Interestingly, Chapter 2 of the
Constitution of Sierra Leone, 1991, states, “5.(1) The Republic of Sierra
Leone shall be a State based on the principles of Freedom, Democracy and
Justice”. Really?
It started on Thursday evening (the
25th of April) as an argument in a compound in my neighborhood of
Aberdeen. The compound in question has several houses around a common courtyard
where people cook, launder clothes, dry laundry, wash, play, meet, talk, eat,
etc. An argument erupted between two women/neighbors and eventually spilled
over to include the families of these neighbors, including children. The
argument had something to do with politics and ethnicity/tribe.
I am writing about this for
several reasons… 1) it happens all the time in compounds all across Sierra
Leone, 2) it involves a Junior Secondary School student (14 yr old) that I
tutor and support in school, 3) involves a family that’s “adopted” me and that
I help on occasion and 4) it represents a horrendous problem for all of Sierra
Leone.
The argument escalated and
insults were exchanged… “abusive language” is how they refer to these sorts of
exchanges. The shouting continued… but there was no violence and no physical
contact between the groups of women but insults were exchanged. The landlord of
one of the houses went to the local police station. He apparently bribed the
police to arrest those involved. I have no proof of the bribe but I’ve been
told this by several of the people involved and tend to believe this is what
happened. The police arrived and arrested two of “my” family’s aunties and one
of the other neighbors. Auntie Mary called me at 10:30pm on Thursday, in tears,
from the police station.
I should add that Auntie Mary
and her sister, Lucinda, are very mature, somewhat older, quiet, law-abiding,
responsible women. They have never been involved with the police and live
quietly in the home that Mary recently built. I’ve known the family for four
years now…
Mary and Lucinda, (my friends
and family), were detained overnight – placed in a disgusting, small, smelly,
mosquito infested cell at the Aberdeen police station. The charge – “insulting conduct
and disorderly behavior”, which is a breach of the Public Order Act of 1965.
One of the other neighbors was also arrested and placed in the same cell.
Interestingly, one of the main instigators of this argument was not arrested
because she is rumored to be having an affair with the landlord and (because he
paid the police) he instructed that she not be arrested.
I went to the police station on
Thursday night, which is up the road where I now live, and tried to talk to the
police officers on duty. Mainly, my role was to watch… to try to monitor the
situation and make sure things went according to procedure. Essentially, I
wanted to make sure “my family” was treated fairly and that there was no
corruption on the part of the police. I didn’t know the landlord had previously
bribed the police to initiate the whole thing.
The processing officer, an older
woman, was rude and abrupt with me and the arrested “suspects”. She would not
discuss the issue and refused to listen to my pleas for reason. The Officer in
Charge (OC) initially agreed that this matter was a waste of time but he too
had been paid by the landlord (unbeknownst to me) and soon left the station to
go home (around 11:00pm). I maintain that this issue was not a police matter
and that this was a complete waste of time for all involved. In fact, my
opinion was reinforced the next day when other family members arrived and
stated that this was a matter that the local Chief should have mediated and
negotiated.
Nevertheless, Mary, Lucinda and
the other woman removed their undergarments and handed over their possessions and
were detained overnight. I felt so badly for these quiet, older, dignified
women… they were crying and demeaned… and under arrest for the first time in
their lives.
At 7:30am on Friday morning, I
went back to the station… again to learn, observe and offer support to Mary and
Lucinda. Later on Friday, the police arrested Mary and Lucinda’s sister, Isha
and two of Mary’s wards/children who live with Mary and her family. The two
children (15 and 14 yrs old) were interrogated without a guardian present and
then arrested and placed in the same cell as the others. Also in the holding
cell was a man who continuously vomited and lay prone on the floor. (He was
later dragged from the cell and propped on the steps of the station, where he
probably died) There was also a drunk guy… who was released first thing in the
morning on Friday.
I raised a concern about the
children in detention… and was told to talk to the Family Support Unit (FSU),
located next door to the police station. I went to the FSU and spoke to a
manager there who said they’d been notified and were going to request that the
children be moved to the holding areas within FSU. The Child Protection Office
did visit the police station but did not meet with the children and then told
me that the police had already separated the children. The two children were
not separated and remained in the cell with the others till they were
eventually released six hours later.
I spent the entire day on Friday
at the police station… provided water and food to Mary and her family. And
learned, first hand, how bad/messed up/corrupt and ridiculous this whole system
is. By about 10am, I’d had enough… and started to call in some favours from
justice folks and police I know. I called the media representative and the
Inspector General of Police. Both men made phone calls to the O.C. The OC told
me that the family would be released… but it took hours for them to process the
paperwork. Apparently, the woman who was supposed to sign the papers had gone
into town to do some shopping and go to the bank. Sigh.
I also called an organization,
AdvocAid, who work in the justice sector… and Sabrina, the wonderful Executive
Director of that organization, sent a top-notch lawyer to the station. At one
point, I offered/threatened to call the editors and station managers I know to
send reporters to the station to report on the matter… I think all of this… and
knowing that I was a journalist and work with the Canadian government here…
scared the police enough to take some action.
I did not pay a bribe… but I did
make some phone calls… And, when I explained the situation to the people
“above” they all agreed that this case was nonsense and a waste of time.
However, I later learned that members of Mary’s family had bribed the police “to
get bail” for Mary and the others. The whole system is broken… clearly.
After spending more than 18
hours in police custody – in a horrible, hell-hole of a cell, Mary, Lucinda,
Isha, and the two students were eventually released “on bail”. BTW, bail is
supposed to be free… but everyone knows you have to bribe the police to get
what is a citizen’s right.
Mary’s family was required to
“keep the peace” over the weekend and report back to the police station on
Tuesday morning. On Tuesday, I accompanied the family to the station… and the
matter was “dropped”. All nonsense and a supreme waste of time and energy. And,
more importantly, a horrible indignity, infringement of rights and scar on the
face of the police in this country.
This sort of travesty of “justice”
happens all the time… and this Public Order Act of 1965 is a catch-all for
anything and everything. BTW, it’s often used by ruling governments to silence
dissent, to muzzle the media (more on that later) and “control” the public.
And, it’s a scary law…
For reference:
According to the Public Order
Act of 1965, PART II – BREACH OF PUBLIC ORDER.
(Public insult and provocation).
2. Any person who in the view of the public or in
any public place, insults any person in his presence, in such a manner as would
be likely to provoke that person to commit a breach of the peace, shall, on
conviction, be liable to a fine, not exceeding twenty leones or to imprisonment
not exceeding three months or both.
(Insulting conduct)
3. Any person who—
i.
makes use of any threatening, abusive, insulting or
obscene language, gesture, or behaviour, or says or sings any insulting or
offensive song or ballad or makes any noise with intent to provoke any other
person to commit a breach of the peace; or
ii.
makes use of any threatening, abusive, insulting,
obscene or profane language, or says or sings any insulting or offensive song
or ballad, or makes a noise to the annoyance of any person in any place; or
iii.
sends or delivers to any person any threatening,
scurrilous, offensive, or obscene writing, print, engraving, picture or other
representation; or
iv.
calls any person by a name or description other
than his own, with intent to insult or annoy such person;
