Sierra Leoneans React to Human Rights Report

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 FREETOWN 000322

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR AF/W, DRL, G/TIP, INR, PASS TO USAID

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM ELAB KDEM KSEP PGOV PREL SL

SUBJECT: Sierra Leoneans React to Human Rights Report


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Summary
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1. On April 13, the Parliamentary Human Rights Committee
hosted its second annual workshop on the status of human
rights in Sierra Leone and used the State Department's
Country Report on Human Rights Practices as its basis for
discussion. Human Rights Committee Chairman Dr. Alusine
Fofana used the workshop to bring attention to his human
rights agenda, which this year consists of passing laws
to implement the Convention on the Rights of the Child
(CRC) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms
of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Sierra Leone
has signed and ratified both. The forum included a more
diverse audience and more speakers than last year and
allowed a variety of people to express their opinion
about the way the U.S. Government looks at Sierra Leone's
human rights protection. Notably, discussion of female
genital mutilation (FGM) issues had changed since the
previous year's workshop in that there was more vocal
participant support for ending the practice. The most
heated discussion centered on the beating and subsequent
death of "For Di People" acting editor Harry Yansaneh and
the failure of government to prosecute his attackers,
including MP Fatmata Hassan. Sierra Leone still has a
long way to go when it comes to problematic issues such
as official impunity and recognition of people's right to
criticize their government, but the human rights workshop
provided a good platform for Sierra Leoneans to engage in
much-needed discussion on human rights protection. End
Summary.

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Bigger Audience, More Support for Human Rights
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2. On April 13, the Parliamentary Human Rights Committee
hosted its second annual workshop on the status of human
rights in Sierra Leone and used the State Department's
Country Report on Human Rights Practices as its basis for
discussion. The workshop drew a number of high-level
participants, including the Attorney General and Minister
of Justice, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament and a number
of MPs, the Ombudsman, an Assistant Inspector General of
Police, UNIOSIL's Executive Representative to the
Secretary General (ERSG),and the president of the Sierra

SIPDIS
Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ). Other attendees
included NGO representatives, journalists, and visiting
law students from the University of Pretoria's Center for
Human Rights.


3. Human Rights Committee Chairman Dr. Alusine Fofana
used the workshop to bring attention to his human rights
agenda, which this year consists of passing laws to bring
Sierra Leone into Compliance with the Convention on the
Rights of the Child (CRC) and the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
(CEDAW),both of which have been signed by the Government
of Sierra Leone and ratified by parliament. Fofana, the
driving force of the workshop and a highly regarded
member of the ruling Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP)
government, told participants that bad human rights
protection will mean bad business prospects for Sierra
Leone in the future. Fofana appealed to the Ambassador
to invite Secretary of State Rice to attend next year's
Human Rights Forum in Freetown.


3. The forum, which included a more diverse audience and
more speakers than last year, allowed a variety of people
express their opinion about the way the U.S. Government
looks at Sierra Leone's human rights protection
environment. While most participants were supportive of
the report's criticisms (especially women),others,
especially the Attorney General, expressed frustration at
what they viewed as unfair condemnation.


4. The Ambassador delivered a 20-minute speech explaining
the history, methodology, and highlights of the 2005
Country Report on Human Rights Practices for Sierra
Leone. Other speakers discussed the human rights climate
in the country more generally, but all speakers reflected

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the same concerns raised in the Human Rights Report.
Press coverage was positive - "Salone Must Improve Human
Rights!" was the headline in one local newspaper.

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Attorney General Defends Government,
Gives Hope for New Human Rights Commission
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5. Attorney General and Minister of Justice Frederick
Carew spoke frequently in defense of the Government's
actions. Making oblique reference to recent arrests of
journalists and opposition politician Charles Margai,
Carew complained that "people want to enjoy human rights
without respecting the rights of others," which, in his
mind, translates to a security problem the Government is
forced to deal with. A representative for the Minister
of Presidential Affairs echoed Carew's sentiment: "It
used to be that looking at the President funny would land
you at Pademba Road [maximum security prison]," he said.
"Now, you can say anything against the President you want
to, as long as it is productive." (Note: This comment
elicited a good laugh from the audience, although the
speaker certainly did not mean it to. End Note.)


6. On the positive side, Carew announced his hope that
the National Commission for Human Rights would be
established by the end of April. Carew described the
Commission as a body having the powers of a high court
for human rights matters, since it will have the power to
subpoena witnesses for the redress of human rights
violations. (Note: The establishment of the National
Commission for Human Rights was called for in the 1999
Lome Peace Accords, but implementation has been elusive.
Parliament passed enabling legislation in 2004, and one
of the UNIOSIL mission's human rights mandates is to get
the Commission up and running. Unfortunately, the search
committee's inability to find qualified candidates
stalled the effort to start the Commission at the end of

2005. End note.)


7. SLAJ President Ibrahim Kargbo bemoaned the media's
difficulties in accessing government information and
criticized the Government for jailing reporters for
"expressing their opinion." He was the first of many
that day to complain about the lack of progress in the
inquest into the 2005 death of Harry Yansaneh, acting
editor of "For Di People" newspaper. He was severely
beaten, allegedly on the orders of SLPP MP Fatmata
Hassan, who owned the property from which the newspaper
was being evicted, and later died. Kargbo echoed what
has become a repeated call to repeal the anti-press
provisions of the Public Order Act, which provides
criminal penalties for libel. (Note: The Attorney
General's reply? If you don't like the law, then work
with others to gain enough support to repeal it. For
this issue, the Attorney General's analysis was
reasonable. End Note.)

