MONROVIA, March 1 (LINA) - State security forces, mainly police, military and security intelligence officers, are the leading violators of the right to freedom of expression in West Africa, a sub-regional report says.

The latest monitoring report by the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), titled West Africa Free Expression Monitor, analyses incidents of freedom of expression violations in the region during the period of September to December 2014.

According to the report, state security forces committed more than half of the free expression rights violations recorded during the period.

The report also indicates that the level of violations by security forces was consistent with the findings of the MFWA’s previous monitoring report for the period of May to August 2014, in which security forces were the leading perpetrators of violations.
 
In the latest report, the MFWA found that security forces committed 19 of the total 37 violations recorded from September to December 2014.
The recorded incidents of violations took the form of attacks or threats (9 incidents); arrests and arbitrary detentions (4); violations of the right of assembly (3); censorship, fines and even murder (1 each).

The violations by security forces occurred in Benin (5 incidents); Guinea and Sierra Leone (4 each); Liberia (2); Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau and Nigeria (1 each).

The latest West Africa Free Expression Monitor analyses incidents of violations in all 16 countries in West Africa - the 15 ECOWAS member states plus Mauritania from September to December 2014.
LINA