By: Rashid Dumbuya*
It is beyond contention that all of the egregious human rights violations that are being committed against members of the press and media houses in Sierra Leone are due largely to the fact that Sections 26 and 27 of the Public Order Act is still prevalent in our law books. Methink the best way to address this anomaly is to start with reforming the very Public Order Act itself.
Rashid Dumbuya
Many of the provisions in that Act contravene the raison d’etre of the 1991 Constitution and other international human rights treaties and conventions that Sierra Leone has ratified. I therefore call on all NGO’s, Civil Society Organisations, the Fourth estate and the Sierra Leone Bar Association to agitate for a reform of the Public Order Act of 1965.
If the government fails to adhere to this demand, I humbly request that the judges of the Sierra Leone judiciary declares sections 26 and 27 of the Public Order Act as invalid and unconstitutional as it clearly undermines freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and freedom of association, three fundamental human rights values that are guaranteed under Sierra Leone’s 1991 constitution and other International treaties and conventions such as the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, all of which Sierra Leone has ratified.
And if the Judges of the Supreme Court fail to declare Sections 26 and 27 of the Public Order Act as invalid and unconstitutional, I adjure the Sierra Leone Bar Association to bring an action before the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights as well as the African Court on Human and Peoples Rights seeking a declaration that sections 26 and 27 of the Public Order Act of Sierra Leone be deemed as invalid as these provisions are not only unnecessary but are inimical to the country’s constitution and other international human rights treaties and conventions that Sierra Leone has ratified. By so doing, I am quite optimistic that Sierra Leone would comply with international pressure and repeal the Public Order Act of 1965.
Sections 26 and 27 of the Public Order Act should be replaced with a Civil Defamatory law that will hold members of the Press and media houses accountable in the event where they intentionally defame the character of any person in the society. Such a civil law would have monetary compensation, open retraction equal in effect to the defamatory publication, public and written apology, suspension of a journalist or media house from publication or broadcast for a reasonable period and editorial censorship as sanctions in the event where a journalist or media house crosses the redline and become unprofessional in their duties.
But at the moment in Sierra Leone, it is apparent that the political class have resorted to the practice of taking complaints of defamatory libel of the press to the police because Section 26 and 27 of the Public Order Act which criminalizes libel has help them accomplish that successfully. That is why my main concern is the reform of the Public Order Act as it has been the very precursor that has sponsored incessant human rights violations in the country. How I wished indeed!
All Rights Reserved.
*Rashid Dumbuya is an International Human Rights Lawyer and a practicing Barrister and Solicitor from the Republic of Sierra Leone. He holds a Bachelor of Laws honours degree as well as a Masters of Laws degree in International Human Rights Law from the Centre for Human Rights University of Pretoria, South Africa. He is currently an LLM candidate pursuing Petroleum Law and Policy at the University of Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom.
