Sierra Leoneans in Australia have organized a peaceful protest at the Australian Parliament House in Canberra on Monday, 7 August 2023.
The demonstration aimed to bring attention to issues affecting Sierra Leone and calls for the Government of Sierra Leone led by President Bio to respect the democratic will and human rights of its people.
The demonstration is scheduled to commence at 11:00 a.m. during the planned sittings of both Houses of Parliament.
The organizers have taken proactive measures by informing major stakeholders, including the Australian Federal Police (AFP), the Department of Parliamentary Services (DPS), and selected Honorable Members of the Senate House of Parliament.
They stated “We have made the clarion call for the Government of Sierra Leone to respect the democratic will and human rights of the Sierra Leonean people.” as the reason for our protest.
Reports say Abu Conteh a task force member of the main opposition All People’s Congress (APC) party when he was in Freetown among other things was one of the organizers of the peaceful protest in Australia.
They accused him as one of the sponsors of all the protests in Sierra Leone.
The organizers facilitated participation, transportation arrangements have been made, and buses will be available to transport individuals to the Australian Parliament House on the day of the protest.
“We provided buses to transport participants from Sydney and Melbourne to Canberra., They came from the various states and territories to partake in the democratic exercise to help save democracy in Sierra Leone.” They stated.
It could be recalled that there were several credible reports the government or its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful killings. The Independent Police Complaint Board (IPCB), an independent civilian oversight mechanism, investigates security force killings and makes recommendations on prosecutions to the Sierra Leone Police (SLP).
On August 10, during demonstrations that turned violent, the SLP shot and allegedly killed 30 protesters, mostly unarmed youth, in the capital city of Freetown and the towns of Makeni and Kamakwie. Protesters allegedly killed six police officers.
On August 24, authorities announced the formation of a special investigation committee regarding the August demonstrations composed of members of the Sierra Leone Bar Association, the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists, civil society organizations, veteran and retired police associations, and others. Critics noted a large percentage of committee members had strong ties to the government, and some committee members had already publicly condemned protesters before being appointed.
