CIVICUS Organization has condemned the arresting and detaining of peaceful protesters in Sierra Leone.

CIVICUS is an international non-profit organisation, which describes itself as “a global alliance dedicated to strengthening citizen action and civil society around the world.”

Founded in 1993, the organisation today counts more than 8500 members in more than 175 countries, with its headquarters in Johannesburg and offices in Geneva and New York.

Outlined below is what they do:

Defend the fundamental civic freedoms of association, peaceful assembly and expression in all countries, particularly when they are under threat. They do this by providing activists with emergency and sustained support; tracking civic space trends globally; incubating and  sharing new ways to counter threats to civic space.

Work to ensure that civic freedoms and civil society rights get the attention they deserve on national, regional and global agendas, and that people have the opportunities and tools for full, effective and creative participation in the decision-making processes that affect them.

Work in solidarity with change-seeking activists, organisations and movements on inequality, injustice, insecurity and climate change.

Connect local actors with global agendas by bringing local voices to global fora, and support people and their organisations to monitor progress and hold governments accountable for their national and international commitments, such as international human rights frameworks, the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement on climate change.

Facilitate citizens and civil society to influence global governance reform processes, demand spaces for citizens to advise decision makers, and push new and reforming international organisations to put people and their needs at the centre.

Work to empower civil society to become more accountable, effective and innovative agents of change by encouraging collaboration, engagement, and shared learning among their diverse alliance members and partners.

Advocate for institutional architecture that supports and sustains civil society, including coalitions, umbrella bodies and networks. Their strategic plan for the upcoming 5 years commits them to experiment with, learn from and share innovative strategies and technologies that position civil society at the forefront of change.

This includes exploring new funding and operational models that shift more resources to the advocacy, accountability and human rights work of civil society actors in the global south who are often on the frontline of social transformation.