Sierra Leone: Human Rights

Publisher Marketing: Sierra Leone is a constitutional republic with a directly elected president and a unicameral legislature. In 2012 the ruling All People's Congress (APC) party won an expanded majority in parliament, and citizens re-elected President Ernest Bai Koroma in peaceful multi-party elections. Authorities maintained effective control over the security forces. Security forces committed human rights abuses. Major human rights problems included prolonged detention and imprisonment under harsh and life-threatening conditions in prisons and jails; widespread official corruption in all branches of government; and trafficking in persons, including for child labor. Other major human rights problems included abusive treatment by police; arbitrary arrest and detention; some restrictions on freedoms of press and assembly; discrimination and violence against women and girls, including female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C); official and societal discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals; discrimination against those with disabilities; and vigilante violence. The Anti-Corruption Commission investigated and prosecuted cases of corruption in a nonpartisan fashion, but achieved only limited success before the judiciary. Impunity remained a serious concern.