By Alpha Abu
The Independent Police Partnership Board (IPCB) says 33 cases were completed this 2021 by its Complaints Handling Committee. This was disclosed at a briefing of the press last Friday at the board’s New England Freetown head office. In a presentation by IPCB’s Programme and Communications Officer, Amadu Femoh Sesay , they received 41 complaints this year and were able to assess 30 and reserve them for further investigations.
The Complaints Handling Committee of the board is yet to review 11 of the cases. Some of the cases finally addressed were from the previous year. One prominent case highlighted was that involving a female IPAM student this year who was filmed being physically assaulted by officers and her dress torn.
According to Sesay,the board recommended that two Police Inspectors who were the prime suspects of the assault be toughly disciplined. It also recommended that disciplinary action be taken also against the IPAM academic staff for their lapses in managing the withholding of results of graduating students that sparked the campus riot by aggrieved students, that led to the female student’s beating.
It was then disclosed at the media engagement that university authorities have informed the board they have started disciplinary proceedings against the academic staff responsible.
IPCB’s Chairman Richard Shealton Freeman said they deal with civilian complaints against police officers from the rank of Superintendent and above, but claimed that because of more civil populace confidence on the board, they prefer to take complaints to them even for cases against lower ranked officers.
The internal disciplinary unit within the police known as CDIID handles intra-police complaints and complaints by civilians against officers below the rank of superintendent.
Freeman said IPCB has been going through remarkable reforms over the years and has come a long way since operations began in 2015. He said the board comprises the chairman nominated by the president, and single institutional representation from the Human Rights Commission, Bar Association, Inter-Religious Council, Police Council and a senior retired police officer. He said the board operates in line with the Luanda Guidelines which ‘called on all States Parties, including Sierra Leone to the African Charter to domesticate provisions in the Guidelines into their national laws’.
‘The Luanda Guidelines contains eight parts: - Arrest, Police Custody, Pre-Trial Detention, Registers, Deaths and Serious Human Rights Violations in Police Custody and Pre-Trial Detention, Conditions of Detention in Police Custody and Pre-Trial Detention, Vulnerable Groups, and Accountability and Remedies’’, the document states.
The Chairman for the media engagement, Haroun Sheriff said the reforms taking place within the institution is in tandem with the Medium Term National Development Programmes that prioritizes security which could in turn inspire confidence in the investment sector.
The board was said to have in 2019 secured a North- West regional office in Port Loko district that covers the other districts of Karene and Kambia in the region.
They also mentioned the Third Phase of training sponsored by the UNDP of 644 community residents including persons with disabilities in 2021 on the Conditions of Arrest, Police Custody and Pre-Trial Detention in Africa.
IPCB officials however identified a number of challenges facing the institution, which include low staff capacity, inadequate logistics especially relating to mobility, issues surrounding regulations and low financial support.
The media briefing was supported by UNDP.
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