With a limited number of oxygen plants in LGBTI PEOPLE’S RIGHTS Consensual sexual relations between men the country, hospitals struggled to respond to remained a criminal offence under the the third Covid-19 wave. By the end of Offences Against the Person Act and carried September, more than 396,505 adults had a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. received their first Covid-19 vaccine and LGBTI people continued to face more than 89,902 had received a second discrimination and stigma and the dose. government rejected all recommendations Mental health services failed to meet the made during the UPR process to protect their needs of those suffering trauma from the rights and dignity. recent conflict, and of Ebola survivors who lived with the after-effects of the virus. A lack WOMEN’S AND GIRLS’ RIGHTS of government spending, insufficient donor Early and forced marriage and female genital support and a shortage of skilled mental mutilation (FGM) were still prevalent. health professionals, among other factors, According to a Save the Children report prevented them from receiving adequate published in March, Sierra Leone had the care. There were only two practising 18th highest child marriage rate in the world. psychiatrists and a visiting psychiatrist to 1 The report also stated that girls often join serve the entire population. secret societies upon puberty, such as the ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION “Bondo Society”, where FGM is part of the In July, a report by the special select initiation process. committee tasked by parliament to The Rainbo Initiative, a national organization investigate alleged contamination of the Taia/ fighting sexual violence, recorded 1,691 Jong River disclosed that water pollution had cases of sexual and gender-based violence, been caused by extensive mining activities mostly against women, of which 1,522 were along the Pampana River and its tributary sexual assault cases and 169 were physical streams in Tonkolili District, and Hugy River assaults, in the cities of Freetown, Bo, in Valunia Chiefdom, Bo District, which finally Makeni, Kenema and the district of Kono emptied into the Taia/Jong River. The report between January and June. In July, the further revealed that the mining activities had minister of gender and children’s affairs an adverse impact on farming, fishing and reaffirmed the government’s commitment to drinking water supplies. Seventeen deaths end such violence by 2030. were caused by waterborne diseases. The In October, the government introduced the committee recommended that all artisanal Gender Empowerment Bill in parliament and illegal mining activities in the region be which aimed to increase women’s access to put on hold. finance and to reserve 30% of parliamentary seats and cabinet positions for women. 1. Sierra Leone: “They Are Forgetting About Us”: The Long-Term Mental RIGHT TO HEALTH Health Impact of War and Ebola in Sierra Leone (AFR 51/4095/2021), 25 May Maternal and infant mortality rates remained high. Sierra Leonians used social media to denounce the lack of sanitation in two of the SINGAPORE main public hospitals in Freetown, Connaught Hospital (the main referral Republic of Singapore hospital) and the Princess Christian Maternity Head of state: Halimah Yacob Hospital (PCMH). On 13 April, junior doctors Head of government: Lee Hsien Loong announced a strike, demanding, among other things, a clean working environment at Defamation suits and repressive laws were the Connaught Hospital and a running water used against human rights defenders and supply for PCMH. government critics resulting in steep fines Amnesty International Report 2021/22 325