Sierra Leone

Introduction

Reporting period:

Report author(s): Mambu S. Feika, Thomas Probert

Summary: Sierra Leone needs to amend its legislation to remove overly-permissive provisions concerning the use of firearms, and properly to resource its Independent Police Complaints Board so that it can systematically and transparently document and investigate cases of deaths following police contact.

Abstract

In 2022, at least 21 people were killed following police contact (all during a series of national protests in July). However, national systems for tracking loss of life in less high-profile cases are inadequate. There is an established Independent Police Complaints Board that is mandated to investigate and maintain records about such cases, but it is under-resourced and currently unable effectively to undertake such work. Various other bodies, including the Human Rights Commission, and ad hoc commissions of inquiry occasionally undertake investigations into specific incidents. A national NGO, prominently involved in custody monitoring across the country, has recently committed to beginning more routine documentation of instances of lethal police use of force.

Background

This report reviews the legal mandate of the Sierra Leone Police (SLP), though it is sometimes operationally joined by members of the Armed Forces. The SLP is approximately 12,500-strong (a police:public ratio of 1:560).

The SLP was first established in the late nineteenth century as an instrument of Colonial power. Prior to 1967, all the senior police cadre consisted entirely of retired and seconded British Officers. At Independence, in April 1961, the SLP was Africanised with its first Police Commissioner appointed in 1963.

It is also worth charting the development within the security establishment of a unit that is particularly violent (and unaccountable) today, which first emerged in the early 1970s as the Internal Security Unit (ISU), part of a security pact with the Government of Guinea entered after an abortive coup. It was formed initially from Guinean soldiers, trained by Cuban instructors. This became too expensive, and after a few years the cadre was replaced with Sierra Leoneans, who took on responsibility for providing security for important government buildings, and constituting the Presidential Guard. They were trained almost exclusively in shooting (developing the nickname “I Shoot U”), and their 550-strong contingent became a force within a force, resented and feared by the SLP leadership. In this way, the Internal Security Unit gradually became associated with the paramilitary wing of the ruling party, the All People’s Congress, and was routinely used to round up, interrogate, and imprison political opponents of the ruling party1. During this time they were rebranded again as the Special Security Division (SSD; also known colloquially as the Siaka Steven’s Dogs). Since the end of the civil war, up to today, the same body retains a role within law enforcement in Sierra Leone, now as the Operational Security Division (OSD).

There remains a sometimes-uneasy relationship between the SLP and the military in Sierra Leone, exemplified by the status of the OSD, and which was brought back into central focus through the events of late 2023, after which both police and prison staff found themselves under the direct command of military officers.

Global treaties

Adherence to selected global human rights treaties
1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)State party
ICCPR Optional Protocol 1State party
1984 Convention Against Torture (CAT)State party
CAT committee competent to receive individual complaints?No
CAT Optional Protocol 1Signed as state party, but not ratified

Regional treaties

Adherence to selected regional human rights treaties
1981 African Charter on Human & People's RightsState party
1998 Protocol to the African Charter on the African CourtSigned but not ratified

Section 16(2) of the Constitution (1991) allows for a number of exceptions to the general prohibition against intentional taking of life, where a person “dies as a result of the use of force to such extent as is reasonably justifiable in the circumstances of the case. That is to say – (a) for the defence of any person from unlawful violence or for the defence of property; or (b) in order to effect a lawful arrest or to prevent the escape of a person lawfully detained; or (c) for the purpose of suppressing a riot, insurrection or mutiny; or (d) in order to prevent the commission by that person of a criminal offence; or (e) if he dies as a result of a lawful act of war”.

Relevant specific national legislation

S.4(2) of the Criminal Procedure Act (1965) allows sufficient force to effect an arrest “but not more”. The exceptions within s.4(3) of the same Act create “a right to cause the death of any person […] when a constable or private person is legally attempting to arrest [them] upon a charge or treason, felony or inflicting a dangerous wound and the arrest of such person cannot otherwise be accomplished”.

S.16 of the Correctional Service Act (2014) permits the use of potentially deadly force to stop unarmed prisoners from escaping.

