SIERRA LEONE PRISON MASS KILLINGS MUST BE INVESTIGATED

On Wednesday, April 29, 2020, people in Freetown, capital of Sierra Leone, were alarmed by smoke billowing from the maximum-security, Pademba Road Prison. For several hours, people near and far from the prison facility were scared and confused, especially when gunshots were being heard intermittently from the direction of the prison. The incident was eventually reported by the government as a “prison riot,” which has since become the narrative worldwide.

Mama Salone believes it is premature to adopt this narrative, as no proper investigation has taken place to confirm the government’s version of the incident. Especially since some of the information that has surfaced through audio and video messages on social media make the “riot” narrative very questionable.

In one video clip, which we find strange, an inmate is supposedly being interrogated by uniformed officers. He explains that when inmates woke up that morning, their prison doors were not opened at 7:00a.m. as they normally are. He states that since the prisoners do not have toilets in their cells, they normally empty their overnight buckets as soon as the doors open; so, he and many others were begging for the officers to open their doors so they could empty their porta potty.

The inmate also states in the video that he had observed every morning, around 3 a.m., a high-profile prisoner, from the opposition APC party who is being held on treason charges, is usually taken out of his cell by a group of officers and then returned 2 or 3 hours later.

Tortured Pademba Road Prison Inmates

The inmate, in his explanation, also states that when the inmates’ cell doors were finally opened later that morning, a building on the prison grounds was already on fire and that a few of the inmates who were already agitated, engaged in some skirmishes with prison guards. In the end, 11 unarmed inmates and 1 prison officer were shot dead.

Coincidently, an audio of the voice of the Chairwoman of the Women’s Wing of the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party  (SLPP), has also been heard on social media. She states that, on the morning of the incident, she arrived at the prison that morning at 3am, followed by other members of her party, including the current deputy minister of the interior. The SLPP women’s leader jubilates about the outcome of her trip to the prison, and that she was proud to call herself the SLPP women’s leader based on what she and her party colleagues achieved that day. The women’s leader does not state any justification for going to the prison that morning, especially at such odd hours.

At this point, the citizens of Sierra Leone deserve answers to several questions that must be investigated. To mention a few for now:

• Why were 11 unarmed people shot dead by the government of Sierra Leone?
• Why was the Presidential security force summoned to shoot and kill unarmed inmates?
• What was the SLPP chairwoman doing at the Pademba Road at 3 a.m. when she is neither a prison officer nor does she hold any position in the current administration?
• Who really started the fire at the prison before inmates’ cell doors opened?
• Was it a “riot” or was it a planned assault to settle political scores?

A thorough investigation must take place by independent actors.

At this point, there is no evidence that the incident was a prison riot or a prison break attempt by inmates.

what we do know at this point, is the fact that a mass killing of at least 12 unarmed inmates and prison guards took place at the hands of government security officers.