PHOTO: Prisons rights advocate Rev. Francis Kollie
By Augustine Octavius, augustineoctavius@gmail.com
Participants at the end of a two-day forum on legal empowerment and access to justice have sent a formal letter to the Supreme Court, calling for increase in the number of defense lawyers from two to nine in Bong and Montserrado Counties.
The participants including magistrates, officers of the Liberia National Police, Correction officers, human rights organizations ,county attorneys and public defenders, who said this will reduce the increasing number of pre-trial detainees in prisons in Liberia,
They also reminded the Supreme Court of its mandate to judges and magistrates to make use of the alternative dispute resolution mechanism to help reduce the over crowdedness of pre-trial detainees in Liberia.
The call by the participants was contained in a letter written by Country Director of the Prison Fellowship Liberia, Reverend Francis Kollie , and addressed to His Honor , Francis Korkpor ,Chief Justice of Supreme Court.
The forum, organized by the Prison Fellowship Liberia with funding from the United Nations Development Program and the Office of the High Commission for Human Rights, said that one of the problems facing the judiciary system is the prolonged pre-trial detention and prison over crowdedness.
According to the participants, another challenge of the judicial system is the limited lawyers including state prosecutors and public defenders, in most of the counties with high rate of pre-trial detainees
The letter added that the letter followed massive consultations with actors in the justice system and discussions aimed at advocating and empowering community members and leaders on access to justice and rule of law.
The participants stressed the need to address the prolonged pre-trial detainees and prison over crowdedness because it constitute violation of human rights and creates burden for the government interim of providing feeding health for inmates.
The resolution among other things mandated the participants to work with local law enforcement agencies, the Liberia National Police, Correction Officers, Magistrates and lawyers.
This will enable them to understand, cooperate and support for the enhancement of access to justice in the country, the letter to the Supreme Court said.
The resolution also called on members of the legislature, the executive and judiciary of the government to increase the capacity of the Bong and Montserrado Counties public defense counsels to nine lawyers.
The resolution encouraged the government to allay the serious logistic constraints faced by the Liberia National Police , the Bureau of Correction and Rehabilitation and courts as a matter of urgency in order mitigate the overcrowding of prisons in Bong, Montserrado Counties and other regions.
The copies of the letter addressed to the Chief Justice were sent to the Representative Kanie Wesso, Chairman of the House’ Judiciary Committee ; Representative Thomas Fallah, Chairman of the House’ Committee Ways, Means and Finance; and Representative Gunpue Kargon, Chairman of the House’ Committee on Claims and Petitions.
Copies of the letter were also addressed to Senator Varney Sherman, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Judiciary; Human Rights groups; Senator Morris Saytumah, Chairman of the Senate Committee of Ways, Means and Finance, among others.