Relevant national regulations

There are also regulations relating to the use of force in Second Schedule of the 2001 Police (Discipline) Regulations, which make it a disciplinary offence to use “unnecessary violence to, or ill-using [sic] any person in custody” and discharging “any firearm without just cause”.

UN or other international body decisions or advisory opinions

In 2014, the UN Committee against Torture stated in its Concluding Observations that it was “highly concerned about allegations of excessive use of force, including lethal force, by police and security forces, especially when apprehending suspects and quelling demonstrations, and about the broad threshold for the use of lethal force in Section 16, Paragraph 2, of the Constitution”. It called on Sierra Leone to take “immediate and effective action to investigate promptly, effectively and impartially all allegations of excessive use of force, especially lethal force, by members of law enforcement agencies and to bring those responsible for such acts to justice and provide the victims with redress”. It also urged Sierra Leone to “make the necessary amendments in Section 16 of the Constitution and the police rules of procedure to ensure that lethal use of firearms by law enforcement officials can only be employed as a measure of last resort and if strictly unavoidable for the purpose of protecting life, in accordance with the Convention, the Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials and the Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials (1990)”.

Regional court judgments

There have been no cases decided by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights that relate to the use of force by law enforcement in Sierra Leone. Though Sierra Leone has signed the Protocol to create the African Court, it has not yet ratified it, and therefore cases against it cannot be pursued there (except, theoretically, by the Commission).

Hassan Kargbo and seven others have filed a default judgment notice at the ECOWAS Court against Sierra Leone for not responding to suit No. ECW/CCJ/APP/36/22 (a case relating to the use of force against protestors at Makeni in July 2020, first filed in 2022). At least four people were killed and a further ten injured when police and soldiers opened fire on protesters trying to block the relocation of a power-generator to another town. When protesters started throwing stones, officers started firing into the air, but while many of the protesters dispersed, some continued to throw stones and so officers started firing at the protesters. In a statement after the event the Government said it was aware of a “potential loss of life”, without providing details. It said that any attempt to undermine public peace would be met with “the fullest force of the law“2.

A hearing was held in September 2023, to which Sierra Leone did not send counsel, but the court heard arguments from counsel for the plaintiffs. Referencing General Comment No.3 of the African Commission, their counsel Oludayo Fagbemi (IHRDA) argued that by using lethal force without aiming to protect life, the Sierra Leone Police had violated the right to life. Further, by failing to conduct a meaningful investigation into the incident, the State had further (and separately) violated the right to life. Judgment in this case was expected in January 20243.

In February 2024, the ECOWAS Court found that Sierra Leone had violated the right to security of the person and the right be free from torture when police shot him in the abdomen during a peaceful student protest in Bo in March 2017, and then further violated his right to a remedy when the state failed effectively to investigate the incident or prosecute those responsible for the shooting4.

It should be noted that the same body has already found against Sierra Leone with respect to failure to investigate (in the case of Adama Vandi v Sierra Leone5. That case related to the police’s failure to investigate a rape, but as in another contemporary case against Nigeria, the Court concluded that its jurisprudence on effective investigations was in line with the Inter-American Court in Valásquez Rodríguez v Honduras.

National court judgments

Constitutional and Statutory provisions make it difficult if not impossible to bring a case against law enforcement officials in a situation where use of force is employed. Section 16(2) of the 1991 Constitution of Sierra Leone has often been understood as providing permission for the deprivation of life using force. The Sierra Leone Correctional Services Act permits officers to use such force against inmates “as is reasonably necessary in order to make the inmate obey lawful orders”6. There is no evidence of any national judgment on the use of force.

Absent decided cases, however, there have been a number of investigations by the Commission of Human Rights, and by ad hoc Commissions of Inquiry into incidents involving the use of force, which have produced recommendations, and which are discussed below.

Oversight bodies

The Independent Police Complaints Board (IPCB) was established in 2013 and became operational in 2015. The Board is mandated to investigate any death in police custody, any shooting incident where a police officer discharged a firearm, and any fatal road traffic accident involving a police vehicle, among others7.

