Welcome to the 57th edition of The Monitor, the final edition for 2011. It’s been an eventful year, and we are proud as a Centre to have been able to accomplish a number of good projects. For this, we would like to thank all our funding partners, including TROCAIRE, the Fund for Global Human Rights, The Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), ENCISS, and TIRI, for their technical and financial support. We would also like to thank our numerous civil society partners who have stood by us throughout this year – your moral and technical support has been extremely invaluable. We cannot thank you enough! As a new year approaches, we sincerely hope that the positive relationship we have had with all of you will only get better.
On our part, we’re always looking for ways to improve on the quality of our programmes, as well as introducing ways of doing more with less. So, we’re planning on undertaking a number of new, exciting projects in 2012. Of course, the 2012 elections will undoubtedly take centre stage for most organizations. We will be also involved, even if, in a slightly different way. We also hope to scale up our activities across the country. In particular, we hope to undertake more advocacy campaigns relating to enhancing access to justice for the vast majority of the country’s population, promoting legislative and legal reforms, full implementation of the laws, combating domestic violence, etc.
In 2012, we published a lot articles and press releases relating to justice, accountability, rule of law, gender and children’s rights, among others. While we applaud some state institutions for responding to some of those concerns, it is important to underscore the point that several challenges still confront many state institutions, particularly the justice and law enforcement sectors. In this edition, therefore, we will summarize some of the positive stories arising from our efforts, the persisting challenges, as well as areas where the Sierra Leone Government needs to scale up its efforts.
First off, we would like to commend the Sierra Leone Parliament and the Justice Ministry for passing a new Local Courts Act [2011]. The Act, even if not perfect, addresses a number of concerns we had previously expressed about the 1963 Local Courts Act. We think it represents a critical step forward in promoting justice at the informal level. We urge the government, particularly the Chief Justice, to ensure that the law is fully implemented. This requires public education programmes about the law, training of law enforcement and justice officers, and assessing the performance of court officials on a periodic basis. As an organization, we will continue monitoring the implementation of law, as well as undertaking public education programmes on the new law. We also commend the judiciary for setting aside separate days, particularly in Freetown and Bo, to adjudicate juvenile cases.
We also applaud the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) for its strong efforts at combating corruption in the country. It’s a daunting task, we must admit, but Sierra Leoneans and the ACC cannot afford to blink. The pandemic requires sustained and total commitment from all. Even so, the ACC has the statutory responsibility to take the lead, and we can’t expect any less from the institution. As we have noted throughout the course of the year, the ACC and the Sierra Leone Judiciary need to scale up efforts at disposing of corruption-related cases, particularly those at the appeal stage, in a fair and expeditious manner. We also urge the Commission to regularly update the public on the NASSIT ferry case, which by all indications; will never be brought before a court. Even so, CARL believes that the Commission has done a bad job of not regularly updating the public on whether the persons involved in the out-of-court settlement are complying with the terms of the deal. They have a responsibility to do so, and the people of Sierra Leone deserve no less. In the 2011 Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index, Sierra Leone is ranked 134 as a highly corrupt country. This means that Sierra Leone is as corrupt as world notorious corrupt countries like Pakistan, Niger, Nicaragua, Maldives, Lebanon, Guyana, Eretria and Cameroon that are also ranked 134. It also means that over the past year, the country didn’t make any progress in terms of its corruption ranking as it was ranked the same as last year (134). Even though Sierra Leone’s CPI score tiptoed from 2.4 (2010) to 2.5 (2011), the overall ranking sends a strong message to the people of Sierra Leone, and the Anti-Corruption Commission in particular, to step up efforts at combating corruption. We commend the ACC’s public education efforts, but we believe that the most efficient way of combating corruption is through a strong cooperation between the Commission and the public on the one hand, and an ever present sense of responsibility on the part of the judiciary to do the right thing – adjudicate corruption-related cases in a speedy and fair manner.
CARL regrets to state that Sierra Leone is losing its fight against sexual and gender-based violence. Hardly a day passes by without incidents of rape (sometimes of girls below the age of ten), wife battering, discrimination against women and girls, female genital mutilation of girls below the age of 18, among others. It had been hoped that passing laws that criminalize these practices would deter perpetrators. It has, unfortunately, not been the case. Despite the passage of the three gender laws in 2007, incidents of gender and sexual-based violence have not gone down. In fact, they seem to be going up. While there are many reasons for this, CARL believes that addressing the problem requires massive public education programmes as well as tougher stance against offenders by law enforcement and justice officers. In the coming year, justice and law enforcement institutions will need to pay a lot more attention to these issues. Without doubt, addressing these challenges requires total community participation, but effective and timely enforcement of the laws can serve as deterrence. Traditional leaders and police officers have no reason to enable out-of-court settlements for sexual-based violence. Rape and wife battering are criminal, and must be punished, wherever they occur. Out-of-court settlements only fuel impunity, which in turn encourages illegality. It’s about time we changed our approach to dealing with gender and sexual based crimes.
CARL also notes, with dissatisfaction, that in spite of strong efforts from the government and its international partners to strengthen the justice system’s capacity to respond to the needs of the public, most Sierra Leoneans still face serious challenges in terms of accessing justice. Apart from the undue delays that still characterize trials, there are very few lawyers and members of the bench in the provinces. Additionally, there are issues with physical access to justice as many litigants are still required to travel long distances to attend court. The terrible state of the country’s feeder roads only makes it more difficult for commuters. To address this, the Sierra Leone government would need to train and assign Magistrates, Justices of the Peace, paralegals, and other court personnel across the country. It will also need to build additional court facilities to respond to the ever growing needs of litigants.
Once again, CARL believes that Sierra Leone has got no reason to have the death penalty clause on its statute books. We urge President Koroma to back up his stated Commitment to promoting human rights by working with legal and legislative bodies to repeal death penalty. It’s a cruel form of punishment that does not belong to this century. We have to bring our laws in line with the civility of the 21st century.
CARL-SL wishes to applaud the government and its international partners for sustaining the free health care scheme for mothers and infants. Without doubt, it has helped save thousands of lives. We urge the government to not only continue supporting the scheme, but to also improve the country’s health care system in a way that would make it more effective and efficient in responding to the needs of the vast majority of the population. Sierra Leone’s development aspiration cannot be achieved in vacuum. It requires a healthy a highly spirited working force – a sound mind in a sound body!
Furthermore, while CARL believes that considerable improvements have been made in terms of promoting civil and political rights in the country, CARL notes, with disappointment, that the country has generally failed in creating the space for citizens to achieve their social and economic aspirations. Sierra Leone’s poverty levels are frightening. While there will always be poor people, there are no excuses for failing to undertake credible and realistic programmes to ameliorate the plight of millions of poor people in the country. As the country continues to rebuild its social and economic infrastructure, we urge the government to pay an especial focus on reviewing the country’s labour laws with the view to increasing the minimum wage/salary for workers. Efforts must also be made to create employment opportunities for all, particularly the youth, by strengthening the private sector and promoting local production. In the last 12 months, CARL-SL published over fifty articles in its monthly newsletter. Below, we have reproduced eight of those articles that carry messages which CARL believes the government, civil society and international organizations will need to focus on in the coming year.
We wish you all a happy Christmas and a prosperous new year!
Last Updated on Tuesday, 27 March 2012 22:43
