Attorney General
- Counsel for the Defendant
I. JUDGMENT
1.
This is the judgment of the Court read virtually in an open court, in
accordance with Article 8 (1) of the Practice Directions on Electronic Case
Management and Virtual Court Sessions, 2020.
I. DESCRIPTION OF THE PARTIES
2.
The Applicant, Mrs. Satta Lamin Banya, is a citizen of Sierra Leone, a
Member State of ECOWAS.
3.
The Defendant is the Republic of Sierra Leone, a Member State of the
Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). It is a signatory
to the ECOWAS
Revised Treaty, the Protocol establishing the ECOWAS
Court and its Supplementary Protocols.
Jii. INTRODUCTION
4.
Inthe case, the Applicant, Mrs. Satta Lamin Banya, a peasant and politician
in Sierra Leone,
claims to have been brutally attacked after the 2018
presidential elections, when she supported an opposing candidate. She
claims that while she was working on her farm, she was invaded by young
men who assaulted her, raped her in front of her children and relatives, and
set fire to her property. After the incident, she sought medical help and had
to undergo surgery to save her life, resulting in the removal of her uterus.
Despite reporting the attack to the police, none of the aggressors were held
accountable, and she was left traumatized and without compensation or
psychosocial support
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