Within the Police, a Complaint Discipline and Internal Investigations Department (CDIID) is responsible for most internal investigations of police conduct. A Memorandum of Understanding was agreed in 2019 between the IPCB and the CDIID, with a view to ensuring the referral of any relevant case (i.e., those falling within the mandate of the independent body) within 14 days8.

Policy decisions about police reforms can be made by the Police Council, a body first established under the 1964 Police Act but which had fallen into disuse and was re-established under the 1991 Constitution as part of the recommendations of the Advisory Council for transitioning back toward civilian rule. It is headed by the Vice President and the Minister of Internal Affairs, and includes other members, such as a representative of the Sierra Leone Bar Association9. However this body does not seem to be routinely apprised of questions relating to the use of force.

Within the police, there is a Professional Standards Directorate, which investigates complaints and allegations of misconduct against a member of the Force, and deals with issues around service delivery.

The Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone also has a mandate to investigate any allegation of human rights violation (whether on its own motion or in response to a complaint)10. It has produced occasional ad hoc reports into police shootings, as well as annual reports, but the annual reports do not systematically track incidents of lethal use of force. There is a strong relationship between the Human Rights Commission and broader civil society, including in the preparation of annual reports.

Part 2: Policies and Procedures

Data collection and publication by official agencies

1. Are the number of deaths following any police use of force
Collected?Partial, Medium
Accessible through existing publicly available information?Limited, Poor
Is this a legal requirement?Partial, Medium
Can such information be requested from the authorities when not publicly available?Limited, Poor
If one can request it, what is the likelihood this information would be released?Limited, Poor
2. If published, to what extent can the number of deaths be readily determined from official statistics?Partial, Medium
3. Is it possible to identify specific individuals killed in official records?No Provisions
4. Is demographic and other information for the deceased
Collected?Limited, Poor
Accessible through existing publicly available information?Limited, Poor
Is this a legal requirement?Limited, Poor
Can such information be requested from the authorities when not publicly available?Limited, Poor
If one can request it, what is the likelihood this information would be released?Limited, Poor
5. Is demographic and other information on officers in use of force incidents
Collected?Partial, Medium
Accessible through existing publicly available information?Limited, Poor
Is this a legal requirement?Limited, Poor
Can such information be requested from the authorities when not publicly available?Partial, Medium
If one can request it, what is the likelihood this information would be released?Limited, Poor
6. Is information on the circumstances
Collected?Partial, Medium
Publicly available?Partial, Medium
Is this a legal requirement?Limited, Poor
Can such information be requested from the authorities when not publicly available?Partial, Medium
If one can request it, what is the likelihood this information would be released?Partial, Medium
7. Is information about the type(s) of force used
Collected?Partial, Medium
Accessible through existing publicly available information?Limited, Poor
Is this a legal requirement?Limited, Poor
Can such information be requested from the authorities when not publicly available?Partial, Medium
If one can request it, what is the likelihood this information would be released?Partial, Medium

Data quality of official sources

8. How reliable are the sources used to produce official statistics about deaths?Limited, Poor
9. Are there mechanisms for internal quality assurance / verification conductedLimited, Poor
10. Is the methodology for data collection publicised?Limited, Poor
11. How reliable are the overall figures produced?Limited, Poor

Data analysis and lessons learnt

12. Do state or police agencies analyse data on the use of lethal force, to prevent future deaths?Partial, Medium
13. Is there evidence that state/ police agencies act on the results of their analysis, including applying lessons learnt?Partial, Medium
14. Are external bodies are able to reuse data for their own analyses?No Provisions
15. Do external, non-governmental agencies collect and publish their own statistics on deaths following police use of force?Partial, Medium

