SIERRA LEONE Country correspondent: Me/ron C Nicoi-Wilson; LLB (Hons) (Sierra Leone), LLM (Human Rights and Constitutional Practice) (Pretoria), BL; Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of Sierra Leone and Executive Director, Lawyers' Centre for Legal Assistance, Sierra Leone ( 1) BASIC FACTS Independence: 27 April 1961, former British colony Leader: Ahmed Tejan Kabbah, born 1932, head of state since1996 Capital: Freetown (main seaport and international airport) Other major city: Bo, Kenema, Makeni Area: 71 740 km 2 Population: 5,2, mn (2000) Population growth: 2,6% Urbanisation: 40% (2000) Languages: English (official), Temne, Limba, Mende, Krio HDI rank: 162 {1999) Life expectancy at birth: 38 years ( 1999) Adult literacy rate: 32% (1999) Gross enrolment ratio (all educational levels): 27% ( 1994) GNP: $762 mn GNP/capita: $180 (1995) GDP (average annual growth rate): -4,2% (1990-95) Foreign debt: $1 226 mn (1995); as% of GNP: 161% Development aid: $188 mn {1995); as% of GNP: 28% Currency: Leone (Le) Comments: Decades of bad government have ruined the fragile economy. The transition from single-party to multi-party politics was disrupted by the civil war in neighbouring Liberia, which spilt over into Sierra Leone. Junior army officers overthrew President Joseph Momoh's government in April 1992 and Captain Valentine Strasser became the military ruler. In January 1996 Strasser was deposed by military colleagues who restored civilian rule after multi-party elections held in February-March 1996. The ECOMOG states, led by Nigeria, intervened militarily when, in May and June 1997, junior military officers overthrew the government of President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah, but without success. By March 1998 the rebels had been driven from the capital and President Kabbah and his cabinet were re­ instated. The civil war nevertheless continued, until 2001 when a large United Nations peacekeeping force began to gain control of the situation. On the Special Court for Sierra Leone, see volume I of this publication. (2) COUNTRY REPORT Historical background Early history: The earliest inhabitants of Sierra Leone are the Limbas and the Sherbros. Most of today's ethnic groups entered the country after 1400 as a result of disturbances elsewhere in the region. In 1427 a Portuguese explorer, Pedro DA Cintra visited the country and gave it the name " Sierra Lyoa" which in Portuguese means "Lion Mountain"- after the shape of the Freetown peninsular. The name was later changed to Sierra Leone. Inhabitants of the country were taken into slavery during the slave trade. In 1787, 356 "Black Poor" and 100 whites left Britain to establish a colony in Sierra Leone, although few survived their first two years. 1474 SIERRA LEONE In 1792, 200 freed slaves, many of them refugees from the American war of independence, arrived from Halifax and established a permanent settlement they called Freetown (the present capital). The settlers became known as the Creoles, over time developing their own language, "Krio", based on English. 1791: On 6 June 1791 the British House of Commons passed the Sierra Leone Company Act, setting up a Government for Sierra Leone, colonial in form and content, controlled by the Directors of a Company of Merchants resident in England. 1808 - 1938: On 1 January 1808 the British Government declared a Sierra Leone a Crown Colony and extended its influence and rule to the rest of the country in 1896. A Governor was sent from Britain to administer the country. On 26 September 1812, the Governor established a Court (Act No 6 of 181 2). 1951 - 1956: The British Government issued an Order in Council, Public Notice No 1 06 of 1951, which introduced the 1 951 Constitution of Sierra Leone. This Constitution provided for a Legislative and Executive Council and for an unofficial majority. It intended to introduce representative government. A statutory instrument of 1956 changed the title of the legislature from Legislative Council to House of Representatives. 1961: On 14 April the Sierra Leone Constitution Order in Council was laid before the British Parliament. The Constitution of Sierra Leone was an Appendix to the Order. Parliament then passed the Sierra Leone Independence Act 1961 and so relinquished responsibility for the Government of Sierra Leone, transferring its powers and authorities therein to the Government and people of Sierra Leone. The Constitution for the first time in the history of the country contained an entrenched Bill of Rights. 1971: On 19 April, by a majority of 53 to 10, the Sierra Leone Parliament passed a Republican Constitution, which replaced the position of a Governor-General with that of an Executive President. 1978: Parliament passed the one party Republican Constitution, which provided that the All Peoples Congress Party is the only recognised party in the Republic, thus making all political opposition illegal. Section 5 of that Constitution subjected the rights and liberties of all Sierra Leoneans to the rights and liberties of the then recognised party. 1991: Sierra Leone returned to multi-party democracy with the enactment of the 1 991 Constitution, which allowed individuals to form political parties. The Constitution also guaranteed a number of fundamental rights and freedoms. In March of this year the Revolutionary United Front of Sierra Leone (RUF), led by Foday Sankoh and supported by Charles Taylor, entered Sierra Leone from neighbouring Liberia and launched an armed rebellion to overthrow the one-party rule of the All Peoples Congress Party (APC), headed by retired Major-General Joseph Saidu Momoh. 1992: A military coup removed the Momoh Government and suspended the Constitution. In December of the same year 24 individuals were executed for an alleged coup attempt just 24 hours after the plot was uncovered. 1992 - 1996: The civil war deteriorated into a campaign of brutality against innocent and unarmed civilians. Thousands of men, women and children were deliberately and arbitrarily killed or had their hands, arms, limbs or other body parts amputated by the RUF. Rape and other forms of sexual violence against girls and women became widespread and systematic. The Government forces committed extra-judicial killings, torture and ill treatment of suspected 1475 .