Hon. Justice Januaria Tavares Silva Moreira Costa, presiding Judge in the matter between Adama Vandi and the Republic of Sierra Leone will on June 16th, 2022, deliver judgement in suit No. ECW/CCJ/APP/52/21 as the defendant failed to lodge a defence.

A motion on notice dated and 2nd December 2021 was filed by Adama’s legal representatives praying for the Court to deliver judgement by default of the defendant in favour of the applicant; an order awarding costs against the Defendant in favour of the applicant and any further order or orders that the Court may deem fit to make in the circumstances.

According to the Affidavit in support of the motion, the Defendant has been served the Originating Application through an email from the Registry of the Court on 3rd September 2021.  As at the date of filing the motion, the Defendant has not lodged a defence to the Originating Application. “That the Application wants this case to be heard by the Court without delay and the failure of the Defendant to lodge a defence to the Originating Application is causing delays to the disposition of the matter.”

Lawyers representing Adama Vandi had submitted i=to the ECOWAS Court and application for the enforcement of the fundamental human rights with respect to their client Adama Vandi, resident of Subu Village, Mongoba-Bullom Chiefdom in Bonthe District.

The plaintiff’s initiating application dated 1st September 2021 was up for hearing last week at the ECOWAS External Court Session in Accra, Ghana but thee Respondent failed to make any appearance.

The Lawyers prayed that the Court grant a declaration that Republic of Sierra Leone has violated the rights of Adama to a remedy and access to Justice pursuant to Articles 1 and 7 (1)(a) of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, Articles 2(3) of the International Convenant on Civil and Political Rights and Aritcle 25 of the Maputo protocol.

According to thee summary of facts before the Court, on January 26th 2019, Subu Village of Nongoba-Bullom Chiefdom in Bonthe District was invaded at about 1am in the night by about 500 members of the Poro Society led by the Paramount Chief Jonathan Kabba Tucker and a masquerade called the Poro devil.

On that day when the Society invaded the village, the Plaintiff Adama Vandi was sleeping, in a house belonging to another secret society called the Bondo Society with her cousin Aisatu. That night the Poro Society members who were armed with sticks and cases, started to break into houses in Subu village and into forcefully bring people out of their houses. Adama Vandi and her cousin considered themselves safe as they believe that men would not break into the house, because of the fact that men are not allowed into the house. However, the Paramount Chief who led the invasion, Chief Jonathan Kabba Tucker, broke into the Bondo Society house together with about 15 men. Adama Vandi and Aisatu tried to hid but the Chief was able to find Adama and grabbed her. When he tried to forcefully take her clothes off, she resisted chief Tucker threatened her and told her he will bring the Poro Devil into the House. Out of fear of what will happen to her if she encounters the Poro Devil, Adama was coerced by Chief Tucker into allowing him to remove her clothes.

The Chief then proceeded to forcefully rape her. As he raped her, the other members of the Poro Society who had broken into the house stayed outside the house. When Chief Tucker was done raping Adama he threatened to kill her if she ever told anyone that he raped her. He then forcefully took her and transported her along with some other people to Bo City.

At Bo, he took Adama and the other to the Bo Police Station. He reported to the police Officers at the station that he had arrested Adama and the others, and that they were members of a gang.

According to Awoko Newspaper,  after Adama was bailed from the Police Station, she made a report of the rape to the Police Station at the Bonthe Police Station. The Policemen at the station gave her some medical forms to take to the Bonthe Government Hospital for medical tests. She made an official statement of the crime to the police.

Subsequently, the case was taken over by the Criminal Investigation Division of the Police at the Police Headquarters in Freetown. The Policemen at the Headquarters referred her to the Rainbo Centre for a medical test. The Police prepared a report of the invasion of Subu village and sent it to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) at the Ministry of Justice for legal advice in June 2019. The Office of DPP is yet to issue the legal advice.

However, the Lawyers stated that the police report gave scanty details of the rape and seemed to trivialize this rape incident while reporting on the attack as a whole.

Chief Tucker later filed a suit at the Magistrate Court against Adama, her Uncle Albert Tucker and Aisatu who witnessed the rape. He sued the three of them for defamation of character, saying that the allegations are false. The Court dismissed the suit on the basis that no Court of law had as yet decided on his innocence of the rape allegations. “To date the Paramount Chief has not been prosecuted for raping Adama Vandi. Adama has been left frustrated at her failure to get justice for the sexual violence she suffered.  She feels used by Chief Tucker and believes that chief Tucker, being a powerful ruler because of the power he wields.”

According to the Pleas in law summary, her lawyers stated that, the failure to conduct an effective investigation into and to prosecute the perpetrator of the sexual violence suffered by Adama Vandi is a violation of her right to a remedy and access to justice.