By Allieu Sahid Tunkara
A Media Reform Coordinating Group (MRCG) report 2019 captures arrests, detentions, prosecutions and harassment of journalists who come into conflict with the country’s media laws.
In Sierra Leone, almost all media practitioners face similar situations in diverse forms prior to the promulgation of the report.
They still continue to suffer same after the report is brought within public domain.
The report highlights among others, Augusta Ethel Turay, Alie Kamara and Umaru.
The aforementioned journalists are not only subjected to indiscriminate arrests and detentions but also to harassment by a great many Sierra Leoneans especially those in high places.
Few months back, a female journalist, Esther Samura of the state-owned broadcaster, the Sierra Leone Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) had a bitter encounter with the Presidential guards.
The brutal encounter left her hospitalised, and the officer removed from the nominal roll of personnel guarding the presidency.
Almost invariably, an investigative journalist, Fayia Amara Fayia also of SLBC was manhandled by security operatives. The journalist now sits on a wheel chair after the brutality meted him by army and police officers.
It is not clear whether an investigation into the alleged physical assault has been initiated.
The aforementioned instances portray Sierra Leone as unsafe place for journalists during peace and emergency situations.
But, it is during emergency periods that journalists’ vulnerability is made much more visible.
The proclamation of a state of public emergency by the throne was one of the greatest measures to combat Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19). The proclamation set the pace for subsequent actions by government to curb the spread of the virus.
The three-day and 14-day national lockdowns are products of the tough measure.
The three-day lockdown was meant to restrain the movement of persons from one place to another to ease the work of health officials and 14-day is a form of curfew between 9pm to 6am to cut down on the period people stay on the streets.
In either case, the government sends a loud a clear message to Sierra Leoneans that Corona Virus is real and that the people must comply with directives of health professionals.
During the periods, specified agencies and personnel are allowed to move to carry out their work.
But, journalists, except few with security passes, are not allowed to venture the streets. The movement of journalists during prohibited hours is considered a breach of state laws apart from the media laws the government usually invoke to harass journalists.
The restriction on the movement of journalists during lockdowns is confirmed by the Sierra Leone Police, through its spokesman, Superintendent Ibrahim Kamara.
He told Nightwatch that the movement of journalists on the streets is a violation of state laws.
“Journalists are equally subject to the laws of the state like any other Sierra Leonean,” Supt. Kamara said in an interview prior to the three-day lockdown.
When asked about the distance someone could move from their house to another probably out of a welfare need, the police spokesman says he would not open a “Pandora’s Box” on the issue of movement from one place to another.
“All I can say here is that people must obey the law,” he stressed.
By his responses, the police spokesman tacitly called for a zero-tolerance on the movement of persons from one place to another including journalists.
The Ministry of Information and Communication (MOIC) is the ministry responsible for the affairs of journalists in Sierra Leone.
The ministry seems helpless in upholding the dignity of the country’s media practitioners.
Since the inception of national lockdowns, MOIC has instituted a security pass system for media practitioners.
Those with security passes venture the streets since they are considered by MOIC as the accredited ones while those without stay indoors.
The discrimination in the award of security passes to journalists is the bone of contention between government and media practitioners.
Most media practitioners have alleged that the process of awarding security passes is unfair.
“Those who get the passes are those in the good books of government, while the critical ones are left out,” an editor of one of the respectable newspapers said.
In direct response to the perceived government discrimination, most veteran journalists have expressed strong views on the action which they refer to as illegal.
This article explores the plethora of declarations, conventions and local laws that uphold the dignity and freedom of media practitioners.
The first codified human rights document, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), 1948 guarantees freedom of the press and media practitioners.
Article 19 of the UDHR reads: “Everyone has the right to their own opinions, and be able to express them freely. We should have the right to share our ideas with who we want, and in whichever way we choose.”
Seven decades after the declaration of the UDHR, the rights contained therein continue to form the basis for all international human rights law.
The UDHR gave birth to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), 1966 and the International Covenants on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights also 1966 commonly referred to as the ‘Twin Covenants.’
For the purpose of this article, the ICCPR, 1966 is paid attention to considering that it contains a provision that guarantees press freedom in article 19. It reads:
“Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers either orally, in writing or in print…”
Similarly, the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, 1981 also known as the Banjul Charter goes in support of preceding conventions.
Article 9 of the Charter reads:
“Every individual shall have the right to receive information. Every individual shall have the right to express and disseminate his opinions within the law.”
Since Sierra Leone is a signatory to the aforementioned conventions, she has made brilliant effort to ratify and domesticate the provisions into the country’s supreme law.
Section 25(1) of the Constitution of Sierra Leone Act No. 6 of 1991 says:
“…No person shall be hindered in the enjoyment of his freedom of expression, and for the purpose of this section, the said freedom includes the freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart ideas and information without interference.”
By implication, the clauses and provisions mentioned in this article, according to veteran journalists, support media practitioners to move in search of information unhindered.
The journalists’ argument is supported by section 11 of the same constitution which says:
“The press, radio and television shall, at all times, be free to uphold the fundamental objectives contained in this constitution and to highlight the responsibility and accountability of government to the people.”
The underlying argument here is that if the media are free, at all times, to uphold the fundamental objectives in the constitution, the media practitioners should also be free to move in search of information during times of peace, emergencies and even war situations.
Besides, the promulgation of the Right to Access Information Act of 2012 marked a fundamental turning point in the country’s media landscape.
Thus, the initiation of the security pass strategy by government would collapse in the face of the explored provisions of international and local laws by this article.