Investigations by official agencies

16. Is there a legal requirement for deaths to be independently investigated?Partial, Medium
17. If so, which organisation(s) conduct these investigations?Independent Police Complaints Board (IPCB)
18. In the year in question, how many deaths following police use of force have been investigated by the organisation(s) specified in question 17?Data unavailable
19. Are close relatives of the victims involved in the investigations?Limited, Poor
20. Investigation reports into deaths
Are publicly available?Limited, Poor
Give reasons for the conclusions they have reached?Limited, Poor
Is this a legal requirement?Limited, Poor
Can such information be requested from the authorities when not publicly available?Partial, Medium
If one can request it, what is the likelihood this information would be released?Partial, Medium
21. Is there information available on legal proceedings against agents / officials, pursuant to deaths?Limited, Poor
22. Is there information available on legal proceedings against state agencies, pursuant to deaths?Limited, Poor
23. Is there information available on disciplinary proceedings against agents/ officials, pursuant to deaths?Limited, Poor
24. Number of prosecutions against agents / officials involved in the last ten years?Data unavailable
25. Number of convictions against agents / officials involved in the last ten years?Data unavailable
26. Number of prosecutions against agencies involved in the last ten years?Data unavailable
27. Number of convictions against agencies involved in the last ten years?Data unavailable
28. Number of cases in which states have been found to have breached human rights law on the use of lethal force?Two recent cases: Mohamed Morlu v Sierra Leone (Feb 2024) and the default judgement in Kargbo et al v Sierra Leone (expected 2024)

Detailed elaboration

Data collection and publication by official agencies

There is no known official publication of data on the use of lethal force. For a short time, the IPCB published regular reports detailing their activities, but these never amounted to comprehensive accounts of all investigations undertaken, and have over time become very irregular11.

This is surprising, since on paper the IPCB is supposed to function as a body principally charged with the responsibility to investigate any serious concern arising from police action (or inaction). The Board may conduct an investigation on its own initiative or on the basis of a complaint made by a member of the public, a police officer, or a public body12. Moreover the Board is mandated to “ensure that a permanent record of every complaint, the proceedings and the result of the investigation are maintained”13.

As part of its National Report under the Universal Periodic Review process in 2021, an official report summarized complaints received by the IPCB from 2016–19. It showed that overall in those four years it had received 190 complaints (decreasing in number, from 63 in 2016 to 24 in 2019). Of those, 8 had related to shooting incidents (3 in 2016, 2 in 2017, 3 in 2018 and none in 2019)14. More recently, but less formally, toward the end of 2021 it was reported that the IPCB had received 41 complaints during the year (of which it had been able to conduct preliminary investigations into 30). This reporting was on the basis of a press-conference run by the IPCB with the support of the UN Development Programme (which has supported a lot of its work during its early years)15. In September 2022 it was reported that since its inception in 2014, the IPCB had received 417 complaints (of which it has concluded 292)16.

The National Human Rights Commission has not made police use of force a thematic priority, and does not report on a regular basis on the number of lethal incidents. However, when it views the case to have been a violation of the right to life, it may include a description of the matter in its Annual Report. The HRCSL produces an annual report, which is transmitted to Parliament in March of the following year, but only seems to become available online much later (i.e the 2021 report became available online in January 2023). A member of the Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone is supposed to be a member of the Board of the IPCB at all times17.

Examples of police shootings will from time to time rise to the attention of media and so there is some (uneven) newspaper reporting but this is limited to sensational cases. There is no department within the Sierra Leone police itself that is charged with the responsibilities of collecting data. There is the department responsible for professional standards, but they only deal with information of disciplinary sanctions and dismissal of police officers.

The department of births and deaths are responsible for recording all deaths in the country but not all deaths are reported and even where reported they do not record whether such death occurred as a result of police lethal force or not. A death certificate notes the time, date and place. Any further information is usually only released to family members.

Sierra Leone passed the Right to Access Information (RAI) Act in 2013, which allows the general public access to government information and also imposes penalties when government institutions fail to make information available. However, in practice, the freedom of access to information is very restricted. Civil society struggles to access information dealing with issues like the use of force regarding police, military and correctional officers18.

The Police are generally open to providing ‘official statistics’ on the number of law enforcement officials who are killed on duty, but information about civilian victims of the use of force is not easily accessible.

