Sierra Leone

Human rights defenders in Sierra Leone face great difficulties in the course of their work including threats, acts of intimidation, unfair dismissal or loss of earnings, beatings, judicial harassment, arbitrary arrest, ill-treatment, torture and killings.

As awareness of human rights in Sierra Leone is still relatively low, the role which human rights defenders play in the development of this awareness and provision of basic human rights education is critical. In “Front Line Sierra Leone: Murders, Death Threats and Other Forms of Intimidation of Human Rights Defenders, 1997 – 2002”, human rights defenders are described as including “Journalists, a group of individuals, civil rights activists, lawyers, community groups, religious groups or leaders, human rights NGOs as well as welfare workers”. They are often faced with impediments to their work which may manifest themselves in the form of obstacles of a practical nature such as the lack of resources and equipment or may come in the form of repressive Government policies. The Public Order Act 1965 has a particularly negative significance for human rights defenders as it is used to restrict them and prevent them from carrying out their work by legislating for criminal libel and restricting the freedom of movement of individuals.