By Ishmael Bayoh
The establishment of the Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone (HRCSL) was provided for in the Lomè Peace Agreement of 1999 and was also recommended in the 2004 Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) report. The Commission was finally established by an Act of Parliament (Act. No. 9) to protect and promote human rights in Sierra Leone.
It was in December 2006 when the first set of five Commissioners were sworn into office. The Commission is a National Human Rights Institution that fulfills the standards set by the UN Paris Principles governing such institutions.
The HRCSL became truly operational in 2007, and since then, Commissioners have been appointed through a transparent and participatory process that begins with a call for applications for the post of Commissioner. Short-listed applicants were interviewed by a selection panel comprising six representatives of civil society, interest groups, and one representative of the government. The Selection Panel would submit a list of seven candidates to the President to select five nominees whose names would be gazetted for public scrutiny and review. The five nominees would face the parliamentary committee on appointment and public service for scrutiny and if adjudged fit, they would be presented to the whole house for approval and thereafter take the Oath of Office before the President.
With this brief background of the HRCSL and the processes of appointing its Commissioners, I will now deliberate on the mandate and journey for which other national human rights institutions could understudy to become A Status.
In furtherance of the promotion of human rights, the HRCSL has acted as the de facto Follow-up Committee of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. In this regard, it organized conferences on the implementation of the TRC recommendations, produced a Matrix on the Status of Implementation of the TRC Recommendations as well as monitored the reparations programme; Reviewed draft legislations and supported Government in fulfilling its reporting obligations under various human rights treaties; led consultations for the compilation of Sierra Leone’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Report, promoted and protected the rights of vulnerable groups through training, awareness raising and effective engagement with key stakeholders nationwide and operationalizing the Business and Human Rights Manual.
To further institutional efficiency, the HRCSL has made several strides in the promotion and protection of human rights. To complement their activities, they work and support district human rights committees through their established regional offices. They regularly undertake and do thematic monitoring activities of detention centers, human rights violations, prisons, and businesses. One of the key functions of the commission is to publish annual state of human rights reports. This they have been doing since their first report in 2007. The report is first presented to the President and then parliament for it to be laid for debate before it is presented to the public. They will also hold engagements with institutions on the recommendations directed at them and undertake the popularizing of it nationwide and through the media.
These strides have won accolades for them. Such accolades were the accreditation of an ‘A status’ in May 2011 by the International Coordinating Committee (now known as the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions. GANHRI) on the promotion and protection of human rights; and in 2016, the Commission was reviewed for the second time and was re-accredited ‘A status’ and also in 2022. GANHRI is comprised of 118 members: 90 ‘A’ status NHRIs and 28 ‘B’ status NHRIs. Senegal is a B status since 2012.
The A status comes with the adherence to the Paris Principle (‘Principles Relating to the Status of National Human Rights Institutions’) which sets out the minimum standards that National Human Rights Institutions must meet in order to be considered credible to operate effectively. The key pillars of the Paris Principles are pluralism, independence, and effectiveness. Helping the government with the State report and submission of the country’s report to the UPR and also providing guidance to legislation on human rights issues is another significant role.
As part of their functions to receive complaints, the HRCSL over the years instituted a mobile complaint hearing where they visit hard-to-reach communities to undertake public education and also receive complaints from people. That wider function led the commission to institute three public inquiries in 2010, 2012 and 2024 and tens of mediation processes.
Cognizant of their progress, the HRCSL became a reference point for other NHRIs in West Africa. The Liberia Human Rights Commission was established by former President Charles Taylor way before the HRCSL, but faced challenges and became defunct. It was reconstituted and needed institutional reforms when they were referred to the HRCSL after visiting Geneva. Their study tour to Sierra Leone was to look at inter-departmental coordination and reporting obligations, requirements, and steps to acquiring ‘A Status’, international protocols and their ratifications as national instruments, networking with other institutions of government, CSOs, donor partners, and the Commission’s role in the implementation of the TRC.
The body charged with the responsibility to conduct the Gambia’s TRC also made a study tour to the HRCSL on April 25th, 2017, since the commission is the custodian of the TRC Archives and responsible for taking account of the implementation of its recommendations. In March 2023, another delegation from the Parliamentary Caucus on Freedom of Religion and Believe in The Gambia made another study visit to the HRCSL on certain human rights issues, and the successes and challenges in the implementation of the HRCSL Act of 2004.
This is where the reconstituted National Commission for Human Rights (CNDH) passed into law by the National Assembly of Senegal in September 2024 replacing the Senegalese Human Rights Committee (CSDH) can benefit greatly from the HRCSL of Sierra Leone. Both countries have strong bilateral relations spanning decades which was rekindled by both Heads of States. His Excellency President Julius Maada Bio of Sierra Leone attended the swearing-in ceremony of His Excellency President Diomaye Faye on April 2nd, 2024. President Faye on June 13, 2024, paid a working visit to Sierra Leone. During that visit, the two countries signed several cooperation agreements in trade and commerce, agriculture, petrol and gas, education aviation, security, fishery, and technology. Senegal can utilize this fraternity for their reconstituted NHRI to be fully operational, compliant and how to fill in those gaps that cost them the A Status in 2012, and how they can acquire A Status from GANHRI based on the Paris Principles.
The human rights landscape has evolved since the establishment of a human rights committee in 1970, and Senegal has a long tradition of cooperation with the international community, and attentiveness to international concerns about human rights. They demonstrated it by being the first state to ratify the Statute of the International Criminal Court. The purpose then of the human rights committee was to promote and be charged with organizing the celebration of U.N. designated events, particularly Human Rights Day on December 10. It also had the task of pursuing popular education in human rights. The committee was established by decree and subject to executive control which in effect is contrary to the Paris Principles.
During debates in the National Assembly for the reconstitution of the national human rights commission, Minister of Justice, Ousmane Diagne noted “The vote of this law corrects these inadequacies that led to the demotion of Senegal to ‘status B’ as this reform aims to strengthen the capacities of the new commission to allow it to better respond to international standards. Status A gives access to international bodies where Senegal’s voice in human rights could be better heard.”
The road to achieving that is less than 2 hours away on air to Freetown. After Liberia’s study tour and institutional learning to the HRCSL in Freetown, they are now ‘A Status’- Gambia is also A Status. Sierra Leone will be due for another review in 2027, its fourth for a fourth A Status- and Senegal can benefit immensely during this journey.
The author was Principal Information Officer of the Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone- now serving as Information Attache’ of the Sierra Leone Embassy in Dakar, Senegal._