Data quality of official sources

Official data is extremely sporadic, and unreliable both on the question of overall deaths and specifically on deaths following police contact. The SLP do public annual crime statistics, which includes data about disciplinary proceedings conducted by the CDIID, disaggregated by outcome but not by cause of complaint/investigation.

Sierra Leone’s national statistical organization, Statistics Sierra Leone or Stats SL was established by the Statistics Act of 2002. It collaborates with a wide range of international parties (including ECOWAS, UNDP and the World Bank. At national level, Stats SL’s plan for data collection around the SDGs (and indicators potentially useful to the Lethal Force Monitor such as homicide rates or illegal firearm seizures) does not include partnership with other national agencies. Though a comprehensive Demographic and Health Survey was conducted in 2019, there does not seem to be a regular justice-oriented survey (measuring things such as trust in the police) that is routinely carried out.

Concluding a review of access to information law and its implementation in Sierra Leone, Proscovia Svärd observed that “in order to successfully implement RAI in Sierra Leone, the government needs to be genuinely committed to making government information accessible, an information management infrastructure to facilitate the creation, capture, management, dissemination, preservation, regulation and use and re-use of government information and investments in civic education to promote an information culture that understands and appreciates information as a resource that underpins accountability, transparency and that has the potential to boost national development. The free flow of information hinges on a well-functioning information infrastructure which involves the people, information systems and efficient government processes. Investments should be made in all three components since they are interrelated”19.

Data analysis and lessons learned

Giving advice to the SLP on ways in which the incidents involving lethal outcomes (and other incidents that impact significantly on public confidence in the police) “may be avoided or eliminated” is a critical second dimension of the function (on paper) of the IPCB20. However this role has yet to be meaningfully fulfilled in part because of its current resource constraints.

Meanwhile, some of the ad hoc investigations by other entities into recent use of force incidents have included recommendations:

  • The HRCSL report into the Makeni incident made a number of recommendations, including that the police should stop taking firearms containing live rounds to scenes of protests or demonstrations and instead use rubber bullets and other lawful devices, and that the police should “cease co-opting the military at every given opportunity during protest”21.
  • The Special Investigative Committee recommendations following the August 2022 events, with respect to security sector reform, included an exhortation to embark on sustained training of police officers in contemporary policing to avoid high handedness in the discharge of their duties”22.
    Moreover the Committee contended that senior police leadership must be responsible in regularly reminding officers “to refrain from [being] used by political regimes to unleash violence against political opponents in the guise of national security”23.
    More practically the Committee pointed to the need to revise the ‘rules of engagement’ to curb this high-handedness and to improve police-citizen relations, and also that adequate logistics in terms of vehicles, communications equipment and riot gear ought to be provided to the security sector, so that it can deliver professionally on its mandated tasks24.

Investigations by official agencies

The IPCB was legislatively designed to play the principal role in investigating lethal incidents involving the police. However, it has generally failed to deliver upon this mandate. This is at least partly due to lack of resources. In an interview given in late 2022, the Chairman of the IPCB, Mr Richard Freeman, complained that the Board is underfunded. It was apparently allocated 3.2bn Leones but only disbursed 1.2bn. It only has one official vehicle and so is limited in the extent to which investigators can travel beyond its immediate base in Freetown25. In the same interview he also complained about the Board’s power: For example, it cannot compel the Inspector General of the Police to respond to the IPCB’s recommendations26.

The Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone undertakes ad hoc investigations into particularly significant incidents. For example, it undertook an investigation into the protest killings that occurred in Makeni in July 2020 (which are also now a matter before the ECOWAS CCJ)27. In particular the Commission noted the use of live ammunition by joint security forces to restore law and order, confronted by groups of youths, but could not establish which individual officials were responsible for any of the six deaths that occurred. It is worth noting that the IPCB is also reported to have opened an investigation into this incident28, but no report as to that investigation’s conclusions is publicly available.

