A/HRC/10/52 page 6 votes from 477 polling stations in the 2007 presidential elections, through the allocation of cabinet posts, the removal from office of certain public officials who had served in the previous SLPP Government, the temporary closure of the SLPP radio, and the attacks on the offices of the SLPP in Bo and Freetown. 5. The level of mistrust has been further heightened by the establishment by the Government in 2008 of a commission of inquiry to investigate the misuse of Government or donor funds under the SLPP administration. This commission was established in response to the recommendations of a comprehensive audit of Government assets and programmes conducted by a presidential transitional team in 2007 which uncovered widespread abuse and mismanagement of public resources across the public sector. 6. The President has made significant overtures to address some of these concerns with a view to promoting political reconciliation. In August 2008, he ordered the reopening of the SLPP radio station, which had been shut down by the Ministry of Information, and pledged to maintain open lines of communications with the opposition. UNIOSIL worked with the Political Parties Registration Commission (PPRC) to enhance interparty dialogue and facilitate conflict resolution. UNIPSIL is maintaining this engagement. 7. The “task forces”, which were initially established by the political parties to assist in the electoral campaigns and provide crowd control at their rallies in the 2007 and 2008 electoral processes, are still in place and could undermine peace and security in the country. With elections over, these task forces which are comprised of youths, many of whom are former fighters, are reportedly engaged in extortion and acts of violence especially along the borders. 8. Prolonged detention of criminal suspects in police stations beyond the stipulated statutory time limit continued to violate the right to liberty and security of the person. The Constitution stipulates that once arrested, a suspect must be brought to court within 72 hours or 10 days in cases of grave offences. It was noted that many suspects were consistently arbitrarily detained in remand as a result of delays in concluding investigations occasioned by poor investigative capacity and inefficient coordination with other actors and agencies of the justice system. The Constitution and laws of Sierra Leone envisage both the writ of habeas corpus, to challenge the lawfulness of arrest and detention before judicial authorities, and the right to compensation for wrongful arrest and detention. However, given the challenges in accessing justice and legal representation, these remedies are ineffective and the police remained unaccountable for many cases of arbitrary arrest and prolonged detention during the year. 9. Freedom of association, assembly and movement were generally respected throughout the country. However, there were a number of isolated reports of restrictions on these rights, coupled with cases of intimidation and harassment, primarily during the local government elections. 10. Freedom of speech and press freedom were also generally respected. However the existence of the Public Order Act (1965), which criminalizes libel, continued to violate press freedom in Sierra Leone. The Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) and the Society for Democratic Initiative (SDI-SL) filed a petition in the Supreme Court, challenging the constitutionality of certain sections of the Act. At the end of 2008 a decision was still pending. In addition, isolated cases of intimidation and suppression of freedom of expression were noted: the police arrested and questioned a newspaper journalist on allegations of defamatory libel in