SIERRA LEONE: FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION ‘AMOUNTS TO TORTURE,’ IMPUNITY MUST END

UN-appointed independent human rights experts have called for stronger measures to prevent and penalize female genital mutilation in Sierra Leone. Following criminal proceedings over the death of a 21-year-old student who was subject to the brutal practice in the Bonthe District, three Special Rapporteurs issued a statement condemning female genital mutilation as “a grave form of violence against women and girls that amounts to torture”. “It violates the fundamental rights of its victims, including their physical integrity and rights not to be subject to torture or ...” said the Special Rapporteurs.