How the Externship is Changing my Ideas about the Law

By Wilbri John, Extern, LAWYERS

Before coming in contact with AdvocAid, I had decided that I will work more as a Solicitor and less as a Barrister.  I thought I was better-off in an office environment than in the court room.  Seeing women in conflict with the law; most of them without any legal representation, juvenile imprisoned with adult and the unfair and unjust treatment meted on people especially less privilege, I have decided that when I become a lawyer, I will put a lot of effort in advocating for such people.

When interviewing victims or listening to cases discussed by fellow paralegals I have come to realize that the theoretical and the practical part of the law have many differences in Sierra Leone.  I’ve been to a court sitting to see that the accused did not have a lawyer.  He did cross examination himself.  He was an illiterate and needed an interpreter to interpret everything to him; the questions asked by the lawyer of the plaintiff and by the magistrates.  According to the law, the accused must be provided with a lawyer if he cannot afford one but that is hardly done unless certain human rights lawyers come across such cases and decide to represent them.

My Thoughts on Victims' Experience of the Justice System

By Anrite, Extern, Defence for Children

I helped in a research project with a Canadian student of law on victims and during the short period that I assisted, I was able to observe, evaluate and reach possible conclusions on a number of issues with regards to victims, their family and the outcome of these cases.

I was able to conclude that ninety percent (90%) of these victims are generally uninformed about the due process of the law and most do not even understand why the law or the trial should operate in a particular fashion.  For instance, most do not know why the case is being committed to the High Court or why it takes a long time for cases to come up in the High Court.  In the midst of these uncertainties, there have emerged four different classes of victims who respond to the system in various and conflicting ways.

There are those who have the endurance to withstand the rigid and complex process of the law and are actively involved despite the long period of almost two and half years, which is usually the approximate time frame that these cases take before final judgement is delivered.  Though not always, they are mostly the average income earners who are able to do a constant follow-up with the police officers or court registrar that has been assigned to a case.  After two years and five months, a single mother was able to hear the judgement of her daughter’s abusers.  She was only able to do so by thorough follow-up.

There are those who may want to take an active part in the process but are not properly informed and do not have the resources to do the necessary follow-up.   Although few in this class are not informed when their case is called upon in the High Court because they might have changed address or their address could not be located as was in the case of a victim whose parents thought that the case has never been called upon when in fact the case has been called for almost two months in the High Court.  They only know when I was able to trace them and informed them of the development of which they were totally oblivious of.

The quite majority of victims fall to the class in which they become frustrated because of the very long - time over a year, that the cases have to wait before it is being called upon in the High Court.  Most of them are ignorant of the reason for this unnecessary delay and as such lose faith and interest in the trials.  They forget about the trial and brand the justice system as unjust and ineffective.  There had been quite a number of victims whose parents I have called and they told me that the system have failed them, they do not want to have anything to do with the court again and they are tired of waiting.  The worst part is that some of them during this period are almost always reluctant to continue with any form of trial or even be reminded of the case.

The least group are those who settle for less.  They accept monetary consideration from the family of the accused and strike a compromise in which they will not participate in any form of trial.  This is in line with some form of African culture and a particular victim’s father told me that they are very poor, they cannot afford constant transportation to go to court or even afford a lawyer and it would only be a long futile journey to engage in any form of trial and the family and child’s name will be negatively branded.

My Most Memorable Client Interview

By Esther Kabia, Extern, LAWYERS

From what I learnt, the interview room at LAWYERS had seen its fair share of tears, but this was my first during an interview.

The young lady came into the office on the 13^th December 2011.  I could see she was badly hurt, so I asked if she had gone for a medical report and treatment.  She boldly answered yes although she claimed she had left the necessary documents at home (I learnt later that she had never been).

She was evasive and refused to face me.  She was reluctant at first, and referred to me as Isata when I had introduced myself as Esther.  I was at a loss.  I had an opportunity to practice all I had learnt about client interview, yet my client wasn’t cooperating and it didn’t seem to be working.  It seemed that the young lady had not wanted to come forward on the issue.  Perhaps she had done so to appease the lady who had referred her to the office, someone whom I understood she held in high regard.

I was determined to make it work, and of work it did.  After almost 15minutes of meaningless chatter, she gave in.  I encouraged, persuaded and cajoled her.  She had been adamant, yet in an instant, something snapped and she burst into tears.  I gave her a hog and this was when she warmed up to me and started talking.  Phew!  My interview was on.

It turned out she had an abusive partner.  For any trivial reason he would beat her up and then to add to her injury, he would take their two year old daughter either to his mother or to a particular “lady lover” of his.  She had been cohabiting with him since 2007 and this had always been the case.  He provided n support for her she stated, yet he always took part of her meager salary as a waitress at a local restaurant.  This had fueled the argument which led to her severe beating this particular time.  She said “I don’t want a case, I don’t want to go to court, I don’t even want to return to his house.  All I want is my daughter.”

I gave the necessary legal advice and consolation.  I had a word with the Administrative Officer and set an appointment for my client.  My client left with a promise to show up for the appointment (a promise she never kept) and my phone number.

My client had left no contact number and when I visited her place of work I learnt she no longer worked there.  I spoke with the Administrative Officer and she assured me this was no unusual occurrence.  Some clients she said will not show up after the first visit, would never call and that would be the end of the case.

