HRCSL TEAM MEMBER

Commissioner

Commissioner Hassan Samba Yarjah holds a Bachelor of Science with Honour (BSc. Hons.) degree in Business Administration from the Institute of Public Management and Administration (University of Sierra Leone) and a post-graduate degree in Peace and Development Studies from Njala University. He was among the first set of Human Rights Officers recruited by the Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone (HRCSL) in 2008.
Commissioner Yarjah, being an astute human rights defender, championed the Commission's first Public Inquiry in 2011 in respect of a complaint received from 235 military ex-servicemen that had been deprived of benefits which their counterparts had received because they were categorized as: ‘chronically ill and mentally imbalanced' by the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF) authorities.

Commissioner Yarjah has served in several capacities within the Commission. He was a Senior Human Rights Officer in the Directorate of Complaints, Investigations and Legal Services. He then became the Regional Senior Human Rights Officer for the Eastern Region and later Head of Treaty Body Unit in the Directorate of Monitoring and Research.

In the protection and promotion of the human rights of all in Sierra Leone, Commissioner Hassan Samba Yarjah faced some challenges in his line of duty. In April 2015, he was arrested and detained by the Sierra Leone Police (SLP) in Kenema and charged to court on 11 counts of conspiracy, riotous conduct and incitement. After three years trial, he was acquitted and discharged of all charges in 2018 for lack of evidence.
Before his appointment as a Commissioner of the Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone, he was the Complaints Manager at the Commission. He was also President of the Staff Welfare Association of the Commission from 2016 to 2019. He has undertaken several local and international trainings on Human Rights Monitoring and Documentation, Complaints Handling and Investigations, Public Education and Advocacy and Conflict Negotiation: The Harvard Method for Problem-Solving.

Commission Hassan Samba Yarjah is the Oversight Commissioner for Regional Services.