Sierra Leone Freedoms

1189 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Civil liberties constitutional protection

Sierra Leone is a country that is considered free country with 6.1 million people living there. Sierra Leone was being slowly established as a Democratic state after a civil war took place from 1991 to 2002. Sierra Leone is now considered an electoral democracy after its November elections were generally peaceful, with police responding to a few instances of electoral misconduct. The status of Sierra Leone is Free with a freedom rating of 2.5 with1 being the best and 7 being the worst. The civil liberties score for Sierra Leone is 3 with 1 being the best 7 being the worst and a score of 2 for political rights based on the same scale. The new constitution was established in 1991, and has a section titled, The Recognition and Protection of Fundamental Human Rights and Freedoms of the Individual. In the Freedom of Speech section the constitution states, “There shall be freedom of speech, debate and proceedings in Parliament and that freedom shall not be impeached or questioned in any court or place out of Parliament” (Sierra Leone Constitution). While freedoms of speech and the press are constitutionally guaranteed, they are not always respected in practice. In recent years discussion of a freedom of information bill has been ongoing for several years, in 2009 the government figures pledged their support and in June 2010 the cabinet approved the bill. Since then the progress of the bill has halted. Sierra Leone is not completely cut off from the media. “The government made significant progress toward reforming and strengthening electoral institutions and soliciting assistance from civil society organizations in monitoring political parties, and the election was considered a milestone for the consolidation of peace in the co...

... middle of paper ...

...who their leader is and allows for action if the president is not doing the best for the people of the country. Sierra Leone has made vast improvements for its people in recent years but still has to improve certain aspects of its constitution and the way it enforces its rights in order to properly protect its people and provide the correct freedom of speech and freedom of press in today’s world.

Works Cited

"Sierra Leone." Freedom House. Freedom House, n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2014. .
"Sierra Leone." Freedom House. Freedom House, n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2014. .
"Sierra Leone." Freedom House. Freedom House, n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2014. .

Show More
Related

  • The 1805 Constitution Of Haiti Summary

    477 Words  | 1 Pages

    The most important element to remember about the Constitution of Haiti is that it wanted its citizens to have basic human rights. In many constitutions across the world, political figures

    Read More

  • Sierra Leone's Revolutionary United Front

    860 Words  | 2 Pages

    War-ravaged Sierra Leone had trouble maintaining order, many still unclear what type of government they were living by. For years, the government of Sierra Leone had “made repeated commitments to...

    Read More

  • The Taliban has Implemented Censorship in Afghanistan

    1612 Words  | 4 Pages

    “The 1964 Constitution of Afghanistan and the Press Law of July 1965 provided for freedom of the press subject to comprehensive articles of proper behavior. According to the Press Law, the press was free (i.e., independent of government ownership) but must protect the interests of the state and constitutional monarchy, Islam, and public order. When the government was overthrown in July of 1973, 19 newspapers were shut down. Western-style freedom of the press has methodically eroded during the regimes of dictatorship, communism, Mujahidin factions, and the Taliban ("Press Reference–Afghanistan").” When it comes to law enforcement, it is the duty of the ruling power to carry it out. But when the ruling power promulgates laws that sternly go against the freedoms guaranteed by previous edicts of the country, the civilians have no choice but to endure the reality of a deprived life.

    Read More

  • Immigrate To America Essay

    729 Words  | 2 Pages

    The US government is trying to help out those countries that are suffering from poverty. Public school is free here for anybody who want to continue their education. And community colleges are less affordable. One great thing is that the government give people free money for school. Some opportunities for immigrants who are willing to stay in America forever is becoming American citizen. This a so great because it open a lot of opportunities for you and your family for instead right to vote etc. Liberia is one of those country that suffered from civil war. During the past few years in Liberia, we had been through a lot of struggles. Liberia was destroyed due to the civil war we had during the year 1996. Since then people are immigrating to other countries such as the USA to improve their life conditions People are immigrating to the United States of America to take advantages of these opportunities. The school systems in America are much better. Students get access to free supplies. In Liberia the school systems don’t work like

    Read More

  • Internet and Politics - Despotic Regimes and Internet Censorship

    750 Words  | 2 Pages

    For democracy to be built up in these countries, millions of their ordinary citizens must be able to be exposed in their daily life to concepts of democracy and freedom.

    Read More

  • Conflict and Corruption in the Democratic Republic of Congo

    1388 Words  | 3 Pages

    Africa has long been a nation of conflict and strife. Certain countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have a prolonged history of corrupt leaders, violence and lack of resources. These conflicts often can lead to spill over and create wars in their neighboring countries. When a weak state has internal conflict it often spreads to surrounding weak states as it did with many of the countries in central Africa. This type of crisis will often involve the entire world in a variety of capacities such as militaries, foreign aid and the global economy. Congo especially has proved to create problems that continue to persist in the modern world and much of that is due to leadership of Motubu Sese Seko. “The conflict [in Congo] produced tremendous carnage: as many as 3.8 million dead and many more injured or displaced. Both phrases of the war (1996-97 and 1998-2002) involved domestic militias, a massive foreign invasion, and shifting alliances – with Angola, Rwanda, Uganda and Zimbabwe playing major roles. Even though the was has officially ended, peace remains elusive”(Atzili 2007 pg 141). One player’s internal conflicts spread through an entire continent and affected the whole world and caused enormous damage. All countries need to strive to maintain strong institutions to be a good global citizen and one of the keys to this is leadership.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Robert Dahl's On Democracy

