PHOTO: Partners and stakeholders
By Augustine Octavius, augustineoctavius@gmail.com
Amid massive outcry about the dehumanizing conditions in the prisons in Liberia, the Bureau of Correction and Rehabilitation at the Justice Ministry with funding from the United Nations Development Program has drafted a proposed Bill aimed at improving prison facilities and establishing the Liberia Correction Service into a full fledge agency.
The draft bill was adopted by partners and stake holders at the end of a three-day deliberation held at the auditorium of the compound of the Lutheran Church in Liberia in Monrovia during the weekend.
Speaking at the ceremony marking the end of the three-day deliberation, the Assistant Minister for Correction and Rehabilitation at the Ministry of Justice made a passionate appeal to the national legislature for the enactment of a law establishing the Liberia Corrections Service as an autonomous agency.
Eddie Tarawali said there are enormous challenges and difficulties facing the Bureau of Corrections and Rehabilitation once it continues to remains under the Ministry of Justice because of long procedure in addressing issues.
Assistant Min. Tarawali
According to Minister Tarawali, the team of experts and legal practitioners has provided answers to the many questions that may arise on the proposed bill on establishing a modern prison facility.
“The Bureau of Correction and Rehabilitation plays a very vital role in the justice system,” he said; adding: “because this has to do with the rehabilitation, provision of training and the integration of inmates in to the society.
The Assistant Justice Minister made it clear that the prison facilities are around the country are overcrowded and efforts are underway to construct a new prison compound with the latest and modern art of equipment.
For his part, the Chairman of the Law Reform Commission, Counselor Boakai Kanneh, said the Bureau of Correction and Rehabilitation has been most neglected organ in the criminal justice system in Liberia.
Cllr. Boakai Kanneh
He said the government should see the need to accelerate the passage of this bill because the correction institutions need to be supported financially.
According to him, all the institutions, including the courts and the police that have to do with the process of correction should be supported financially and materially considering the high rate of crime and inmates
Also remaking at the program, the President of the Liberia National Law Enforcement Association, Cecil Griffiths, disclosed that it has taken over 15 years in drafting a bill aimed at reforming the prison system in the country.
He appealed to the Ministry of Justice to make sure that this document is forwarded to President George Weah to ensure that this bill is forwarded to the national legislature for approval
According to Mr. Griffiths, the passage of the bill into law will gradually enhance the performance of the Bureau of Corrections and Rehabilitation and keep the society safe.
As for Abraham Mitchell, the Assistant Minister for Codification at the Ministry of Justice, the Minister of Justice, Musa Dean will do all he can to make sure that this document is presented to President Weah.
The three-day deliberation brought together participants from the human rights, probation, prosecution and defense lawyers, civil society organizations, among many others.