By Mohamed Juma Jalloh
Recent reforms intended to transform the Sierra Leone Prisons System to Correctional Service have failed to bring much meaningful improvement, according to Nightwatch Newspaper investigations.
Among all public institutions, perhaps the one that often falls off the radar of public scrutiny is the Prisons. More often than not the public’s concentration is on the excesses of the prominent security institutions. That is, the police and military, ignoring the fact that there is a plethora of activities in the prisons that leave a lot to be desired.
In 2014, with the enactment of the Criminal Procedure Act, the raison d`etre was to develop and improve standards in the prisons in a similar fashion to what obtains internationally according to best practice.
Let us start by facing reality. Many people are of the view that the prisons is not meant for them, ignoring the reality that few people go through life without coming into conflict with the law.
Some do perish in solitary confinement based on false allegations like Prophet Joseph (Yusuf), some on concocted and politically motivated charges, like former President Stevens who spent the Independence Day celebrations at the Pademba Road prisons.
Citing more recent examples, you have the case of Alie Kabbah, the current Foreign Minister and Lahai Lawrence Lehma, the SLPP spokesman. These instances have proven that no man is too important to enter Pademba Road Prison.
Country wide, official figures show that the current number of inmates is 4,426. Despite that exponential number the system is supposed to only accommodate 1,800 in all 19 prisons across the country.
Some prisons need urgent upgrading as they do not meet the standards of prisons in the modern era, like the ones in Kenema, Bo and Pujehun, which human rights groups have best described as slave fortresses.
The situation is particularly hopeless at the male prisons, where there is inadequate space and insufficient ventilation. This was a facility built in 1914, during the colonial era, to house 224 prisoners. In some cells meant for only 2 people, measuring 6 by 9 feet, there are up to 12 or more prisoners. The situation sometimes appears as fishes packed in a tin of sardine. “Sometimes you sit throughout the night until a ‘boat’ comes and takes you to another block,” Mohamed Kamara said. This is a young man who was held by the police for loitering.
By defecating in buckets it serves as a breeding ground for miscellaneous diseases. Access to water is also a challenge because in some blocks, the pipe borne water flows only 2 times a week.
The situation is catastrophic for inmates whose relatives never send them food and have to depend on the prisons produced food called “Agboro”. In all, the hope for rehabilitation and reintegration is even more difficult.
“We are aware of the challenges and we are working to surmount them, but, mind you, changes from prisons to correction centers is not a day`s job. It is a process,” the Public Relations Officer of Prisons, Opitto Jimmy, said to this medium.
New laws introduced by the correctional service in 2014 sought to provide an alternative to incarceration, a major reason for overcrowding.
An antiquated justice sector, bathing in corruption, coupled with stiff custodial penalties for even minor offences and lengthy periods of remand, puts enormous pressure on the country’s 19 prisons.
“There must be non-custodial sentences for traffic and offences like loitering and frequency,” Prisons Watch Director, Mambu Feika, noted.
The Criminal Procedure Act 2014 also regulated criminal trials; it also introduced several mechanisms intended to simplify and speed up the process as well as provide alternatives to prisons, such as community service, suspended terms and probation.
The new laws incorporated international standards by eliminating penalties, including corporal punishment, prolonged periods of remand, hard labour and solitary confinement.
Some of these provisions had not been put into practice for years, but the step was seen as a symbolic move to reform the sector.
It also introduced measures to reduce preliminary investigations procedures, which contributed to delays in trial and subsequent prison overcrowding.
But despite these efforts, the country still has stiff penalties for even minor offences and misdemeanors. Inmates are sent to prisons, but they could have instead been given suspended sentences or community service as the case might be.
For instance, misdemeanors, such as civil defamation and libel, can carry a prison sentence of up to 3 years.
According to the 2016 report by the Human Rights Watch in Sierra Leone, conditions remain below minimum standards because of overcrowding, poor hygiene and a lack of medical attention.
The strategic plan recommended that most prisons should be relocated so as to provide space for inmates, recreational facilities and accommodation for staff and their families.
“Overcrowding in correctional services can lead to serious health problems,” Father George of Don Bosco Fambul noted.
A number of NGOs, such as Don Bosco Fambul, Prisons Watch Sierra Leone, Life By Design, Legal Aid Board and Caritas Freetown, have fought for years to reduce inmate numbers and have invariably provided psycho-social support coupled with food, medicines, referral operations at tertiary hospitals and equipment to enhance skills training.
According to HRW, the Bureau of Prisons received only Le2,500 or half a dollar per day for food.
Several allegations of sodomy are perpetrated by prison officers who exploit prisoners randomly.
“We have a zero tolerance policy to sodomy,” Opitto Jimmy, Corrections PRO said.