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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 
 
 
------- 
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. 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
Bigger Audience, More Support for Human Rights 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶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 
 
FREETOWN 00000322  002 OF 004 
 
 
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. 
 
------------------------------------------ 
Attorney General Defends Government, 
Gives Hope for New Human Rights Commission 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶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.) 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
Support for Women's Rights, TIP Law Enforcement 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶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 
 
FREETOWN 00000322  003 OF 004 
 
 
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. 
 
---------------------------------- 
Thanks for the Report! 
Can You Add More Topics Next Year? 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶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. 
 
----------------------------------- 
Afternoon Session Focuses on 
Participants' Human Rights Concerns 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶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.) 
 
----------------------------------- 
Comment: Parliament Session Good 
Platform for Human Rights Promotion 
 
FREETOWN 00000322  004.2 OF 004 
 
 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶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