The Sierra Leonean authorities must repeal vagrancy laws without delay, following a landmark ruling by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Court that the colonial-era legislation discriminates against poor people and other marginalized groups, Amnesty International said. The ruling , made on 7 November, found that Sierra Leone’s vagrancy laws – which criminalize anyone deemed to be “loitering” in public and “not giving a good account of himself” as an “idle and disorderly person” – are in breach of its duties under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and ordered the government to take the appropriate legislative measures to address the breach. “We welcome this historic judgment, which is a step forward in protecting the human rights of some of the most vulnerable people in our society. This judgment reiterates that laws criminalizing loitering are discriminatory as they punish people living in poverty and other marginalized groups simply because of their social and economic status,” said Samira Daoud, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for West and Central Africa.
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