Monday June 11,
2012
- As the APC party police, the OSD continues its
murderous campaign against Sierra Leoneans, not a word
from President Koroma on the rising number of people
killed by the police nor the mysterious deaths happening
right under the nose of state authorities in Freetown.  One morning, during the rule of Siaka Stevens, reporters were hurriedly called to State House for an unplanned meeting between the Head of State and the press with many members of the Fourth Estate, guessing and second-guessing just what was about to be sprung on them. Another coup plot discovered/uncovered? It was not the discovery or uncovering of a coup plot. Siaka Stevens had called in the press to tell them of his concern and the press could see the worry lines on the face of the President, to tell them of the murder of one Pa King of the Travellers Inn - an outlet that served as a somewhat cheap motel for visitors to Freetown, mainly from other parts of the country for a brief stay. A clearly perturbed Siaka Stevens told the press that he found it unacceptable that a man could no longer feel safe in his own home and was particularly disturbed at the way Pa King was dispatched to meet with his Maker. The poor man was strangled with his own bath towel. It later emerged during the trial that Pa King's assailants were robbers who had been surprised by the old man after he went to investigate some strange sounds - these men were on a mission to do harm and steal the suitcase of a perceived diamond dealer who had come to town for the purpose of selling his precious stones. What the robbers and potential killers did not know was that their quarry was not even staying at the place. The ring leaders were executed by hanging after the courts confirmed their sentences. We have to recount this incident to remind President Ernest Bai Koroma that he has a duty to the people of Sierra Leone and that as the democratically-elected President, one of his key duties is the protection of the life and property of not only Sierra Leoneans, but all who dwell within the borders of Sierra Leone. And that is why we find it alarming that despite the spate of murders by the police, he has refused to make any statement expressing alarm nor one that assures citizens that the government he leads cares. When Musu Conteh was murdered by OSD personnel in Bumbuna, all he did was to hurriedly put together a team of his cronies to visit and try to smother the protests of workers whose right to protest were met with volley after volley of automatic rifle fire by a police force that appears to have been assured by the President that as long as they carry arms to wipe out people believed to give the government a bad name, they would not be prosecuted for these clearly extra-judicial instances of death-dealing. What President Koroma did was to visit the area later for a photo shoot opportunity with the owners/operators of the mining concern with a view, we believe, of reassuring them that as long as he, Ernest Bai Koroma PhD galore was in power, they had nothing to fear from Sierra Leoneans protesting against working conditions. (The recently re-armed OSD would be there to kill and maim all those who dared to protest - a right enshrined in the Constitution). Despite calls made by the NGO, Natural Resource Governance and Economic Justice for a proper investigation into the matter, nothing concrete has so far emerged from State House that would assure Sierra Leoneans that they are not hostages to the whims and caprices of Ernest Bai Koroma and his so-called investors. The organisation noted in a press statement
And then very recently
the OSD, (the APC party's armed wing cloaked under the
guise of a national police force) killed two youths in
the east of the capital not a word, no expression of
remorse of any sort came from Ernest Bai Koroma whose
attitude towards murder by the OSD has given the
impression that what obtains now in Sierra Leone is what
obtained under the "Kill Man No Law" of rebels who laid
waste vast tracts of Sierra Leone territory murdering,
raping and looting at will. We had reported previously on the UN Security Council's warning to the government over the use of disproportionate force in the handling of matters relating to unarmed civilians and others in confrontation with the law over rights and other issues - more so after the unearthing of a clandestine move to arm the OSD police with military-type war weapons. Again we refer to the brutal murder of retired Senior Police Conteh who, together with his wife, came to Freetown to await the outcome of a court case over a land dispute. The man and his wife scheduled to travel back to the United States after the judgement, were attacked in their own home murdered in cold blood and their house razed to the ground. Not a squeak was heard from the police, nor from State House giving the impression to criminals and wrong-doers that under his watch such wanton display of extra-judicial killings/murders were alright as long as victims were not members of his immediate family or "business associates". The US government human rights report of 2011 on Sierra Leone has noted that even in that year there were recorded cases of such abuses and murders
The 2011 report noted this anomaly in trial procedures
The law provides
for a fair trial; however, in practice,
the lack of judicial officers and
facilities regularly resulted in
repeated long delays. Some cases were
reportedly adjourned 40 to 60 times.
Trials are public, and the accused have
a limited right to a trial by jury in
the magistrate courts. Juries were drawn
from a list maintained by the master and
registrar of active and retired civil
servants and youth groups; however, the
attorney general frequently exercised
his power to determine that cases be
heard by a judge alone. Defendants
generally enjoyed a presumption of
innocence. While defendants have the
right to be present and to consult with
an attorney in a timely manner, access
to counsel often was delayed. The law
provides for attorneys at public expense
if defendants could not afford their
own; however, state-appointed attorneys
often were overburdened and poorly paid,
and indigent detainees usually did not
receive legal advice prior to trial.
Defendants can confront or question
witnesses against them, present
witnesses and evidence on their own
behalf, and access government-held
evidence relevant to their cases. Police
officers, many of whom had little or no
formal legal training, prosecuted a
majority of cases on the magistrate
level. Although the law provides
defendants with the right to appeal,
delays in the appeals process were
excessive, sometimes lasting more than
two years. Government's deliberate failure to act on the recommendations of the Shears-Moses report also came under the spotlight with these observations. The Shear-Moses commission of inquiry on the riots submitted its report to the government in 2009, in which it was critical of the ruling party and recommended disciplinary action, including dismissal from office, for several senior government officials. However, by year’s end the government, in violation of the law, had not yet publicly released the report and took no action on those recommendations. Musa Tarawallie the politician whose fingers could be found in all allegations of violent conduct using state resources against perceived and actual members of the opposition remains in control of the police as Interior minister even though the Shears-Moses report recommended that he should be relieved of such duties. One of the President's bodyguards, a man alleged to have played a key part in the violent assault on the headquarters of the opposition SLPP in Freetown during which allegations of rape emerged was recommended for the sack. This government which has not blinked an eyelid in arraigning members of the opposition including a sitting opposition MP is reported to have told enquirers that it had no authority to sack/investigate a man who was also a part of the horde of killers that invaded Freetown and directly or indirectly caused the deaths of more than five thousand civilians. Idrissa Kamara aka Leatherboot still enjoys the protection of President Koroma.
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