I am writing this post because I got call from this young lady.  She sounded different.  She informed me she had returned to her village to reside with her mother and raise her daughter.  She had been apprehensive of the legal clinic, however, it turned out she had used it and part of what she gained during out interview against her partner.  A partial illiterate himself, words like domestic violence, maintenance, court, trial, human rights abuse had led him to take his leave of her she stated.  She stated that he sent an undecided amount of money monthly for his child’s upkeep.  She sounded happy and promised to come see me at the office next she was in town.  

Putting a Stop to Domestic Violence

By Alimamy Koroma, Extern, AdvocAid

Domestic violence generally refers to any form of violence between members of a household.  In Sierra Leone and particularly in the provinces where illiteracy is tremendously high, domestic violence is often perpetrated by men against their wives or partners who because of cultural reasons, ignorance and dependency cannot break from such chains of abuse.

Although there is no comprehensive statistics about the magnitude of the problem,  most experts nonetheless believe on average 6 out of every 10 women in Sierra Leone suffer some form of physical abuse from their partners at least five times a year. It is believed that hundreds of these cases result in serious physical and emotional impairment including deaths. In Portloko for example, which is one of the most impoverished districts in the country, domestic violence is so common that most people do not think of it as a crime, despite the series of laws recently passed by the government to protect women and the frantic efforts of human rights organizations to ensure compliance. According to the Police Superintendent attached to the Family Support Unit of the Portloko Central Police Station, men perceive their wives as personal properties and therefore have absolute rights to beat, kick or even smash them as and when they feel like. She said “Most times the women are hesitant to come to the station for fear of family abandonment and stigma. The few women who flee to our rescue only do so when the situation has spiraled out of control and the level of violence suffered by some simply defies beliefs. One woman came with half of her body burnt, after her husband had thrown hot water at her for being late to prepare the meal”. Stories like these are unfortunately far way too common, with women being beaten for all sorts of reasons, including for cooking late, for asking questions and for even staring at their husbands!

As mentioned earlier, the government in 2007 passed the DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ACT whose preamble states its purpose as “… to suppress domestic violence, to provide protection for the victims of domestic violence, and to provide for other related matters.” The act gives a very wide definition to the problem and goes on to provide for various protection orders for victims. But, five years after, men continue to brutalize their wives and the vexing question therefore is why?

I suppose cultural perception of marriage is one of the fundamental reasons for the problem and any effort aimed at reducing domestic violence must hence take cognizance of this. Given that most women are illiterates, their identities are defined solely by marriage status and an unmarried woman or worse still a divorced woman is an embarrassment both to her family and to society. It is not surprising therefore that even in the face of death women refuse to say no to violent relationships. Take for example, a friend, who has been in a violent relationship with a man for whom she has two wonderful sons. Recently, after a minor disagreement concerning a nagging neighbor, he beat her up until she passed out and then threw her belongings out of the house. As one of the few men in the family, I had to go and pick her belongings out of the compound and brought her and the kids to the family home. When encouraged to take the matter to police she refused claiming it will bring curse to her sons. Two months without  her matrimonial home proved too much to bear and one morning she told me she had to go back because “She is too ashamed to be a divorcee”. I was disappointed that she returned and every night I have nightmares that her husband might kill her one day.

Economic dependency on men could also be a major factor as it makes women absolutely powerless to take decisions. Most landlords in the provinces refuse to rent properties to a woman mostly because they doubt their capacity to pay but also because of the stigma of a single, independent woman. I am of the firm conviction that domestic violence would hardly stop as long as men continue to be sole breadwinners of families. An independent woman is no doubt a respected one.

And finally, silence and inaction on the part of victims of domestic violence is arguably the greatest stumbling block against ending this social disgrace. No matter what anyone does, coward men who beat up their wives would continue to go unpunished as long as their victims remain silent and do nothing. This is not in any way meant to blame victims for the problem. But how can the law take effects if the primary witnesses refuse to give evidence or are unwilling to even report the crimes in the first place? The message to women in abusive relationships is therefore you are too precious to be reduced into punching bags. Sierra Leone is a civilized country which does not condone anyone beating up their fellow human beings. The law criminalizes domestic violence and next time you suffer abuse from the hands of your partner, do not remain silent, instead report it to the police or come to ADVOCAID at 39 Liverpool Street, Freetown or any other human rights organizations. We are here to help you.

Another Case of Delayed Justice

By Anrite, Extern, Defence for Children

An eight years old girl was sexually abused.  The parents took the matter to the police station and it was sent to the Magistrate Court for preliminary investigations. Since it is a felony offence, the Magistrate Court does not have jurisdiction to try and proffer judgment but they conducted the preliminary investigations to determine whether there is sufficient evidence for the case to be committed to the High Court for trial. 

Amazingly, after first hearing, the case took almost eleven weeks before it was heard again.  This is because the Magistrate was absent without any known justification for such a long time when the fate of both victim and accused were in his hands.  After reports to higher authorities, he started coming and with the help of the active participation of the young girl and other witnesses plus the medical evidence, the case was committed to High Court.  That gave a little sign of relief.  And though the parents were of the view that they will not have to wait long for the case to come up, it has been five months and it is quite probable that they will have to wait for twelve to eighteen months before the case comes up in the High Court.  This begs the question, why the incredible delay?