By Bampia James Bundu
Director of Green Scenery, a human rights group, has linked natural resource exploitation to human rights, and called for investigations into issues as systemic and complex as violations. Joe Rahall told a forum organised by the Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone in Freetown that “human rights issues in the natural resource sectors were not only widespread but also dynamic and therefore needed thorough understanding if natural resource enquiries should yield any dividend.” The activist for proper land use and equitable distribution of natural resource wealth also noted that such enquiries could mean bringing people together and making them aware of their rights. He urged government to strengthen the protection and promotion of human rights in the country. He said natural resource management in the country was full of manipulations as the private sectors were busy making profits “at all cost” in the country with no regards for the affected people. The platform which was supported by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), Commonwealth Forum of National Human Rights Institutions (CFNHR), in partnership with the Australia Human Right Commission (AHRC), was part of a three-day intensive national training on establishing and conducting effective national enquiries into serious and systematic human rights issues. HRCSL Commissioner, Daphne Olu-Williams said the meeting was to develop the capacity of the commission to establish and conduct effective national inquiries into serious and systematic human rights issues as prescribed in the HRCSL Act of 2004 and outlined in the commission’s complaint, inquiries and investigations rules of 2008 and other international rules and procedures. President of the journalists association, SLAJ, Umaru Fofana used the occasion to call on government to enact the Freedom of Information Bill which he said would enquiries which the training aimed to do. He said that he was disappointed that the whole issue of the promulgation of the FOI bill had been restarted all over again after several years of time, energy and resources spent on it.
