In 2009, Sierra Leone had an estimated population of 5.7 million people, with a growth rate of 2.5%. The economy was largely based on agriculture and services such as banking and tourism. Foreign relations were mainly focused on trade agreements with the African Union, United Nations and other countries in the region. In terms of politics, Sierra Leone was a democratic republic with a president as head of state. In 2009, Ernest Bai Koroma was the president at that time and his party had a majority in both houses of Parliament. See internetsailors for Sierra Leone in the year of 2011.
Yearbook 2009
Sierra Leone. According to countryaah, the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone began planning its settlement after the final three cases were closed. The three highest surviving leaders of the former rebel movement Revolutionary United Front (RUF) were found guilty of a host of war crimes and crimes against humanity and were sentenced to 52, 40 and 25 years in prison, respectively. All three appealed, but the higher court upheld the sentence. Thus, only one case remains before the court, the trial of Liberian former President Charles Taylor, but it is being conducted for security reasons in The Hague in the Netherlands. Remaining in Sierra Leone now becomes a smaller staff force to handle the Taylor trial and the transfer of sentenced to prisons abroad. See ABBREVIATIONFINDER for abbreviation SL which stands for the nation of Sierra Leone.
The State Commission Against Corruption announced that during the first half of the year it had succeeded in recovering the equivalent of approximately SEK 2 billion that had been withheld through corruption. The money was withdrawn from companies and senior government officials. In November, two ministers were dismissed and charged with corruption.
On Independence Day, April 27, 2016, 29 were arrested and detained for more than a week each week for participating in a march organized by the opposition party Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP). Police stated that the party had not been authorized to conduct the march, and then used tear gas to get it dissolved. Several people were injured, including the woman leader Lulu Sheriff. In August, 6 of the 29 were sentenced to 6 months in prison and 1 was sentenced to 9 months in prison. The judgments were appealed. At the end of the year, a similar case from April 2015 was ongoing, in which 15 SLPP members and one member of the Human Rights Commission were indicted.
In August, two people were shot and killed by Kabala police during protests against the demolition of a planned youth training center. The town was then put into emergency mode after several buildings were burned down. Seventeen participants were charged in court for arson and rioting. The newly created Independent Police Complaints Unit conducted an investigation into the process, following information that police had used excessive force. The unit’s investigation and recommendations to the state prosecutor and police chief were kept secret.
In 2016, the country was subjected to the UN Human Rights Council’s regular review (UPR). The 208 report was published in April. Sierra Leone stated that it would comply with 177 of them, but it would not prohibit genital mutilation, allow pregnant girls to go to school, or guarantee LGBTI people’s human rights. In September, the country was examined by the Committee on the Rights of the Child, which made various recommendations regarding sexual exploitation and circumcision.
Defense and security
Although the civil war has now been over for more than ten years and the soldiers of the NATO peacekeeping mission M inusil have managed to disarm and rehabilitate 70,000 guerrillas, the Sierra Leonean army still plays an important role. The 10,500 Sierra Leonean soldiers no longer hold the predominant political role they played in the decades following independence from the United Kingdom, when some of the leaders who came to power came directly from the military ranks. However, the armed and police forces are still decisive in the operations of border control and diamond mining areas, as well as in those of maintaining order and fighting corruption and drug traffickers.
On the Sierra Leonean territory there are Canadian, Jamaican, Nigerian, American and British soldiers (the latter represent the largest group), enrolled within the international military training team (I matt) which since 2002 has the task of assisting and preparing Sierra Leonean troops in ensuring order and security in the country.
The stability of the country was judged to be potentially jeopardized by the possible proliferation of jihadist phenomena already present in West Africa. In particular, the greatest security threat is represented by the al-Shabaab group, as Sierra Leone participates in the African Union mission in Somalia (Amisom) with 850 men and the Somali terrorist group has repeatedly threatened the contributing countries. to the international operation. Furthermore, the Sierra Leone army is in charge of the largely symbolic participation in multilateral organizations: a contingent of 6 soldiers is engaged in the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Sudan (Unamid), while some observers were present in Lebanon, Nepal and East Timor, respectively through the Unifil, Unmin and Unmit missions.