End Benghazi, End Custodial Torture – A Rights Group’s Call

By Ibrahim Mansaray 

When popular rapper, Alhaji Amadu Bah – LAJ – was being investigated by the Police for robbery with violence in 2022, he was detained at a special holding facility at the headquarters of the Operational Support Division (OSD) of the Sierra Leone Police (SLP) at Brookfields, Freetown, known as ‘Benghazi.’ There, the rapper’s hair was shaved and reportedly faced torture.

Some relatives and friends of LAJ who were subsequently arrested, also alleged torture.  

A Police statement which did not speak to allegations of torture stated that the shaving of the rapper’s hair was a “Standard Operating Procedure” at the facility. The Sierra Leone Bar Association said in a statement that the action amounted to degrading and serious maltreatments and in blatant violation of section 20(1) of the Sierra Leonean constitution Act No. 6 of 1991.

The statement furthered that the SOP referred to in the Police statement is unconstitutional and contravenes all human rights instruments assented to. The Bar Association ended with a host of recommendations including investigations into the allegations of torture and suspending SOPs in Police custody until they are reviewed and ensured to be compliant with Sierra Leone’s constitution and international instruments which guarantee respect and protect right to humane treatment in detention.

The LAJ episode soon passed when he was arraigned, convicted and sentenced. But life at Benghazi allegedly continued.

On February 26 2025, Amnesty International, a prominent human rights group, urged the Sierra Leone Police to close its Benghazi facility. This came after Amnesty says it received several complaints from victims of alleged Police torture, and their families.

The US Department of State reported that in 2023 “there were no significant changes in the human rights situation in Sierra Leone. The report listed “harsh and life-threatening prison conditions among other “significant human rights issues”.

Amnesty’s Campaign and Growth Director, Jaiah Kaikai, believes that operating facilities such as Benghazi constitutes subjecting suspects to inhumane and degrading treatment. Some people went on to question whether Benghazi is Sierra Leone’s Nazi concentration camp.

In June 2022, the Human Rights Commission requested to visit Benghazi, but Amnesty noted that the request had not been approved by the end of the year.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), one of Sierra Leone’s Transitional Justice Mechanisms, recommended that the state demonstrates that it places the highest value on human life. (Volume 2, chapter 3, p. 127, section 57)

The Government has implemented the recommendation by abolishing the death penalty, marking “an important and symbolic departure from the past to the future.”

However, the TRC stated that respect for human life and dignity transcends abolition of death penalty.

“Respect for human life and dignity does not only mean a prohibition on the taking of the lives of others. It also means protecting all persons from violence and harm, whether this be on the streets or in the home. A duty rests on the State to provide adequate security to all Sierra Leoneans.” (Volume 2, chapter 3, p. 127, section 58)

Amnesty International’s West Region Chairperson, Yalia Kamara, said one of the victims of the alleged Police torture showed them scars and bumps from the torture. “As a professional Police force, they should not be involved in such behaviour,” said Kamara.

Another Sierra Leonean, Jay DA Winner wrote on social media: “Our current president has the full mandate to shut it (Benghazi) down. If not for anything but for the reputation of his government and his legacy. Under no circumstance should we have a torture center for citizens.”

No Paramilitary Force Should Exist – TRC

Benghazi is run by the OSD of the Sierra Leone Police. However, given the history of paramilitary wings being instruments of “tyranny and suppresion”, the TRC calls for the disbandment of the OSD.

“The Inspector General of the Sierra Leone Police in his submission to the Commission pointed out that the paramilitary force formed in the police under the Siaka Stevens regime became an “instrument of tyranny and suppression”.

A paramilitary force of sorts exists in the police today in the form of the Operational Support Division (OSD). The proposed National Security Principles enjoin the Government to ensure that no paramilitary force exists outside of the Sierra Leone Army. The existence of such a force within the police is contrary to the proposed National Security Principles.” (Volume 2, chapter 3, p. 151, section 203)

The National Security Principles calls for a commitment of Sierra Leoneans as individuals and as a nation to live in peace and harmony and to be free from fear, among other principles.

It further reiterated the no room for a military or paramilitary, in any dispensation besides the Sierra Leonean Army.

“The Sierra Leone Army must be the only lawful military force in Sierra Leone. There should be no other military or paramilitary force, under the guise of any institution, including the police. (Volume 2, Chapter 3, p. 150, Section 199)

Successive regimes, in their wisdom, have however decided to keep the SLP’s paramilitary wing. This has resulted in a shift in the conversation from calling for its disbandment, as recommended by the TRC, to calling for professionalism in the conduct of its duties.

Amnesty International has, in the past, accused the Police, the paramilitary wing in particular, of brutality, cracking down on freedom of assembly, and using excessive force – allegations the Police deny. The rights group says none of these allegations has been investigated.

In 2024, in the case of Mohamed Morlu v. Sierra Leone, the ECOWAS Community Court concluded among other things that the Sierra Leone Police used torture during a student protest in Bo in 2017. The issues continued after a regime change in 2018.

The Special Investigation Committee which was set up by the government after the August 10 2022 protestsrecommended training for Police officers to avoid “high-handedness” and to review their rules of engagement “to improve Police-Citizens’ relationship to a more people-friendly force.” The SIC also recommended sustained training on human rights and ethics, among other things “to maintain the mantra ‘Force for Good.’” (SIC report p.44)

When the Inspector General of Police, William Fayia Sellu, took oath of office in 2022, he pledged his commitment to upholding human rights, calling it the core values of the Sierra Leone Police. Heeding Amnesty International’s call and ending Benghazi, the so-called “Torture Facility”, would be a resounding demonstration of commitment to these values.

This story is brought to you with support from the African Transitional Justice Legacy Fund (ATJLF) through the Media Reform Coordinating Group (MRCG) under the project ‘Engaging Media and Communities to Change the Narrative on Transitional Justice Issues in Sierra Leone.’