This past Monday, a Court Martial in Freetown passed death sentences for 34 soldiers accused of treason and other offenses. In light of the lack of a right to appeal, several of those sentenced todeath have submitted petitions to the United Nations Human Rights Committee as provided for by the Optional Protocol, to which Sierra Leone has been a State Party since August 1996. More petitions from those sentenced are likely to follow. We call on your government to adhere to its obligations as a Party to the Optional Protocol and allow the petition process to run its due course. To do so would send a clear and positive message to the Sierra Leonean people as well as the international community emphasizing your government's will to make human rights a priority while holding perpetrators accountable under due process of national and international law.
Executions are irreversible, and such miscarriages of justice can never be corrected.
Furthermore, Human Rights Watch objects to capital punishment in all countries and in all circumstances due to its inherent cruelty. During this particularly difficult and formative period in Sierra Leonean history, we would encourage the government of Sierra Leone to maintain national reconciliation as a priority while dispensing justice and holding perpetrators fully accountable for human rights abuses. With this in mind, if the death penalty is upheld, action from the Prerogative of Mercy Committee in accordance with Sierra Leonean law would be appropriate. In this case, as head of the Committee, we appeal to your Excellency to commute the death sentences. We would further urge the Committee to closely follow the cases of the 16 civilians sentenced to death in August for treason and other charges and intervene at the appropriate moment if their sentence is upheld by the appeals court.