BRIEFING ON SIERRA LEONE FOR THE COMMITTEE AGAINST
TORTURE
52 session, April/May 2014
nd
From Dr Sharon Owen, Research and Information Coordinator, Global Initiative
info@endcorporalpunishment.org
This briefing describes the legality of corporal punishment of children in
Sierra Leone. In light of the obligation under international human rights
law to prohibit all corporal punishment of children, the
recommendations of the UN Secretary-General’s Study on Violence
against Children and the recommendations to Sierra Leone by the
Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Truth and Reconciliation
Commission, we hope the Committee Against Torture, in its concluding
observations on the initial state party report, will:
recommend to Sierra Leone that corporal punishment of children
is explicitly prohibited in all settings, including the home, and that
all legal defences and justifications for its use in childrearing are
repealed.
1 Sierra Leone’s report to the Committee
1.1 In its initial report to the Committee Against Torture, the Government of Sierra Leone refers to the
recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to abolish corporal
punishment in relation to the Prison Ordinance and Rules and to persons deprived of their liberty.1
There is no reference to corporal punishment specifically of children, whether in relation to
children in detention or in any other setting.
1.2 The obligation under human rights law to prohibit and eliminate corporal punishment of children,
including in their homes, is one frequently ignored or evaded by Governments. In fact, the Truth
and Reconciliation Commission expressed considerable concern about corporal punishment of
children and made strong recommendations for its prohibition. For the information of the
Committee Against Torture, we reproduce the Commission’s remarks and recommendations here
1
9 September 2013, CAY/C/SLE/1, Initial state party report, para. 69
1
(emphasis added):2
“Every person has the right not to be treated or punished in a cruel, inhuman or degrading way. In
particular every child has the right to be protected from maltreatment, neglect, abuse or
degradation.
“Children suffered gross physical abuse at the hands of adults in the Sierra Leonean conflict.
Children are still subject to institutional physical abuse through the use of corporal punishment at
schools and in homes. The government school system that arose in the days of colonial rule
adopted nineteenth-century British traditions of school discipline, including that of beating
children.
“Corporal punishment is inflicted with the intention of causing physical pain and humiliation. The
use of beatings for purposes of correcting behaviour in schools legitimises violence as a means to
control behaviour more generally. This message goes out to both children and adults. The
message says that hurting others is acceptable behaviour. The consequence of corporal
punishment is to encourage physical aggression throughout society.
“Many children are left with physical and psychological scars as a result of corporal punishment.
For some children, physical scars and disabilities remain a life-long reminder of the educational
system’s brutality. Children are entitled to receive education in an environment of freedom and
dignity, free from fear.
“Children are the future of Sierra Leone. There is no justification for permitting another
generation of children to be subjected to brutality, whether this is in the name of education or
ideology. The Commission recommends the outlawing of corporal punishment against
children, whether this be in schools or the home. This is an imperative recommendation.
“The criminal law of Sierra Leone should be amended so as to declare that it shall not be a
defence to a charge of assault to say force was used against a child for the purposes of
discipline. This is an imperative recommendation.”
1.3 There has been little progress since the recommendations of the TRC in 2004 towards prohibiting
corporal punishment of children. The Child Act 2007 prohibits corporal punishment only as a
sentence for crime. Legislation continues to confirm the right of parents and others to “administer
punishment” and to impose “justifiable” correction on a child. We hope the Committee Against
Torture will recommend strongly that Sierra Leone implement the recommendations of the
Truth and Reconciliation Commission by explicitly prohibiting corporal punishment of
children in all settings and repealing all legal defences for its use in childrearing and
education.
2 The legality and practice of corporal punishment of children in Sierra Leone
2.1 Summary: In Sierra Leone, corporal punishment is unlawful as a sentence for crime but it is lawful
in all other settings – the home, alternative care settings, day care, schools and penal institutions.
