A local group is training Police and Corrections Officers to enhance the nationโs criminal justice system.
By Naneka A. Hoffman
Nimba, Liberia, April 4, 2024โAbout 60 Police and Correction Officers have begun a two-day training course in Nimba county, organized by the Rural Human Rights Activists Programme (RHRAP).
Speaking on Wednesday, April 3, 2024, in Monrovia, RHRAP Executive Director Lorma Baysah said the implementation of Liberia’s Criminal Justice System (CJS) remains one of the major challenges to the protection and promotion of fundamental human rights and the restoration of genuine democracy in Liberia.
Mr. Baysah reveals that the Rural Human Rights Activist Program and a partner group, Serving Humanity, Education and Development (SHED), are engaged in a series of activities that complement the national governmentโs efforts in the full implementation of the CJS.
He explains that from March 22-23 and March 29-30, 2024, respectively, RHRAP, in collaboration with SHED, organized two-day training sessions for 60 Police and Correction Officers in Nimba and Grand Cape Mount counties.
He says the training has enhanced officers’ knowledge of promoting human rights perspective in Policing and Corrections.
He recalls that for the past seven years, RHRAP and SHED have been providing support to the Police, prisons, and communities in the promotion of fundamental human rights and the rule of law with funding from the European Union (EU).
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According to him, RHRAP and SHED, the project lead, will also be providing training for religious, traditional, and community leaders about the Criminal Justice highways, beginning with arrests-court-detention/prisons and parole that is helping community residents to contribute to the full implementation of the rule of law which promotes and protects fundamental human rights of community residents.
Mr. Baysah explains that the program will continue to provide legal representation for prolonged pretrial detainees, educate inmates about their rights despite being in prison, including their right to lawyers, and allow them to communicate with their lawyers and family members, amongst other things, as provided by the Nelson Mandala Rules on Prison.
Meanwhile, he says RHRAP and SHED had done it in the past with other counties, including Bong, Margibi, and Nimba.
He discloses that the program will provide the Grand Cape Mount Prison with a desk SNF phone and refill cards for the next three years so that inmates will have an opportunity to communicate with the outside world under the supervision of prison authorities.
ย He says RHRAP and SHED will continue to reduce recidivism or re-offenses by providing skills in tailoring, soap making, and vegetable production, among other things, that will empower inmates to generate income and support their livelihoods when they are out of prison.
He adds that for those who will remain in prison because of a life sentence, the program is gradually moving towards making prisons industrial, where inmates will produce varieties of clothes, including uniforms, that will be sold in the market and the proceeds used to benefit them. This will be done in line with the Nelson Mandela Rules on Prisons.
In the next three years (2024 โ2026), RHRAP and SHED are implementing the second phase of the project, โStrengthening Democracy and Respect for Fundamental Human Rights of Prisoners in Liberia,โ which is funded by the European Union (EU). Editing by Jonathan Browne
