The ECOWAS Court has ordered the Sierra Leonean government to pay a compensation of 15,000 dollars in damages each to two of its citizens, for violating their rights to security.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the two citizens, Hassan Kargbo and Mohamed Fornah, had filed the suit seeking to enforce their rights following the violent quelling of protests by security forces.
The police and army had allegedly used live ammunition and tear gas against unarmed young demonstrators, causing deaths and injuring many.
Justice Gberi-Bè Ouattara, delivering judgment on behalf of the three-member panel presided by Justice Ricardo Gonçalves, with Justice Edward Asante sitting, held that Sierra Leone violated the applicants’ fundamental rights.
The court noted that the Sierra Leonean government failed in its obligation to the applicants, and neither appeared nor presented a defence before the court.
The Community Court, therefore, delivered the judgment against Sierra Leone by default.
It also ordered the government of Sierra Leone to conduct an investigation to identify and prosecute those responsible for the violence, which occurred in Makeni on 17 and 18 July 2020.
The court further ordered the state to take measures to prevent the excessive use of force during peaceful demonstrations in the country going forward.
The court, however, declared as inadmissible the claim of the applicants who had presented themselves as the dead victims’ rightful heirs for failure to provide proof of their death and of their kinship with the victims.
NAN reports that the applicants had instituted the suit alleging violations of their fundamental rights, right to security, right to life and the right to effective remedy during the Makeni incident.
Several victims, including Foday Kargbo, Mohamed Sillah and Alusine Sesay, died as a result of this crackdown.
