=HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES= Human Rights Commission: We Need More Than Reports! It is true that the Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone was set up to expressly monitor , record and make recommendations on human rights issues in the country. Equally true, is that since the HRCSL came into existence, they have more or less been heard more than seen. What we mean here is that the HRCSL would only make statements AFTER a human rights abuse would have taken place and not BEFORE; though we do not expect the HRCSL to be clairvoyant! However, the fact remains that even though the HRCSL has achieved quite a lot in recent time by way of adjudicating between disputing parties and intervened in other areas where Police were accused of using arbitrary powers to arrest, detain and even shoot-to-kill innocent people. This, we can commend the HRCSL for! On the other hand however, we are of the opinion that much more can be achieved by the HRCSL if they are really allowed a free hand in collating human rights abuses in the country. Even we as journalists can catalogue a good number of human rights abuses in homes, offices including government offices, the police, military, schools, hospitals and almost everywhere where humans convene or interact. However, we shall restrict ourselves to informing the HRCSL that there are so many human rights abuses taking place right in front of their eyes on a daily basis which they must address. To merely say: “We are proud that we have maintained the pass mark, and have given the Human Rights Commission the space to operate to the extent that it has attained an ‘A’ status in its activities, and Sierra Leone has now gained membership at the United Nations Human Rights Council,” is just not good enough. To say further that: “The Report catalogues the activities undertaken by the Commission in the protection and promotion of human rights of all in Sierra Leone in 2012, as well as the ways in which fundamental rights and freedoms in the Constitution and in the international and regional agreements to which Sierra Leone is a party, were observed or violated in the year under review…and that , "The general human rights situation in the country in 2012 was satisfactory, considering that it was an election year,” is neither here nor there because nothing specific was stated! In this vein, though we commend the HRCSL for their report, we also wish to highlight the fact that we expect the Commission to be robust in addressing human rights issues promptly and without fear or favor, taking into account that we have had a number of human rights abuses perpetrated by Police and Military officers on innocent civilians and nothing came out of it! We also advice the Commission, that we are of the opinion, that there more areas in which human rights abuses are taking place on a daily basis, but which remain hidden and unknown. These areas must be identified and the culprits weeded out and punished to serve as a deterrent to others. Another malignant human abuse area is the one dealing with rape. It is no secret that many a rape victim have been left to feel as if they were the ones who committed a crime, even though, they were the ones whose innocence was violated. All in all, the HRCSL though doing well, can and must do more!
Posted on: Wed, 21 Aug 2013 05:40:41 +0000
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