By: Ilyasa Baa
The Minister of Information and Communications (MIC), Mohamed Rado Swaray has described the latest report from Amnesty International on the August 10 demonstration as one without context.
He said the researchers did not establish context on some of the areas they touched on especially the area dealing with police victimization. He noted that survivors of officers killed during the protests were never talked to or mentioned in the report. He pointed out that there are lessons to be learnt so far as the report is concerned. “One of the lessons learned from that report is the fact that demonstrators should not allow ill-motivated people to misuse them as they did on August 10th”, he reiterated.
“If recruited to go out to the street to demonstrate, please ask the person mobilizing you who is leading or whether his family members are going to join”, the Minister warned.
He expressed regret over the loss of precious lives noting that the setting up of a special committee to investigate the root course of the chaos that took place in August last year, is a demonstration of the Government’s commitment towards sanity and sustainable peace and development in the country. The Minister has informed the general public that the report or findings of the special committee headed by lawyer Saffa Abdulai will be released in a couple of days.
Amnesty International insists its report is not a witch-hunt. According to Jaiah Kai Kai, the report covers every aspect including that of the police.
“Those in governance are always not happy with our reports, he said, adding that Amnesty International applauded the Government of Sierra Leone when it repealed Part Five of the Criminal Libel Law although they are still concerned that Part Three which criminalises spontaneous gatherings is still part and parcel of the law books of Sierra Leone.
He called on the SLP as a state institution to work on the recommendations proffered in the report. He said that based on the report, the Government has to ensure it provides adequate support towards the police force. He further informed that the research was drawn from their Headquarters in Lindon, the Regional Office in Dakar and members of the branch office in Freetown joined the team for the findings.