By Alimanata Phidelia Alie
The Coordinator for the Western Area Human Rights Committee (WAHRC), Sulaiman Jabbati has expressed disappointment in the National Electoral Commission for failing to include the physically challenged persons in the just concluded electioneering process.
At a press briefing organized by WAHRC in collaboration with Special Court Interactive Forum, Jabbati said the country had weak laws that regulate the conduct of elections. He said that from the registration period through the polls, persons with disability were abused.
He complained that NEC narrowly interpreted human rights, adding that they failed to look at international and local documents on the issue, and that
“most of the polling stations were not disabled-friendly” with no tactile ballots made available for the blind, no provision for sign language for those with speech impairment and no provision for special assistance for those on wheel chairs and crutches.
“Though they have the power and mandate to lawfully punish those who commit crimes against human rights, institutions such as the Human Rights
Commission of Sierra Leone (HRCSL), National Electoral Commission (NEC) and the Political Parties Registration Commission (PPRC) have weaknesses in executing their mandates especially in the area of compliance. They therefore resort to naming and shaming instead of taking legal actions against perpetrators”, Jabbati lamented.
No-one could be reached at NEC for a comment, while the PPRC would not respond to our queries.
© Politico 27/11/2012
