By Elias Bangura Esq
On Monday 26 April 2021, the Office of the Attorney General received in audience the Executive of the Sierra Leone Bar Association (SLBA), led by its President Ms. Eddinia Swallow Esq.
At the meeting, the SLBA requested for His Excellency the President Dr. Julius Maada Bio to formally pronounce the abolition of the death penalty in Sierra Leone and for the Government to take immediate legislative steps to amend or repeal all existing legislations, which provide for death penalty in Sierra Leone.
She gave a background of the death penalty in Sierra Leone, sanctioned in Section 16 (1) of the Constitution of Sierra Leone, Act No.6 of 1991, where it states that, “No person shall be deprived of his life intentionally, except in execution of the sentence of a court in respect of a criminal offence under the laws of Sierra Leone of which he has been convicted.”
“And the criminal offences under the laws of Sierra Leone, which are punishable by death are murder (common law offence), treason and other related offences under the Treason and State Offences Act of 1963, Mutiny under the Sierra Leone Military Forces Act of 1961 and Robbery with aggravation under the Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Act of 1973.”
A further legislation sanctioning the death sentence is the Criminal Procedure Act 1965. In Section 211 it prescribes death by hanging and if the sentence is pronounced by a military court, then execution is by firing squad. However Section 215 and Section 216 forbid the death sentence to be carried out on a pregnant woman, and those under 18 years old.
Ms Eddinia said many strides have been taken towards the abolition of the death penalty in Sierra Leone, however, the Government is yet to take concrete steps towards the amendment of the Constitution, which provides the legal basis for death penalty.
“SLBA recalls that in its Final Report, the Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission, established by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Act 2000, made imperative recommendations, inter alia, for the abolition of the death penalty and the amendment of Section 16 (1) of the 1991 Constitution of Sierra Leone to incorporate the principle that the right to life is inviolable.
“SLBA acknowledges Sierra Leone’s acceptance of the recommendation from the UN Human Rights Council to abolish the death penalty, subject to constitutional review in 2011; and it’s committment to the UN Office of the High Commission of Human Rights to review its position on the death penalty in 2012; and the recommendation of the Justice Edmond Cowan led Constitutional Review Committee for the abolition of the death penalty.
“SLBA also notes that in 2014, Sierra Leone voted in favour of a motion calling for a universal moratorium at the UN General Assembly (UNGA).
“SLBA recognizes that during the Universal Periodic Review in 2016, Sierra Leone received 22 relevant recommendations, 13 of which specifically called for abolition of the death penalty or an official moratorium on the death penalty, and Sierra Leone accepted all the recommendations relevant to the death penalty and related issues,” said the Bar President.
In lieu of the foregoing, she stated six points that the SLBA strongly holds on the death penalty.
That the arbitrary deprivation of life constitutes cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment, as it violates Section.20(1) of the Constitution of Sierra Leone, which states that, “No person shall be subject to any form of torture or any punishment or other treatment which is inhuman or degrading.”
Secondly that the death penalty is irreversible and has the risk of executing innocent people; thirdly that the death penalty does not serve as a deterrent to commit capital offences. There is no evidence in Sierra Leone that the existence of death penalty has deterred capital offences.
Furthermore, the death penalty can be used as a political tool to punish political opponents.
“Fifthly, the death penalty cannot be reconciled with full respect for the right to life and abolition of the death penalty is both desirable and necessary for the enhancement of human dignity and progressive development of human rights.”
Her final point was that the SLBA feels strongly about the protection of the right to life and recommends that in the interest of progress and a speedy approach, an amendment of all enabling legislations with regards the death penalty must be initiated and thereafter an amendment of Section 16 of the 1991 Constitution of Sierra Leone.
In his response, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Anthony Brewa, thanked the SLBA for their position paper on the death penalty
He said he knows discussions around the death penalty have been hot. However, some of the advocates against the death penalty have chosen rather to go to the radio and newspapers instead of coming to the AG’s office, to see what can be done.
“However I want to assure you that the Government is in favour of abolishing the death penalty,” said AG Brewa. “Some time ago, President Bio made a public pronouncement against the death penalty on 17 December 2020. For lawyers, that is not enough. So I have taken a step further and taken the issue to Cabinet about 3 weeks ago, and the document is now with the printers and in a week or two, it will be before Cabinet again for further discussions before we take it to Parliament,” he further revealed.
He said he had also, in a proactive way, prepared a paper on the abolition of the death penalty and sent it to the British High Commissioner, the Irish Ambassador, the European Union representative, and the German Ambassador, and invited them for discussions on it.
“When they came they spoke and appreciated the issue and I informed them what I had already done. They congratulated me. Now, Section 16 of the Constitution does not provide for the death penalty, so we can abolish the death penalty without going to the said section,” he said.
AG Brewa concluded that his doors are always open to the SLBA.
“I implore the Bar to always be the Bar. We will continue to cooperate with your office, Madam President, to ensure that things work amicably between our two entities. So rest assured that Cabinet has approved the resolution against the death penalty and now we are waiting on the printers for us to take it to Parliament.”
In the meeting were the Solicitor General, Mohamed Lamin Tarawalley, and other members of staff of the Attorney General’s office.
Abdul Karim Kamara, the Vice President of SLBA, gave the vote of thanks.