In April 2021 the HRCSL undertook a more modest fact-finding mission following clashes between the police and students on the campus of the Institute of Public Administration and Management, after which it again recommended that the SLP “refrain from using excessive force in quelling down riots and protests”29. Only days after this investigation became public, police shot dead a young man during a private land dispute in Hastings30. In both instances, videos of the police action taken by bystanders using mobile phones circulated widely on social media after the events.

Regardless of the existence of the Human Rights Commission, the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights, and the Office of National Security, government continues to rely upon the establishment of ad hoc commissions of inquiry to conduct investigations into human rights abuses that garner particular public attention. A case in point is the inquiry into the Pademba Road prison riot in 2020, in which 30 prisoners died (12 as a result of gunshot wounds) after officers from the Presidential Guard responded to a call from the prison for assistance in putting down the riot.

More recently, a Special Investigative Committee was established to investigate the deaths that occurred during the year under review, over three days of protest in August 2022. The US State Department’s Human Rights Report noted that this body, announced some two weeks after the events, was composed of members of the Sierra Leone Bar Association, the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists, civil society organizations, veteran and retired police associations, and others. The report relates that critics noted at the time that a large proportion of committee members had strong ties to the government, and some committee members had already publicly condemned protesters before being appointed31. The final report was very equivocal, spending a lot of time on the long-term political causes of the protest rather than forensically investigating the way in which the police and the army responded, but it did make a limited number of security sector reform-related recommendations.

The results of cases before the CDIID are summarized in the General Crime Statistics Report. In 2022, the CDIID received 684 cases. Of these, 42 resulted in dismissal, but no detail is provided as to the cause of the complaint and/or investigation32.

With respect to the aforementioned incident in Hastings30, the HRCSL later reported that the case had been investigated by the CDIID, which had resulted in three of the four officers involved being dismissed, and the fourth being referred to the Criminal Investigations Department and later charged with murder. In their Annual Report, the HRCSL commended the SLP for this investigation and action, which it said “will serve as a deterrent measure to help curb indiscipline within the Force”33.

 

 

Non-official sources

Media reporting can partially fill in the gaps with respect to deaths following police contact, but even where reported by newspapers, such data is not necessarily reliable because many newspapers are partisan. It is also important to note that such data would skew toward those incidents that occur in urban settings, with deaths occurring in the remote parts of the country not being covered.

There is no institution with the mandate specifically of investigating incidents of lethal force. Prompted by the collaboration behind this Lethal Force Monitor project, Prison Watch Sierra Leone has now expanded its scope of work so as also to investigate, document and report on all incidents of lethal force by law enforcement officials in Sierra Leone.

Part 3: Comparative indicators

I-1a. CK: Number of civilians killed by law enforcement agents on duty, by gunshot21+
I-1b. CKt: Number of civilians killed by law enforcement agents, regardless of means and whether or not on dutyData unavailable
I-1c. CW: Number of civilians wounded by law enforcement agents on duty, by gunshot50+
I-1d. CWt: Number of civilians wounded by law enforcement agents, whether or not on duty and regardless of meansData unavailable
I-2. CK per 100000 inhabitants0.28
I-3. CK per 1000 law enforcement agents1.68
I-4. CK per 1000 arrestsData unavailable
I-5. CK per 1000 weapons seizedData unavailable
I-6. AK: Number of law enforcement officers unlawfully killed on duty by firearm6+
I-6b. AKt: Number of law enforcement officers unlawfully killed, whether or not on duty and regardless of meansData unavailable
I-7. AK per 1000 agentsData unavailable
A1. Percentage of homicides due to state interventionData unavailable
A2. Ratio between CK and AKData unavailable
A3. Civilian lethality index: Ratio between CK and CWData unavailable
A4. Lethality ratio: Ratio between Civilian lethality index and law enforcement agents lethality indexData unavailable
A5. Average number of civilians killed by intentional gunshot, per incidentData unavailable

Number of civilians killed and injured

Statistics Sierra Leone undertook a mid-term census in 2021, during which the population of the country was found to be 7,548,70234.

As of July 2022, there were reportedly c.12,500 police officers in the Sierra Leon Police Force35.

