1st Floor, 28 Charlotte Street Freetown 2 Kolleh Lane Cape Palmers Port Loko, 1 Paradise Lane Salina Section Bo. Sierra Leone +232 33 647456 +76619910 E-mail: [email protected]/sfdi-sl.org 23rd June 2014. Francis Munu Inspector General of Sierra Leone Police George Street Freetown Dear Sir, RE: SLP CONTINUES TO VIOLATE CONSTITUTIONALLY GUARANTEED RIGHTS On behalf of the Police Accountability Consortium (PAC) pioneered and coordinated by the Society for Democratic Initiatives (SDI), I write to bring to your attention a matter of great concern. PAC was established in 2012 to support the professionalism and respect for human rights by the Sierra Leone Police force. Similarly, SDI has been committed to ensuring accountability in governance, advocating for the promotion and protection of peoples rights. As such, we are compelled by our missions to make this urgent correspondence. In the past few months, we have noticed what appears to be a growing and disturbing trend of the unlawful detention of suspects by the Sierra Leone Police. You may recall that section 17(3) of the 1991 Constitution states: Any person who is arrested or detained in such a case... and who is not released shall be brought before a court of law a) within ten days from the date of arrest in cases of capital offences, offences carrying life imprisonment and economic and environmental offences; and b) within seventy-two hours of his arrest in cases of other offences; and if any person arrested or detained in such a case... is not tried within the periods specified in paragraph (a) or (b) of this section, as the case may be, then without prejudice to any further proceedings which may be brought against him he shall be released either unconditionally or upon reasonable conditions, including in particular, such conditions as are reasonably necessary to ensure that he appears at a later date for trial or proceedings preliminary to trial. When a suspect is detained beyond the allowable time or is not granted an opportunity to request bail, it amounts to a blatant violation of their constitutionally guaranteed rights. This fact cannot be disputed. Mr. Inspector General, even a single instance of an infringement on a persons rights should not be ignored, but may be seen as an isolated incident. However, the high frequency of these types of violations and the subsequent impunity of the responsible parties does not allow us to turn a blind eye on this injustice. Prime examples of the abuse of power exhibited by SLP are the cases of Alie Sumah who was detained for fifteen days, Jonathan Leigh and Bai Bai Sesay (17 days), Mustapha Sannoh and others (14 days), David Farley Keili (16 days), Alhassan Kamara (nine days), and Mohamed Turay (13 days). These gentlemen were detained beyond the allowable time and denied bail. Moreover, in spite of the filing of habeas applications to the judiciary, their cases were never assigned to judges for trial. This is yet another violation of their constitutional rights by the Chief Justices Office. These are only six cases of what we know are many more. We cannot condone or stand indifferent to disregard of the rule of law by the police, whose vey mandate is to protect and uphold this essential tenet of democracy. As Inspector General of the Sierra Leone Police, we implore you to look into what is becoming an alarming habit. SLPs recent behavior brings to question the professionalism and justifiable authority given to the police. Citizens should not have to live in fear of the very body designated to protect them. It is imperative that you take the necessary steps to ensure that the police force in this country maintains respect for the laws of the land and lives up to the sacred responsibility entrusted to them. We thank you for your attention and continued cooperation. Mr. Inspector General, we have every confidence that you will address this issue and restore integrity to and faith in the SLP. The Police Accountability Consortium and SDI remain ready to support your efforts to guarantee that the rights of Sierra Leoneans are protected. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at +232 76 657456 or measdrb@gmail. Sincerely, Emmanuel Saffa Abdulai Executive Director, Society for Democratic Initiatives
Posted on: Fri, 27 Jun 2014 08:40:21 +0000
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