The Sierra Leone Police (SLP) has rejected Amnesty International’s report, titled “Sierra Leone: Seven months after August’s protests which turned violent in some locations, no justice yet for those injured or the families of those killed.” The police viewed the report as biased, distorted, and partial. According to a press release from the SLP it is not only concerned about the truthfulness of the allegations contained in the report but also the way they were presented against them The force says the use of force to contain the violent insurrection in August 2022 was proportional, reasonable, and necessary to accomplish a legitimate law enforcement purpose.
While expressing sorrow for the loss of lives, the SLP claims that Amnesty International failed to report on the brutal murder of unarmed police officers who were chased and beaten to death by civilians. “While we continue to express sorrow for the loss of lives generally. Amnesty International fails to report on the savage manner in which unarmed Police Officers were chased and brutally murdered by civilians to the extent of beating their dead bodies.
This apparent omission by Amnesty International undermines the impartiality of the report. Further, it is insensitive to the plight of families of slain Police Officers and a dereliction of duty,” the report states. It further clarified that contrary to the Amnesty International report the Criminal Investigations Department provided all detainees who were arrested following the August insurrection access to their lawyers in compliance with due process.
The statement ends by reassuring the public and all international partners that its primary responsibility for law enforcement and crime investigation would be discharged in compliance with international and national human rights standards, whilst calling for impartiality and fairness in reporting such incidents.