The Police’s General Crime Statistics Report 2022 documented 94 cases of assault on police officers (while on duty)36. It also reported 153 murder cases (though it is unclear whether deaths caused by law enforcement are included within this figure, it is assumed that they are not)37. The report does not document the number of arrests made, but does report that there were 33,157 criminal and accident cases (which included 11,613 offences against women and children; 4,691 offences against the person, and 898 cases of mischief or public order offences)38. This report does not provide information on the number of firearms seized.

The figure of 21 civilians killed by gunshot is taken from the Special investigation Committee’s report into the August 8th–10th 2022 protests39. All of these deaths occurred in only a 3-day period, and so the figure is surely a dramatic understatement of the number of deaths occurring in 2022 overall.

Summary and recommendations

The legal regime concerning the use of force in law enforcement in Sierra Leone includes a number of problematically permissive provisions.

As part of ongoing constitutional review procedures, which have involved the Right to Life (abolishing the death penalty) and the Public Order Act (abolishing the oft-abused crime of libel), consideration ought to be given also to reforming s.16(2) of the 1991 Constitution, to bring it into conformity with the international standards frequently cited by institutions such as the Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone in framing their recommendations to the SLP40. In addition to the Constitution, the Criminal Procedure Act and the Correctional Services Act should both also be amended, to make clear that the only acceptable circumstances in which law enforcement officials may use firearms is where they are to protect against an imminent threat of death or serious injury to the official or to another person41.

There is —on paper— a mechanism charged with responsibility for investigating the lethal incidents, the Independent Police Complaints Board, but it is under-resourced and lacks capacity properly to investigate all incidents of lethal use of force. It also no longer adequately reports to the public on its activities. At present the most meaningful investigation and reporting of lethal use of force incidents is probably undertaken by the Human Rights Commission. However, for justifiable reasons of prioritisation, that entity only investigates and documents cases where there is a likely violation of human rights. More marginal cases currently go un-investigated, uncounted, and unseen.

Civil society can fill some of the gaps in the official record. Prison Watch Sierra Leone has undertaken to create an ongoing “use of force tracker”, based upon media reports and its existing network of custody monitors.

However, civil society monitoring cannot fully supply the rigour (and access or authority) of an official body. There is an urgent need for the existing institution mandated to conduct such oversight and accountability to be adequately resourced —both in terms of financial resources and of personnel,— so that it can fulfil the role laid out for it in statute. This should include providing regular public reports on its investigations, especially those involving the lethal use of force, which should be reported regardless of the findings of the investigation regarding the appropriateness of the use of force in the circumstances.

References, data sources and downloads

1 Richard Culp, ‘Post-Conflict Rebuilding of the Police: Lessons from Sierra Leone’ (1 June 2007) available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1467123

2 ‘Four killed in Sierra Leone protest after police and army open fire’ Reuters (19 July 2020) available at: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-leone-protests/four-killed-in-sierra-leone-protest-after-police-and-army-open-fire-idUSKCN24K0GV/.

3 ‘ECOWAS Court to Rule on Makeni Generator Protest Suit in January 2024’ Awoko (2 October 2023) available at: https://awokonewspaper.sl/ecowas-court-to-rule-on-makeni-generator-protest-suit-in-january-2024/.

4 Mohamed Morlu v Sierra Leone (Judgment ECW/CCJ/JUD/04/24 of 28 February 2024)

5 Adama Vandi v Sierra Leone (Judgment ECW/CCJ/JUD/32/22 of 13 July 2022)

6 Correctional Services Act (2014) s.16(1).

7 Independent Police Complaints Board Regulations, No.11 of 2013, s.3(1)(a)-(c)

8 Memorandum of Understanding between the Independent Police Complaints Board and the Sierra Leone Police (2019) available at: https://bit.ly/2Oi6s8J.

9 Constitution of Sierra Leone (1991) s.156.

10 Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone Act, No.9 of 2004, s.7(2)(a).

