We, the following organisations – AdvocAid, Amnesty International, Human Rights Defenders Network, and Manifesto 99 – call on the Government of Sierra Leone to make a public commitment to maintaining the moratorium on executions.

Whilst executions have not taken place since 1998, Sierra Leone retains the death penalty in law. Presently 53 people – 51 men and 2 women – are on death row. The death penalty remains a mandatory sentence for people found guilty of murder, and an applicable punishment for treason, mutiny and aggravated robbery.

Sierra Leone’s Attorney General and Minister of Justice co-chairs the Task Force on Justice alongside ministers from Argentina and the Netherlands. The Task Force on Justice actively works towards a more effective and empowered movement for justice globally. This includes implementation of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16.3: ‘to promote the rule of law at the national and international levels, and ensure equal access to justice for all.’ The Government of Sierra Leone is the only member of the Taskforce on Justice to maintain the death penalty.

With a ministerial meeting at the High Level Political Forum taking place in New York this week to review progress against the SDGs, including SDG 16, we urge the Attorney General and Minister of Justice to make this public commitment to the moratorium on executions.

Abolition of the death penalty was recommended by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2004 and the Constitutional Review Committee in 2017. As a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Sierra Leone ‘must be on an irrevocable path towards complete eradication of the death penalty in the foreseeable future.’ We encourage the Government of Sierra Leone to heed these recommendations and to demonstrate that it is taking steps down this irrevocable path to abolition.

We falter behind our West African neighbours who have demonstrated political leadership by abolishing the death penalty. In 2016, Guinea joined Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal and Togo in the abolition of the death penalty. Burkina Faso abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes in 2018. The Gambia recently took steps down this path towards abolition, with President Barrow commuting the death sentences of 22 prisoners and reaffirming his commitment to abolition. From Kenya to South Africa, countries across the continent have supported abolition, citing its colonial legacy and its barriers to cultivating a society that respects the rights of its citizens.

In 2011 all men and women on death row in Sierra Leone had their sentences commuted, leaving no person on death row. Yet since 2012, 53 people have been sentenced to death, with 42 of these sentenced within the last 4 years. We express our sincere concern about this trend. It should be noted that even the Special Court for Sierra Leone did not impose the death penalty for war crimes, yet many ordinary citizens – often poor men and women, with limited access to legal aid – receive more punitive justice than war criminals.

The government of Sierra Leone has an opportunity to exhibit political leadership in declaring its public commitment to maintaining the moratorium on executions. We call on the Attorney General and Minister of Justice to take this step towards abolition in line with our domestic and international obligations.

Signed:

Rebecca Wood, Executive Director, AdvocAid
Solomon Sogbandi, Director, Amnesty International Sierra Leone
Alphonsus Gbanie, Executive Secretary, Human Rights Defenders Network-SL
Abdul Rahim Kamara, Executive Director, Manifesto 99
Dr. Gassan Abess