Banjul, 20 March 2025: The Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS Court) has condemned Sierra Leone for failing to guarantee a rape victim’s right to remedy, access to justice, and protection from cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.
The pronouncement was made on 20 March 2025 as the Court handed down its judgment in suit no ECW/CCJ/APP/51/21 Satta Lamin v. Sierra Leone.
The case filed in September 2021 by the Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa (IHRDA) on behalf of Ms Satta Lamin, a victim of gang rape. Ms Lamin, a farmer and politician, was attacked on her farm by seven (7) young men in the presence of her children and other family relatives in April 2018. The victim reported the incident to the police, but no effective investigation has been done to date. Meanwhile, the victim is still traumatised by the attack and suffers various health complications.
In its verdict, the Court establishes that Sierra Leone has violated the victim’s fundamental rights to dignity, remedy, and access to justice. The Court further finds that Sierra Leone has failed in its duty to protect the victim from torture, cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment, as provided for in several regional and international human rights legal instruments to which Sierra Leone is Party, notably the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The Court ordered Sierra Leone to pay the victim compensation worth thirty thousand US Dollars (USD 30,000).
“Justice is not just a verdict; it is a commitment to the dignity and safety of every individual. In the face of such horrors, we must ensure that the voices of survivors are heard, their pain acknowledged, and their healing upheld. We are happy that the Court has established Sierra Leone’s responsibility in this matter”, IHRDA Senior Legal Officer, Dr. Chipo Irene Rushwaya, said, following the pronouncing of the judgment.