11 See ACHPR Study on the Use of Force in Law Enforcement (2023) p.43

12 Independent Police Complaints Board Regulations, No.11 of 2013, s.9.

13 Ibid., s.12.

14 A/HRC/WG.6/38/SLE/1 – Annex (16 February 2021).

15 Alpha Abu ‘ICPB concludes 33 cases in 2021’ PoliticoSL (21 December 2021) available at: https://politicosl.com/articles/ipcb-concludes-33-cases-2021

16 Mohammad Kamara ‘ICPB receives 417 complaints against police’ The Watch (7 September 2022) available at: https://thewatchnewssl.com/ipcb-receives-417-complaints-against-police/

17 Ibid., s.1(2)(b).

18 See ‘How access to information laws influence investigative journalism in West Africa’ (5 December 2023) available at: https://www.mfwa.org/how-access-to-information-laws-influence-investigative-journalism-in-west-africa/

19 Proscovia Svärd ‘Freedom of information laws and information access: The case of Sierra Leone’ Information Development 33(2) (2017) 190-198, p.195.

20 Independent Police Complaints Board Regulations, No.11 of 2013, s.3(2).

21 Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone (HRCSL) Observation and Monitoring Report on the Human Rights Violations and Human Rights Abuses In Relation to the Incidents of 17th & 18th July 2020 in Makeni, Bombali District, Northern Sierra Leone (August 2020) available at: https://www.hrc-sl.org/PDF/Media/HRCSL%20Report%20on%20Makeni%20Incident.pdf.

22 Special Investigation Committee, August 8th-10th 2022 Protests: Investigation Report (March 2023) p.5

23 Ibid. p.43.

24 Ibid.

25 ‘Independent Police Complaints Board is Under Funded’ Sierraloaded (21 December 2022) available at: https://sierraloaded.sl/news/independent-police-complaints-board-under-funded/

26 Ibid.

27 Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone (HRCSL) Observation and Monitoring Report on the Human Rights Violations and Human Rights Abuses In Relation to the Incidents of 17th & 18th July 2020 in Makeni, Bombali District, Northern Sierra Leone (August 2020) available at: https://www.hrc-sl.org/PDF/Media/HRCSL%20Report%20on%20Makeni%20Incident.pdf

28 US State Department, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2020: Sierra Leone, (2021) p.2.

29 Sierra Leone Human Rights Commission condemns police brutality at IPAM campus and demands action against Police’ Cocorioko (15 April 2021) available at: https://cocorioko.net/sierra-leone-human-rights-commission-condemns-police-brutality-at-ipam-campus-and-demands-action-against-police/.

30 ‘In Sierra Leone – police shot man dead in a private land dispute’ Sierra Leone Telegraph (16 April 2021) available at: https://www.thesierraleonetelegraph.com/in-sierra-leone-police-shot-man-dead-in-a-private-land-dispute/.

31 US State Department, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2022: Sierra Leone, (2023) p.2.

32 Sierra Leone Police General Crime Statistics Report 2022 (March 2023) available at: http://www.police.gov.sl/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/ANNUAL-CRIME-STATISTIC-2022.pdf, Appendix 3, p.20f.

33 Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone, The State of Human Rights in Sierra Leone 2021 (2022) p.13.

34 https://www.statistics.sl/index.php/statistics-sierra-leone-hands-over-final-census-results-to-president-bio.html

35 Information supplied from Prison Watch Sierra Leone.

36 Sierra Leone Police General Crime Statistics Report 2022 (March 2023) p.13.

37 Ibid. p.12.

38 Ibid. p.4.

39 Special Investigation Committee, August 8th-10th 2022 Protests: Investigation Report (March 2023)

40 Following his re-election in the middle of 2023, President Dr Julius Maada Bio has reiterated his support for the constitutional review process (albeit the process has been a very long-running one), see ‘Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio Reiterates Commitment to Constitutional Review Process, Press Freedom and Political Inclusion’ African Business (31 August 2023) available at: https://african.business/2023/08/apo-newsfeed/sierra-leones-president-julius-maada-bio-reiterates-commitment-to-constitutional-review-process-press-freedom-and-political-inclusion.

41 See ACHPR Study on the Use of Force in Law Enforcement (2023) p.44f.