By Hasbin Shaw
The UN Acting High Commissioner for Human Rights Nada Al-Nashif, on Monday, September 12, 2022, has re-emphasized the need for Sierra Leoneans to hold impartial investigations the violence which occurred across Sierra Leone, on August 10th 2022.
The interim Human Rights Commissioner was addressing series of human rights concerns happening around the world, during the “51st session of the Human Rights Council,” in Geneva, Switzerland.
In her address, she noted that since the Human Rights Council’s last session in June earlier this year, “several situations around the world continue to raise serious human rights concerns,” as she calls on leaders to urgently address situations which she said require urgent action.
During the “51st session of the Human Rights Council,” Nada Al-Nashif said “The Office reiterates its call to the Government of Sierra Leone to hold prompt, impartial and thorough investigations into the violence and fatalities that occurred during public protests on 10 August and bring those responsible to account regardless of their status and political affiliation. I urge all sides to embrace dialogue,” she added.
Nada Al-Nashif had previously issued a statement on the violence in Sierra Leone describing it as “ungodly”.
Following the ‘August 10th’ deadly incidents which left more than twenty civilians and six police officers dead, President Julius Maada Bio on August 24th 2022 announced “the establishment of a 15-man special Investigation Committee to examine both the immediate and underlying causes, sources of financing, execution and consequences of the insurrection, as well as the response of security forces’” during the ‘August 10” deadly incidents across Sierra Leone.