The rights of women and girls continued to be violated, although legislation outlawing early and child marriage was passed. There was at least one allegation of police brutality against a journalist, and a political opposition member was subjected to enforced disappearance. The rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression continued to be threatened. The growing use of harmful drugs and a shortage of surgeons undermined the right to health. Deforestation as a consequence of illegal mining and logging continued. The government entered an international agreement to combat overfishing.
Background
In January, former president Ernest Bai Koroma was charged with treason and other offences for his alleged involvement in a failed coup in November 2023. In August, a military court convicted and sentenced 24 soldiers to between 50 and 120 years in prison in connection with the coup attempt.
In July, the Tripartite Committee, established after the last presidential elections, presented its final report to the president, which included recommendations on improving the electoral system.
The president signed the Criminal Procedure Act, 2024 into law which replaced the Criminal Procedure Act of 1965. Activists criticized the new law for removing the requirement for juries in criminal trials.
Women’s and girls’ rights
Female genital mutilation (FGM) remained prevalent and legal: 83% of girls and women aged between 15 and 49 and at least one in 10 girls under 15 had undergone the procedure, according to the 2019 national Demographic and Health Survey. In January, three girls aged 12, 13 and 17 died after undergoing FGM in initiation ceremonies in the North West Province.
In March, the Gender-Based Survivor Incidence Report, published by NGO Rainbo Initiative, revealed that 92.7% of the 2,763 incidents it recorded in 2023 were sexual assaults; and there were 78 convictions for sexual assault cases.
In July, the president signed into law The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2024 banning early and child marriage for anyone under 18, a long-term and widespread practice. The Act provided for a prison sentence of up to 15 years for offenders or a minimum fine of SLE 50,000 (around USD 2,198) or both. Offenders include adults marrying or cohabitating with a minor and those aiding and abetting child marriage. It also provided for a person who was a child at the time of their marriage to file a petition requesting an annulment and entitled them to compensation.
Discrimination
In November, the ECOWAS Court of Justice ruled that Sierra Leone’s loitering laws violated the rights to equality, non-discrimination and freedom of movement. Under existing legislation, individuals can be arrested based on subjective police assessments, disproportionately impacting marginalized individuals including women who engage in sex work and people living in poverty.1
Enforced disappearances
On 23 March, political opponent Abubakar Boxx Konteh was forcibly disappeared for nearly three weeks. He had been arrested in Guinea in a joint operation with the Sierra Leonean authorities for his alleged involvement in the 2023 failed coup, and drug trafficking. He was subsequently released on bail.
Excessive use of force
In June, the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists condemned an assault on journalist Munya Bawoh by a police officer at Kenema police station. Police officers had accused him of trying to record an altercation between them and a group of visually impaired people. Munya Bawoh claimed he was beaten and detained for around two hours.
Freedom of expression and peaceful assembly
In March, the Campaign for Human Rights and Development International, an NGO, publicly condemned restrictions on the right to freedom of peaceful assembly. It did so after the authorities denied permission for a protest against a decision by the Ministry of Technical and Higher Education to dissolve the Court of the University of Sierra Leone.
In September, Reporters Without Borders condemned the impunity enjoyed by political figures and others suspected to be responsible for the cyber harassment of anti-corruption defender and investigative journalist Chernoh Alpha M Bah.
Right to health
There was a shortage of medical practitioners, with only 30 qualified surgeons, partly due to a lack of training and remuneration, according to the Ministry of Health and Sanitation’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer.
The rise in the use of kush, a cheap synthetic drug consisting of psychoactive addictive substances, continued to have a damaging effect on the health of significant numbers of young people. This prompted the president to declare a national emergency in April. He announced that a national task force, involving several sectors of society, would be established to address the crisis.
In May, the government launched a polio immunization programme aiming to provide free vaccinations for 1.5 million children under five years old. In December, it launched an Ebola vaccination programme, targeting 20,000 frontline workers.
Right to a healthy environment
In May, the UN published the Sierra Leone Common Country Analysis report, revealing that at least 43% of the population were exposed to land degradation in 2023, especially in rural areas, where more than 60% relied on agriculture for their income. Deforestation, including slash-and-burn agriculture practices, was the primary cause of this.
Extensive deforestation resulting from illegal mining and logging continued. Sierra Leone had one of the highest rates of deforestation worldwide, according to the Environmental Performance Index. Two news reports in July and August, highlighted the difficulties faced by rangers monitoring the Kambui forest. These included staff shortages (62 rangers for about 14,000 hectares) and the lack of protection provided to them given that illegal loggers and miners were often armed. One report also highlighted the lack of enforcement of laws, community involvement and poor government coordination as barriers to combating deforestation.
In July, the government formally accepted the World Trade Organization Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, a multigovernmental agreement seeking to prevent harmful subsidies for illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, and the depletion of fish stocks.
Also, in July a World Bank report said that Sierra Leone was among the most vulnerable countries worldwide to climate change impacts, including droughts, wildfires, extreme heat and floods.