    1609 Words  | 4 Pages

    According to Dahl, this criterion emphasizes that citizens must have the equal and effective opportunities to learn about politics surrounding them (1998, 38). The goal of enlightened understanding is to ensure that citizens can make the best decisions that serve their interests. Analyzing freedom of press is an effective indicator to measure enlightened understanding because media is the best medium that citizens could access to learn about what is going on in their government. Without freedom of press, freedom of expression of journalists and scholars are violated and thus, they might encounter difficulties in reporting about politics. Although India has the Right to Information Act, which assures the promotion of "transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority," it is not being enforced enough (2005, 1). According to a research, India 's press status is evaluated as "partly free" (Freedom House, 2014). Furthermore, the press status of India 's score stands at 39 out of 100, where 0 represents the freest status and 100 represents the least free status (Sinha, 2014). In the World Press Freedom Index, India was ranked as the 140th out of 180 countries in terms of freedom of media (Reporters Without Borders ,

    Read More

  • US Foreign Policy

    1023 Words  | 3 Pages

    dictator into power, the US is making the people in these countries suffer and go through very

    Read More

  • Corruption in Equatorial Guinea

    1462 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are countries that are not as lucky as America, where people have their rights taken away from them, like in Equatorial Guinea. Equatorial Guinea has a very corrupt government. It has been said that the voting has been rigged so that the president will win the election as many times as he wants. Most of the power is in the executive branch, so the president has most of the power of the country and no one can say anything about what he wants to happen. He president will harass the opposing parties so that he will win (Williams). In the article Equatorial Guinea HRW (Human Rights Watch) says, “Corruption, poverty, and repression continue to plague Equatorial Guinea under President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who has been in power since 1979”. The “...per capita gross domestic product...” for Equatorial Guinea is $30,000, but yet most of the people live in poverty. The “...Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea (PDGE)...” rule the political system, you could say that it is a monopoly. The president of Equatorial Guinea will have a say in court cases. The court cases that are sensitive get brought to him and he gets asked what he wants to do (Equatorial...). We should care about Equatorial Guinea because arrest without reason, torture captives and give little rights to women.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Social Policy

    952 Words  | 2 Pages

    the necessities of their regime and why their regime might be struggling in social issues.

    Read More

  • Journalism Censorship in Venezuela

    938 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Journalism is not a crime,” (Echeverria 1) several journalists are protesting against government censorship of the media; journalists see that they are having lack of freedom when they write. Journalists can no longer write with liberty, the government restricts them. In many cases, governments punish journalists when they write against them. For example, nowadays Venezuela is in a critical situation due to the poor management of the government. Several journalists have been arrested for trying to communicate to the world about what is going on in Venezuela. The government made the decision to not give them paper so they are not able to write. At the same time, the government is not just affecting journalists; the situation has also forced the closure of various media outlets. Several journalists have claimed by the scarcity of paper, but there has not been any solution for this problem.

    Read More

  • An Analysis of Why Nations Fail

    894 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...m having an authoritarian leader even if he is trying to help the country grow. Also, the authors don’t believe in foreign aid and they explain that usually only 10% actually reaches the helpless. However, even if only 1% of the intended aid was going to the actual recipients, than that would still be an accomplishment over nothing.

    Read More

  • Violence in Kenya

    1239 Words  | 3 Pages

    On the eastern coast of Africa lies a land full of sunny blue skies and large plains in which zebras and elephants roam. This land is the country of Kenya. Outside of Kenya’s cities and towns lies many samples of natures beauty. Unfortunately, the people living in this land are troubled by their struggle with the government and trying to form a democracy. Matthew Carotenuto stated, “Much of the world had historically viewed Kenya as an island of peace and economic potential in a roiling sea of stateless chaos.” What he means is that people have long seen Kenya as a peaceful place that is surrounded by countries suffering from all sorts of violence and unfortunate circumstances. What many people do not know is that Kenya has a long history for political violence going way back to when the country was colonized. Understanding that Kenya’s past violence was due to their struggle for social and political authority helps us understand some of their violence issues today. According to Maina Kiai, violence broke out after Kenya’s 2007 election. Many people had thought that Kenya was a more peaceful country compared to others in Africa because they were working towards a democracy. Currently Kenya is a republic (“Kenya” The World...). Another thing Kiai mentioned is that one of Kenya’s major political problems is that Kenya's constitution gives the president full power to elect anyone he wants into a political position for any salary he chooses. Scott Baldauf and Robert Crilly also explain how Kenya is trying to become a democracy but its political system is weak and allows the president too much power, making the nation a dictatorship in disguise. This leads to many ethical issues within the governments systems. We should care about Ken...

    Read More

  • The Contemporary Relevance of "Animal Farm"

    1768 Words  | 4 Pages

    According to Haynes, on gaining independence, most of the countries drafted a constitution for themselves, one that allows them the democracy and freedom they so wanted (12). The exit of the colonialists did not change situations in most of the countries. The leaders in power do not respect the constitution. The people are free but there is no democracy. The liberation they wanted remains, but a dream. This situation compares pe...

    Read More

  • Traditional Model to New Public Management

    1498 Words  | 3 Pages

    Smith, R.K. (1996). Understanding third world politics: theories of political change and development. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

    Read More

More about Sierra Leone Freedoms

Open Document