By Mustapha Kamara Jnr
The executive director of the Centre for Accountability and Rule of Law (CARL), Ibrahim Tommy, has called for an urgent reform of the justice sector to halt prevalent violations of fundamental human rights of citizens.
Tommy, speaking in the name of some 30 rights based organization said the justice system was faced with many challenges which also affected the rights of citizens. He spoke about short of magistrate lawyers and judges, which has seen cases piled up in court and leaving hundreds of people languishing in detention for pretty long time without trial.
The call by the human rights activist follows a meeting by the coalition of rights-based organizations including CARL, Advoc AID, Humanist Watch Sierra Leone, and the media in Kenema at the end of late last month with the support from the Access to Security and Justice Program (ASJP), where discussions were centered on the right of fair trial and case management in the justice system of Sierra Leone.
“…rights and liberties of Sierra Leoneans have been adversely affected and many people continue to undergo immense pain and frustration as a result of the current challenges affecting the justice system,” Tommy said.
He explained that the challenges that confront the judiciary were affecting the state’s ability to respect the 1991 constitution and the rights of citizens, adding that that has had a serious implication on the country.
Another problem caused by the ineffectiveness of the judiciary is overcrowding at correctional centers across the country. The human right advocate cited the Kenema and the Freetown Maximum male correctional (Pademba Road) centers that were meant for 150 and 324 inmates but were now holding 324 and 1352 inmates respectively.
“Trials at courts are too long, and a great deal of time is spent by the registry and the law officers department to process cases, thus delaying the trials and keeping the accused in prolonged pre-trial detention,” Tommy said.
And to address issues affecting the judiciary, he added, rights activists and CSO’s are recommending that government provide more financial and technical support to improve operational capacity within the justice system, deploy more state counsels to prosecute criminal matters in all district courts, to recruit more state prosecutors and increase staff size of the court registry.
(C) Politico 23/06/15
