A/HRC/13/28 Commission recommended the removal of the death penalty from the statutes, and the Human Rights Commission and civil society organizations continued to advocate for the implementation of the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in this regard. 2. Right to personal security 6. Violence and intolerance between the supporters of the two main political parties, the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) and the incumbent All People Congress (APC), contributed to violations of civil and political rights. In March, there was a wave of violent political clashes between supporters of APC and SLPP in Pujehun, Kemena and Freetown. A by-election in Pujenun district had to be postponed as a result, the car of the resident Minister for the Eastern Region was set on fire, and economic and social activity was brought to a halt for two days in Freetown. There were also allegations of rape of female SLPP supporters. In June, the Government established a high-level commission, under the chairmanship of Justice Bankole Thompson, to investigate these allegations. The commission concluded that the victims had been subjected to acts of physical mistreatment amounting to outrages of personal dignity. There was not sufficient evidence, however, to determine whether rape had been perpetrated. Concerns were raised by civil society organizations that the commission could have undertaken a more thorough investigation of the rape allegations, and that it had also failed to recommend appropriate action against the identified perpetrators. The Government has appointed a panel to review the commission’s report and to make recommendations for necessary actions. 7. In January, the chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights alleged that she had been assaulted by members of the army deployed at the residence of the Presidential Press Secretary. She also complained that the access road to the community where she was residing had been blocked. The matter was resolved through intervention at the government level, and the access road was later opened. 8. A spate of armed robberies, with, in some instances, alleged links between members of the security forces and robbers, posed serious challenges to the right to personal security and property. In November, a senior officer, together with two other police officers and a soldier, were arrested for their involvement in certain armed robberies in Freetown. Similarly, in October, three military and four police officers were arraigned before the Kenema Magistrate Court, charged for having taken part in an armed robbery against civilians in Kenema district. Also in October, four soldiers were arrested for their involvement in an armed robbery in Freetown. 9. In February, the town chief of Foindu Mameima Village in Lower Bambara Chiefdom, Kenema district, reported that he had to flee town for fear of being manhandled and molested by members of the Poro society, a secret society for men, because he was opposed to forceful initiation into its ranks. There were also instances of interference by traditional leaders in police investigations into such matters. In January, in Kono district, three arrested suspects involved in forceful initiations were released by the police on the instructions of a local traditional leader. The suspects had allegedly dragged a resident of Taidu Village into a Poro bush, a place typically designated for initiation, and beaten him. 3. Freedom of religion 10. During the period under review, reports of religious intolerance were also received. In April, a church in Kambia district was destroyed, allegedly by a group of Muslims who claimed that their mosque had been demolished in order to build the church. In December, a church in Allen Town, Freetown, was attacked and vandalized, allegedly by members of a nearby mosque claiming that the church used loud megaphones that regularly disrupted their services at the mosque. GE.10-10771 5