By Idriss Hamza Kamara
Democracy largely referred to as the direct rule of the state public owes a nation assures all of so many rights and responsibilities. Modern democratic rights and civic responsibilities range from the right to vote and being voted for in periodic public elections.
Apart from the highly influential outcomes of the 2018 presidential polls, which was wrongly placed in the hands of the incumbent in the name of regime change and peace. Since then to date, so many democratic values have been and continue to be grossly violated with several restrictions of the rights to protest, civil and political freedoms.
Opposition politicians under the trending circumstance are always clamped down on by government’s uses of the Sierra Leone Police-SLP on orders from above, which culminate in the Julius Maada Bio led Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) five-year despotic democratic rule.
In a bid to defend the SLPP and Bio’s uncultured human rights violations backed by evasions of democratic principles in the past five years, the Minister of Information and Communications is having sleepless nights roaming all over the place with untruth facts about the mis-governance conducts of his administration. Swaray was recently on Radio Democracy, Frequency Modulation (FM) 98.1 Good Morning Salone talk show, together with the National Publicity Secretary of the main opposition All People’s Congress (APC) Alhaji Sidie Yayah Tunis and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Campaign for Human Rights and Development International (CHRDI), Abdul Fatoma. They were hosted to discuss the upholding of democratic principles and human rights records of the Bio administration in last five years.
Throughout his failed defensive arguments MIC, Mohamed Rahman Swarray praised singed some of the so-called development strides of his government, starting with their much talk about Free Quality Education, intermittent electricity supply and the new airline terminal at the Freetown International Airport. He said they abolished death penalty from the laws of Sierra Leone. But mass extra judicial killings by government operatives is almost becoming the order of the day under the watch of Bio. From 2018 to date and the repeal of the Criminal Libel Law which he considered as one of the significant achievements that were made by the Bio administration in the consolidation of democracy and upholding of human right in the last five years the freedom is not free, as opposition APC politicians are being arrested and detained for their statements on the media. The SLPP government is so allergic to even constructive criticisms from their political opponents, not to mention the media.
Swaray among other gains, spoke of the establishment of the Model Sexual Court, that now investigate sexual offences against women and girls to ensure speedy dispensation of justice.
Seen as a mere presidential campaigner far ahead of the campaign schedules, the minister said the score sheets from the MCC, the Global Peace Index to substantiate recognition on the strides of government in the maintenance of human rights and democratic principles.
Challenging these, strongly condemned government’s human rights violations and bluntly exposed the lapses of the Bio-led SLPP government in upholding democracy and violations of human rights. He referred the recent statement of the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, Lahai Lawrence Leema, that they will ‘crush’ members of the APC should they attempt to engage in any act with tendencies of undermining the peace of the country, as a threat.
Tunis expressed dissatisfaction of President Bio government’s five-year rule, pointing at evidence of government violations of human rights, as was manifested in killings of innocent and vulnerable civilians at the Male Correctional Centres on Pa Demba Road in Freetown. He said since the extrajudicial killings to date no records and investigation of those killed have so been reported. The same human rights violations were also perpetrated in Makeni, where six civilians were killed in demonstration against the relocation of the Makeni electricity thermal generator to Lungi. Lunsar, Tonko Limba and Mile 91 etc. also visited with the same right violations.
Tunis also vividly recalled police unlawful attack on the APC National Secretariat, on 11A Railway Line Brookfields, fired teargas canisters at civilians, arrested good number of them, undressed most of the party’s supporters and detained them in deplorable police detention holdings. He considered these acts as gross infringement on the rights of Sierra Leoneans and recalled the forceful, unlawful installation and imposition of the Speaker of the House of Parliament, the so-called Rt. Hon. Dr. Abass Chernor Bundu, which also saw armed police storming of the well of parliament and the beating of the APC MPs. That was also followed by unlawful removal of ten APC MPs from parliament through a court ruling by Hon Justice Komba Kamanda which is widely considered as a contravention of the laws of the country, especially when those ten lawmakers were already certified by the then National Electoral Commission as legitimate representatives of their respective constituents. That was also another gross human and democratic rights violation of the people perpetrated by the Bio-led SLPP government. Constituents of those ten APC MP have been throughout the five years denied rights to be represented at the national assembly-parliament.
In further corroborating his claims, the APC Spokesman reminded the public and the world over about the August 10th, 2022, upheaval during which dozens of vulnerable civilians were killed by security forces. Government instituted a committee for investigations into circumstance that led to the killings of innocent civilians though the outcomes of that investigation are yet to be made public.
About government’s interruption of Unity Party National Delegates’ Conference, Alhaji Sidie Yahya Tunis condemned the withdrawal of the police from the opposition the UP convention and brought it to a halt. He explained that the UP was going on with their convention peacefully without any incident. He sees no reason for such convention to be stopped by the Political Parties’ Regulations Commission enforced by the armed police personnel. He opined that the PPRC should have allowed the UP convention to continue and query the party later.
With all these violations, Tunis rated the Bio led SLPP government two percents out of ten in the discernment of human rights violations and disregard for democratic principles under Bio’s five-year rule.
As for the CSO, Abdul Fatoma of CHRDI underscored the significance of the fundamental ingredients of democracy and human rights, stating that the basic economic and social amenities such as electricity and water supplies, freedom of association as fundamental human rights must be fully taken into consideration by government. Fatoma stopped short from rating the government on the stance of upholding democratic principles and human rights scorecards.
Swarray however publicly accused CHRDI CEO as constantly refusing to accept the reality of his human rights submission.
