Human Rights Jurist founds Human Rights and Democracy Alert! (HuRiDA)

In 2006 the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Netherlands started a project called Temporary Return of Qualified Nationals (TRQN). This project, which is financed by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, aims at facilitating the temporary return of qualified Sierra Leone nationals legally living in the Netherlands to help in nation building in all sectors in Sierra Leone. Other beneficiaries of the project include Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ethiopia, Georgia and and Sudan.

The founder of HuRiDA, Mohamed Kunowah Kiellow (in photo), a Dutch-Sierra Leonean, upon graduation in 2008 in international and criminal law from Utrecht University decided to participate in the TRQN project. In December 2008 he got his first assignment to work with a human rights organization called Coalition for Justice and Accountability (COJA) as a Human Rights Expert. His task centered on building the capacity of the organization in the area of international human rights law. His training covered the discriminatory provisions in the 1991 National Constitution and other laws of Sierra Leone and how these laws contravene international human rights laws.

It was during this training that he found out that the country is blessed with a lot of human rights activists but lacked human rights jurists who could recognize human rights violations in the everyday dealings of the state with its subordinates. Moreover, he realized that human rights organizations do not have the legal background to promote rights-based approach to development. In addition, a very large portion of the population, especially women, in the rural area are not conversant with their human and democratic (constitutional) rights as citizens and as such easily resign to their fate when their rights are encroached upon by state actors or other non-state actors: “we cannot do anything, after God the government is next. We therefore cannot fight the government.”

Furthermore, it was observed that almost all human rights organizations wholly concentrate on civil and political rights at the expense of economic, social and cultural rights. These rights guarantee the basic necessities of life and without which a society cannot function properly in that it will not be based on human dignity, freedom and equality. Their knowledge about international justice

One anomalous thing that really dawned on the founder is the fact that Members of Parliament are not knowledgeable about their constitutional duties and as a result are not able to represent their constituencies in the proper manner.

One of the co-founders, Samuel Lebbie participated in the TRQN project in 2009 as a marketing expert.  He observed that the economic backwardness of the farmers of Sierra Leone is a result of lack of marketing strategies of the products of the farmers. He opined that the farmers of Sierra Leone can only enjoy economic, social and cultural rights if they properly market their products, which will earn them more dividend and consequently a better life.

The founder therefore recommends that:

1. CSOs need more capacity building in international human rights instruments, their control/monitoring mechanism. This will enable them to recognise human rights violations of state and non-state actors in Sierra Leone.
2. CSOs have to acquire the knowledge of holding the state responsible in regional courts like the ECOWAS Court for human rights violations. CSOs have never made used of this legal remedy that has passed landmark decisions in the area of right to education and right to enjoy your natural resources.
3. The people of Sierra Leone have to know the constitutional duties of the members of parliament and be able to hold them accountable for neglect of their constituencies. The constitution of Sierra Leone accords sovereignty right to the people of Sierra Leone, which is why they should be capacitated to know this right and make good use of them at electioneering.
4. Parliament has passed three bills into law that accord a lot of rights to women in Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone operates under three sets of law: formal law, customary law and Muslim law. The three Gender Acts—the Domestic Violence Act, the Devolution of Estates Act and the Registration of Customary Marriage and Divorce Act—provide protection to women under all three types of law. A lot of efforts need to be made in order to implement the Three Gender Acts, as a lot of people affected by these laws are illiterate.
5. The people of Sierra Leone have to be educated in the fundamental principles of a good election and what tools they can use in order send representatives to parliament that are answerable to them.
6. CSOs should be capacitated in Economic, social and cultural rights and in using these rights to achieve food security in Sierra Leone.
7. CSOs have to use Human rights instrument in order to foster national development.
8. The knowlegde of CSOs about international justice sysyem should augmented.

In January 2009 Human Rights and Democracy Alert (HuRiDA) was founded in order to intervene in the anomalies that are prevalent in the nation of Sierra Leone. In July this year HuRiDA was registered in Sierra Leone.

Vision of HuRiDA

HuRiDA seeks to realize that the ideal of free human beings enjoying freedom from fear and want can only be achieved if conditions are created whereby all persons enjoy their economic, social and cultural rights in addition to their civil and political rights.

Mission Statement of HuRiDA

Human Rights and Democracy Alert! is committed to ensuring hope to the people of Sierra Leone by contributing to promoting and protecting of the human rights of the people of Sierra Leone through advocacy, legal representation, lobbying and all other means within the ambit of the laws of Sierra Leone and international law

Motto of HuRiDA

Enhancing national development through rule of law

The objectives of HuRiDA are:

1. To encourage and develop a sense of civic awareness/consciousness that will help to build sustainable peace in Sierra Leone.
2. To mobilise individuals and groups within local communities to take an active and positive role in promoting, defending and protecting human rights.
3. To emphasise food security as a basic fundamental human right in order to help alleviate and eradicate poverty in Sierra Leone
4. To create awareness on the roles of good governance, accountability and democracy in national development.
5. To ensure the integration of gender equality into all areas of national development by ensuring that plans and policies are created that would enable women and men to benefit equally from existing opportunities.
6. To create awareness on the essence of a clean and healthy environment for the future generation and to advocate for environmental human rights.
7. To promote, defend and protect economic, social and cultural rights.
8. To advocate for the inclusion of human rights in agricultural policies and enlighten farmers on the role of human rights and gender equality in achieving food security in Sierra Leone
9. To promote human rights-based approach to development through research, article publication, drama, music and arts.
10. To create awareness of and promote international justice system in Sierra Leone

Mohamed Kunowah Kiellow (Executive Director of HuRiDA) The Netherlands

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