2.2 Home (lawful): Article 3 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Children Act 1926 confirms “the right of
any parent, teacher or other person having the lawful control or charge of a child to administer
punishment to such child”. Despite the recommendations from the Sierra Leone Truth and
Reconciliation Commission in 2004 to prohibit corporal punishment in the home and schools
(para. 1.2, above), prohibition was not included in the Child Rights Act 2007. The 2007 Act does
not repeal article 3 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Children Act 1926; on the contrary, it confirms
the concept of “reasonable” and “justifiable” correction, stating in article 33(2): “No correction of
2
Witness to Truth: Report of the Sierra Leone Truth & Reconciliation Commission, Vol. 2, paras. 88-93
2
a child is justifiable which is unreasonable in kind or in degree according to the age, physical and
mental condition of the child and no correction is justifiable if the child by reason of tender age or
otherwise is incapable of understanding the purpose of the correction.”
2.3 UNICEF’s major analysis of child discipline data from 2005-2006, published in 2010, found that in
Sierra Leone 92% of children aged 2-14 were subjected to violent “discipline” (physical
punishment and/or psychological aggression) in the month prior to the survey, with a quarter of
children being severely physically punished (hit or slapped on the face, head or ears or hit over
and over with an implement).3
2.4 Alternative care settings (lawful): Corporal punishment is lawful in alternative care settings (foster
care, institutions, emergency care, places of safety, etc) under article 3 of the Prevention of
Cruelty to Children Act 1926 and article 33(2) of the Child Rights Act 2007 (see para. 2.2).
2.5 Day care (lawful): Corporal punishment is lawful in early childhood care and in day care for older
children under article 3 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Children Act 1926 and article 33(2) of the
Child Rights Act 2007 (see para. 2.2).
2.6 Schools (lawful): Corporal punishment is lawful under article 3 of the Prevention of Cruelty to
Children Act 1926 and article 33(2) of the Child Rights Act 2007 (see para. 2.2). Despite the
recommendations of the Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission to prohibit corporal
punishment in schools (para. 1.2, above), the Education Act 2004 is silent on the issue.
2.7 Penal institutions (lawful): Article 73 of the Prison Rules 1960 and article 57 of the Prison
Ordinance 1961 allow for corporal punishment. Also applicable are the provisions allowing
punishment/correction of a child in article 3 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Children Act 1926
and article 33(2) of the Child Rights Act 2007 (see para. 2.2). The Constitution 1991 states in
article 20 that no person shall be subject to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment but
also states: “Nothing contained in or done under the authority of any law shall be held to be
inconsistent with or in contravention of this section to the extent that the law in question
authorises the infliction of any kind of punishment which was lawful immediately before the
entry into force of this Constitution.”
2.8 A Correctional Services Bill is under discussion which would abolish sentencing with hard labour:
we do not know if it would explicitly prohibit corporal punishment. As at February 2013, the Bill
was awaiting enactment.4
2.9 Sentence for crime (unlawful): Corporal punishment is unlawful under the Child Rights Act 2007,
which repeals the Corporal Punishment Act 1960.
3 Recommendations by human rights treaty bodies and during the UPR
3.1 CRC: The Committee on the Rights of the Child has twice recommended that legislation be
enacted to explicitly prohibit corporal punishment in all settings, including the family – in its
concluding observations on the state party’s initial report in 20005 and on the second report in
2008.6
3.2 CEDAW: In 2007, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women expressed
concern at the acceptability of physical chastisement of family members and recommended a
comprehensive approach to deal with all forms of violence against women, though did not make a
specific recommendation on corporal punishment.7
3
UNICEF (2010), Child Disciplinary Practices at Home: Evidence from a Range of Low- and Middle-Income Countries,
NY: UNICEF
4
9 September 2013, CAT/C/SLE/1, Initial state party report, paras. 38 and 70
5
24 February 2000, CRC/C/15/Add.116, Concluding observations on initial report, paras. 34, 35, 46 and 47
6
20 June 2008, CRC/C/SLE/CO/2, Concluding observations on second report, paras. 35 and 36
7
11 June 2007, CEDAW/C/SLE/CO/5, Concluding observations on initial/second/third/fourth/fifth report, paras. 24 and 25
3
3.3 UPR: Sierra Leone was examined in the first cycle of the Universal Periodic Review in 2011
(session 11). No recommendations were made concerning corporal punishment of children.
However, the Government accepted a number of recommendations to protect and promote the
rights of children.8
Briefing prepared by the Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children
www.endcorporalpunishment.org; info@endcorporalpunishment.org
April 2014
8
11 July 2011, A/HRC/18/10, Report of the working group, paras. 80(16), 80(24), 81(17) and 81(18)
4