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Support for Women's Rights, TIP Law Enforcement
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8. Human Rights Attorney Jamesfina King spoke about the
importance of CEDAW. She called for parliament to pass
three pieces of domestic legislation that would improve
women's rights but have not yet been tabled before
Parliament: the Devolution of Estates Act, the
Registration of Customary Marriages and Divorces Act, and
the Domestic Violence Act. (Note: All of these bills
originated in the Law Reform Commission and two of them
have been forwarded to the Attorney General's office,
where they remain stuck. Since 2004, the Commission has
forwarded a total of 12 draft bills to the Attorney
General's office, only one of which had been submitted to
Parliament. End Note.)


9. Ombudsman Francis Gabbidon spoke out strongly in favor
of moving the human rights legislative agenda forward.
Gabbidon was the first speaker of the day to address the
sensitive subject of female genital mutilation (FGM),
which is still widely practiced and accepted in Sierra

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Leone. "It is time to do away with these cultural
practices," Gabbidon said. Gabbidon mentioned the 2003
Cairo Declaration for the Elimination of FGM. Sierra
Leone attended the convention, he said, but did they sign
the Declaration?" (They did.) Other African countries
are moving toward the elimination of FGM, he said, and
Sierra Leone should, too.


10. Gabbidon also took up the cause of Trafficking in
Persons. Speaking of the Anti Trafficking in Persons Act
passed in 2005, he complained that the TIP Task Force (of
which the Ombudsman is a member) has not yet convened,
even though it is called for in the legislation. The
Government, he said, should not keep the legislation
"under lock and key." It needs to be implemented. One
trafficking issue that needs to be addressed, Gabbidon
said, are Sierra Leonean girls who are forced to work as
prostitutes in Italy.

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Thanks for the Report!
Can You Add More Topics Next Year?
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11. UNIOSIL ERSG Victor Angelo thanked Ambassador Hull
for the Report. Angelo said that UNIOSIL has a strong
human rights mandate and that one of their tasks is to
develop a National Action Plan for Human Rights
protection for Sierra Leone. Angelo noted that Sierra
Leone is very good when it comes to signing and ratifying
international conventions, but not so good at
nationalizing and implementing them.


12. National Forum for Human Rights representative Alfred
Carew praised the Human Rights Report for the indicators
it provides. Carew cited the Truth and Reconciliation
Commission's final report, saying that the violation of
citizen's economic and social rights led to Sierra
Leone's 11-year civil war. Carew went on to suggest
adding other indicators in the annual reports, such as
health, education, and access to clean water, which he
also considers to be human rights.

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Afternoon Session Focuses on
Participants' Human Rights Concerns
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13. The afternoon question-and-answer session provided
participants with an opportunity to discuss their
concerns more specifically and at greater length with the
DCM and PolOff. Focus areas included security force
abuses, women's issues, civil/political rights, TIP, and
workers' rights.


14. Notably, discussion of FGM issues had changed since
the previous year's workshop in that there was more vocal
participant support for ending the practice.


15. The most heated discussion centered on the beating
and subsequent death of "For Di People" acting editor
Harry Yansaneh and the government's failure to prosecute
his attackers, including SLPP MP Fatmata Hassan.
Attorney General Carew responded to the criticism with a
series of questionable defenses: there was no blood found
on Yansaneh's clothes after the beating, he said, and an
eviction notice Hassan sent to Yansaneh had expired.
Hassan stayed in the car while the alledged attackers
went upstairs to enforce the eviction, he said. (Note:
For Di People staff claim they have pictures of Hasanyeh
wearing blood-stained clothes, and a police doctor
acknowledged when Yansaneh reported the crime that he had
sustained injuries (bruises, swollen mouth, etc.). Also,
Yansaneh's beating occurred shortly after Hassan had
posted a notice that all newspaper staff working in the
building she owns had to depart the premises by 7:15 p.m.
each day. The six-month notice eviction order in fact
had not yet expired. End Note.)

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Comment: Parliament Session Good
Platform for Human Rights Promotion

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16. It was clear at points throughout the day that Sierra
Leone still has a long way to go when it comes to
problematic issues such as official impunity and
recognition of people's right to criticize their
government, but the human rights workshop provided a good
platform for Sierra Leoneans to engage in much-needed
discussion on human rights protection. We know of no
country in the neighborhood that gives such public
attention to the U.S. Human Rights Report. We applaud
the efforts of the Parliamentary Human Rights Committee.
Linking a high-level Department visit with next year's
discussion of the Human Rights Report would give us the
chance to further leverage important human rights
progress.
STEWART