The Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone (HRCSL) has played host to a delegation from the Independent National Commission for Human Rights in Liberia and the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
The visit was to facilitate exchange of experiences between the two national human rights institutions and also build strong relationship for the protection and promotion of human rights within the Mano River Union Basin.
Members in the delegation include the Chairman of the Commission, Cllr. T. Dempster Brown, Executive Director, Atty. Urias Teh Pour and the OHCHR Representative in Liberia, Christian Mukosa.
Chairperson of HRCSL, Patricia Narsu Ndanema, welcomed the delegation and congratulated the Independent National Commission on Human Rights in Liberia for their recent re-accreditation as a grade ‘A’ NHRI in December 2023.
She said the Commission is happy to fully share with them information on how they operate at various levels and noted that the visit will help in strengthening the relationship between the two institutions.
The Chairperson spoke about the background to the establishment of the Commission, adding that the Commission came into existence in by an Act of Parliament (Act No. 9) 2004 with a broad mandate to protect and promote the human rights of all in Sierra Leone.
She stated that the Commission’s operations are guided by its Complaints, Investigations and Inquiry Rules of 2008, which gives the Commission additional powers and one of which is to conduct Public Inquiries on systemic human rights violations affecting the enjoyment of human rights.
“As a commission, we have 13 directorates whose activities are intentionally geared towards responding to the functions of the Commission and subsequently leading to the achievement of the Commission’s overall mandate. Quite recently in order to address global human rights concerns, we have added the directorates of migration and climate change to the existing ones,” she said.
OHCHR Representative in Liberia, Christian Mokosa thanked the Commission for the warm reception and noted that the visit is to facilitate bilateral discussions on human rights issues between the two NHRIs.
He said the UN decided to aid the visit to pave the way for exchange of experiences, especially on transitional justice processes.
He said the government in Liberia has decided to create a court to deal with war crimes and crimes against humanity and that the Human Rights Commission in Liberia can benefit from HRCSL’s experience on how they support the Special Court for Sierra Leone on witness and victims protection and participation of communities.
The Vice Chairperson, Victor Idrissa Lansana did a PowerPoint presentation on the independence of the Commission.
He said the Commission’s independence is fundamental to its ability to investigate and report on human rights violations without fear or favour.
Presentations were also done on the Commission’s Complaints Handling Mechanism, Background to the Establishment of the Commission, the UPR process, the Commission’s organogram and Regional Services and their Operations.
