A report recently released by the UN cites the ongoing abuse within Sierra Leone’s prisons and the failure to protect the rights of inmates as a serious threat to peace in the country. Sierra Leone suffered a brutal decade-long civil war that formally ended in 2002, although the country continues to experience widespread extreme poverty and is currently ranked second to last on the Human Development Index.
The UN report, entitled ‘Behind Walls: An Inventory and Assessment of Prisons in Sierra Leone’ highlights the excessively lengthy periods of remand experienced by most prisoners and their lack of access to legal representation, as well as the squalid conditions of the country’s over-crowded prisons. The systematic violation of rights within the country’s prisons is cited by the report as a risk to security and stability in Sierra Leone.
The AdvocAid project, which has been working since August 2006 with female inmates in Pademba Road prison, the country’s maximum security prison, welcomes the release of the UN report. Furthermore, AdvocAid calls for more action around urgently needed justice sector reform in Sierra Leone, with particular attention given to the precarious position of women in the penal system. The vulnerability of the women sent to Pademba Road parallels their marginalised socio-economic status outside the prison walls. Sierra Leonean prisons offer limited medical care, and frequently women are forced to give birth in their cells.
The vast majority of the women in Pademba Road are without any sort of legal representation and they are often not aware of their rights in the legal system. The current state of the country’s courts is dismal; with a total of about 20 judges and 100 lawyers working at any time in the country the system is incredibly slow and inefficient. Police investigatory capacities remain limited and corruption throughout the judicial system continues. As a consequence of the system’s limited capacity, women are often on remand for months and sometimes years before their cases are properly processed. Once they do appear in front of a judge, their limited knowledge of the legal process and frequent illiteracy leaves them beholden to a system they do not understand.
In addition to being captives of an unjust legal process, many women have also been charged according to antiquated and unjust laws. For instance, at Pademba Road and in prisons throughout the country, women are being held on charges of ‘fraudulent conversion’, which is effectively the criminalisation of debt – a crime adopted under colonial administration but one that has long since been rejected by Western countries, including the UK itself. Women are indeed often imprisoned for debts incurred by other family members, including husbands. Furthermore, the regulations surrounding bail, which stipulate the need for a guarantor and excessively high sums of money, mean that the vast majority cannot access this option and are forced to languish in prisons.
Perhaps the serious shortcomings of the Sierra Leonean judicial system are best illustrated by the following stories of two women AdvocAid have assisted:
Fatu was arrested in March 2005. She is twenty years old and is an orphan. Her younger brother was living with some extended family members who were treating him poorly. Fatu decided to assist her brother in the only way she knew how by taking him away from this abusive situation. Her uncle reported her to the police and she was arrested on allegations of ‘child stealing’. Subsequently her brother was returned to the extended family members who made the complaint. Fatu has been on remand at Pademba Road Prison, awaiting trial, with no lawyer and no family to assist her.
AdvocAid were able to secure funding to instruct a lawyer for Fatu. In July 2007 Fatu was released. The judge dismissed the case outright stating that the Prosecution did not have a strong case and that Fatu should not have spent so long in prison for a bailable offence.
Fatmata is a trader of gari cloth and is married with 3 children. She was loaned 400, 000 leones ($133) worth of gari cloth from a fellow trader (the complainant) and gave it to some people to sell upcountry. These people did not bring the money back on time. She told the complainant she could give her 200, 000 leones ($66) immediately and the rest later but the complainant refused and reported her to the police.
Fatmata was sentenced to 2 years imprisonment or a 500, 000 leones fine ($166). She was only released after a member of a charitable organisation paid the fine on her behalf.
Caught up in this system, women are effectively forced to relinquish their role as important economic actors in their community, critical caregivers in their family and active citizens in society for extended and undue periods of time. Once released, women face even deeper poverty and insecurity.
The Government of Sierra Leone, along with international donors, must act quickly to establish an effective legal aid system for all prisoners. Judicial reform needs to be a key priority for the incoming elected Government following the impending elections in August 2007. Special attention needs to be given to the position of women in the system and charges such as ‘fraudulent conversion’ which act to particularly marginalize women must not be imprisonable offences. Meaningful judicial sector reform is needed urgently in order to sustain peace and to ensure the protection of the rights of all citizens in Sierra Leone.
Published on Women’s UN Report Network: http://www.wunrn.com/news/2007/07_07/07_16_07/072107_sierra.htm