buckets for bathing, drinking water, cooking spoons and more. Most importantly, there need to be provision for their formal education or non-formal skills training, to equip them and make them fit for proper re-integration into society after their remand period, and enable them to readily return to school, as provided for in the Child Rights Act. Further, transportation facilities need to be put in place to take these detainees to and from courts for their trial.
That this Home lacks the forementtioned repairs, sufficient furnishing, schooling and skills training, suggests that the MSWGCA needs to reawaken its efforts and be more proactive in improving the conditions in which juvenile detainees are kept. Holding them under such odd conditions amounts to abusing and violating their rights, as well as flouting international principles on juvenile justice, including the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice (the Beijing Rules), and the United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juvenile Deprived of their Liberty (the JDL Rules).
by ibakarr | Sep 26, 2013 | Blog
There have been increasing reports of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) lately. Hardly a day passes by without reading or hearing about alleged sexual and gender-based violence, including rape, sexual penetration and battery. There have even been some chilling reports of children as young as four being sexually abused. It is hard to put a finger on why reports of SGBV incident rising, in spite of the several efforts, including state and non-state interventions, to combat the scourge across the country.
Since 2007, a number of laws have been passed aimed at enhancing and protecting the rights of women and girls in Sierra Leone. Some of the laws include the three gender laws of 2007, which seek to protect the rights of Sierra Leonean women, combat discrimination against women, and ultimately enhance their socio-political status. The Child Rights Act, which seeks to promote the rights of children consistent with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, was also passed in 2007. Also in 2012, the Sexual Offences Act was promulgated with the view to providing increased protection for women against sexual violence as well as advance accountability for perpetrators.
To help roll out these laws, the Ministry of Social Welfare Gender and Children’s Affairs has also produced a number of blueprints for the implementation of the laws. Additionally, the Sierra Leone Government has established the Family Support Unit (FSU) to help provide the required response to domestic violence, including rape, wife battery and maintenance issues. In spite of these efforts, there are still grave concerns about the serious risks women face across all levels.
The flurry of media reports about sexual and gender-based violence, which recently prompted a protest march by some female journalists and human rights groups, can be viewed in one of two ways: either victims of rape and other forms of sexual and gender-based violence are now more willing than before to file complaints, or the reports reflect an increasing spate of sexual penetration and other sexual gender-based violence within the country.
In 2011, for example, there were 1,596 cases of sexual and gender-based violence cases reported in the Western Area; 1,273 in the Southern Province, and 967 in Bombali District, according to statistics compiled by the Family Support Unit. In 2012, there was a reported increase in incidents of sexual and gender-based violence in most parts of the country. The number of reported incidents in the Western Area amounted to 3,182; it was 1,253, in the Southern Province; 1,660 in the north, and 1,115 in the east. Although the official figures for 2013 have not been released, anecdotal reports suggest that SBBV-related incidents for 2013 will exceed the reported figures for 2011 and 2012.
While speaking at the commemoration of the Day of the African Child 2013, the Director of Children’s Affairs at the Ministry of Social Welfare said her Department had received over 100 complaints relating to sexual and gender-related cases for the month of May 2013 alone. During the strategic launch of the roll out plan for the implementation of the Sexual Offences Act organized by Campaign for Good Governance, Principal State Counsel, Monfred Sesay, said the Law Officers Department had received over 1,000 (one thousand) files relating to sexual and gender-related cases for advice on how to proffer charges.
These reports do not seem to reflect positively on the efforts of state and non-state actors to combat or reduce incidents of SGBV. If, however, the increase in complaints is as a result of the efforts by all to get victims to come out and file complaints, then it shows that those efforts are yielding positive dividends. If, on the other hand, it is a reflection of the fact that incidents of sexual and gender-based violence are on the increase, then it means that some additional efforts are required. This means that every stakeholder, including the government and NGOs, needs to sit up straight and rethink our strategies.
Some things need to happen right away:
First, the government needs to increase its funding to support gender-related initiatives. Contrariwise, only less than a percent of the 2013 national budget was allocated to the Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs. This, unfortunately, does not match up with the government’s publicly stated commitment to promoting the right of women and girls. A lot more funding is required to make sure girls are kept in school, social amenities are provided in schools, and women and girls have access to family planning and procedures.
There is also massive need to increase the number of (FSU) posts across the country, because so many violations still go unreported and unpunished. The Government needs to take the lead by not only sending the right message, but to also back up its messages with real actions, including adequate funding and training of personnel of the support services.
There is also need for Government and civil society to foster more collaborative action in order to address this problem.
Law enforcement officers have to play a key role as well. There is also need to invest in the judiciary, ensuring that there are many more Magistrates and Judges to cover the entire country. The fact that the judiciary is still running in a circuit system does not help in promoting accountability for victims of sexual and gender-based violence. Victims may feel that they are being deprived of justice, if they cannot get access to the courts when they need the services the most. Witness and victim protection mechanisms are also weak.
Sexual and gender-based violence is a national issue, and if half of our girls are not going to school or are dropping out of school because of sexual penetration and other related abuses, it could have serious implications for efforts at empowering women. The state can prevent the crisis by making sure that law enforcement officers and the justice institutions are bolstered, public information services are equipped, and additional support is provided to the Ministry of Social Welfare Gender and Children’s Affairs.
It is time to end the talking! It is time to back our words with action. The President has continuously repeated his government’s commitment to promoting the rights of women and creating a space that gives equal opportunities to girls and boys. What is needed is a strategic approach that includes scaling up funding to the Social Welfare Ministry as well as the institutions that protect the rights of boys and girls.
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