A/HRC/7/66 page 4 I. INTRODUCTION 1. By its resolution 1734 (2006), the Security Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Integrated Office in Sierra Leone (UNIOSIL) for 12 months until 31 December 2007 to facilitate the consolidation of peace. With regard to human rights, the mandate of UNIOSIL is to assist the Government to establish a human rights commission, develop a national action plan for human rights, expedite the implementation of the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, strengthen the rule of law, promote the independence of the judiciary and enhance the capacity of the police and correction systems. II. HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION A. Right to life and security of the person 2. The death penalty remains part of the statutory laws of Sierra Leone. There are currently 20 people on death row, all of whom are adults, including 3 women. In 2007, one person was sentenced to death. The Constitutional Review Commission, established in January 2007 to review the 1991 Constitution, issued a preliminary report on 15 April 2007, in which it recommended that the death penalty be retained, but that it should be abolished in all cases of treason or other crimes of a political nature which did not directly cause the death of another. The Commission recommended that Parliament should review the death penalty every five years with a view to its abolition. UNIOSIL-Human Rights is not aware of and did not receive any reports on arbitrary and extrajudicial executions. 3. Growing insecurity among women and children was noted, owing to the increasing reports of rape, domestic violence and physical abuse of children, including female genital mutilation, which is considered a traditional practice and not prohibited by law. B. Political rights 4. Since the reintroduction of multiparty democracy in Sierra Leone, especially since 2002, when the first post-conflict elections were held, the country has witnessed an exponential growth in political socialization and pluralism, as well as a steady expansion of political space leading to greater freedom of choice and association and a significantly freer exercise of political rights and engagement among the citizenry. Despite its comparatively small, albeit fast growing, population of 5 million, Sierra Leone had 28 registered political parties just before the 2007 presidential and parliamentary elections. These were reduced to 9 officially recognized political parties following a fair and transparent re-registration exercise by the Political Parties Registration Commission. 5. Before the 2007 national elections, the main impediment to the free exercise of political rights was increasing political intolerance by some paramount chiefs within the country’s highly influential traditional chieftaincy system. In the eastern and southern parts of the country, which remain largely the political stronghold of the former ruling party, the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), supporters, sympathizers and polling agents of opposition parties found it extremely hard to operate or conduct political activities due to the obstructionist tendencies of paramount chiefs. During the pre-election period, for example, opposition leaders were subjected to frequent