Embassy and Permanent Mission of Sierra Leone
Geneva, Switzerland
Human Rights Council
Universal Periodic Review
03 – 14 May 2021
38th Session of the UPR Working Group Session
Wednesday, 12 May 2021, 14:30 – 18:00
Proposed comments and answers by Sierra Leone
Delivered by: H. E. Ambassador Dr. Lansana Gberie
Madame Vice President,
It is my privilege to provide the Government of Sierra Leone’s response to the following thematic issues.
Socio-economic livelihood
Sierra Leone is firmly committed to a comprehensive approach to Sustainable Development Goals. We believe that a successful implementation of the SDGs must directly address human rights issues in the broadest sense, including the right to education and development. The Ministry of Planning and Economic Development is our focal point for the implementation of the SDGs. This ministry coordinates the SDG’s implementation across all government ministries, departments and agencies. It also leads the Government of Sierra Leone’s work on the Voluntary National Review (VNR) on the SDGs and participated in the 2nd VNR organised by the United Nations High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development.
To address the perennial problem of equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water, as well as ensure proper sanitation and hygiene, in order to achieve SDG6 and Cluster 3 of our Medium-Term National Development Plan 2019-2023, our Parliament passed three Acts of Parliament in 2017, namely: the Sierra Leone Water Company Act; the National Water Resources Management Agency Act; and the Guma Valley Water Company Act. There are still challenges – development is a work in progress – but important strides have been made since then.
Repeal of the Criminal Libel Laws and establishment of the Independent Media Commission Act
Last year, Sierra Leone registered an important milestone with respect to opening up space for the full enjoyment by all citizens of their freedom of expression and the development of a vibrant, free and independent media by repealing a 55-year-old criminal libel law. I am speaking as a former media practitioner myself who had endured the pernicious effects of that notorious law on press freedom for many years. It was a capricious law that gave political leaders the power to silence their critics or opponents. Those who refused to conform or who were awkward enough to challenge authority could be jailed.
In both our 1st and 2nd UPR reviews, Sierra Leone noted the recommendations to abolish this law. However, it was only in October 2010, that our Government, acting upon our manifesto commitment in 2018, took the decisive step of expunging what was a tool for silencing legitimate political dissent and criticism from our laws. As a direct result, all extant criminal libel cases in court were dismissed, including those against members of opposition parties and media practitioners.
Sierra Leone has become a more open, plural, tolerant, and transparent society as a result of that audacious action by our Government. The Sierra Leone Association of Journalists praised this repeal with the immensely agreeable statement that “Our beloved country has now joined the enviable community of progressive nations where free and responsible speech is guaranteed and protected by law. This is a huge milestone for freedom of expression and democracy in Sierra Leone.”
Political demonstrations and public disorder
Sierra Leone, like all open societies, is occasionally vulnerable to public disturbances in the form of political demonstrations that sometimes lead to violence. In recent years, such violent disturbances have occurred in our capital, Freetown, in Makeni, Lunsar, and Tombo. The Government deeply regrets that some of these disturbances have led to deaths, injuries, and to the destruction of public and private property. Various bodies, including the Sierra Leone Police and the National Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone, have investigated these cases and prosecutions are currently ongoing in the law courts.
But we do not limit our response to a law-and-order approach. We are deeply aware that as a very diverse society, political undercurrents drive some of these disturbances. This is why the Government is setting up an Independent Commission on Peace and National Cohesion. The Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation who has been leading this effort will address this Commission in more detail.
The Cybercrime Bill
My delegation is aware of concerns about the Cybercrime Bill that the Government introduced in Parliament a few months ago. There is nothing in the bill that can be used to stifle freedom of expression or the media. The Government has already taken the bold step to repeal the seditious libel law, which had been used with to great effect by successive Governments for 55 years. The Government commits that it will not pass any covert and uncertain mechanism to pursue the same ends that the libel laws were used for.
Sierra Leone embarked upon a wide-ranging consultation with our regional and development partners, many of them great champions of freedom of expression, to draft this bill. Fairly representative of the provisions in the bill is Section 38, which bans child pornography and online pedophilia. You will agree with me that such provisions are a different sort of restriction on “freedom of speech and expression” than that envisaged by the UN Charter of Human Rights. The Government is currently engaged in public awareness and education campaigns focused on this bill to dispel all misapprehensions and avoid unnecessary tensions.
Police Use of Force
Sierra Leone welcomes the comments by the UN Country Team that the security sector and local security mechanism have improved greatly over the years. We regret some of the highlighted instances of what appeared to be promiscuous use of force by certain officers, particularly during the implementation of the policy of military aid to civil authorities. Errant officers will be investigated and punished if convicted, and more intensive training of the police is planned.
Anti-Corruption Efforts
Sierra Leone strongly believes that the misuse of public funds, poor governance, and corruption impair the Government’s ability to provide services for its people and severely erodes the legitimacy of state institutions and processes. This is the main reason why the Government established three independent commissions of inquiry in 2018 to investigate widespread alleged graft by officials of the past administration. Due process of the law was strictly followed in the setting up of the commissions, which were led by distinguished jurists, two of them non-nationals of Sierra Leone. The Government has since published its White Paper to give effect to the recommendations of the Commissions, with a focus on the restitution of stolen or looted wealth rather than punitive criminal actions. The affected individuals have been granted the rights to appeal the commissions’ findings at the Court of Appeal of Sierra Leone. The commissions are a useful tool to ensure the accountability of public officials and end the culture of impunity with respect to the misuse of public funds, which can seriously prevent the enjoyment of fundamental human rights.
Madam Vice President,
I now invite the Honourable Minister of Gender and Children’s Affairs, Madam Manty TARAWALLI, to provide further responses on behalf of the Government of Sierra Leone.
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