BY ABDUL MARTINS FODAY AMARA.
A human rights organization in Kenema has celebrated this year's World Human Rights Day with Female Inmates in the Kenema Correctional Center by donating food and non-food items. And it happened at the Regional Center of the Female Correctional Center in Kenema.
The event brought together, CRD members, the media, members of Civil Society organizations, stakeholders, correctional service officers, and more.
The CRD Eastern Region Coordinator, Madam Victoria Vandi Bernard, informed the Universal Declaration of the United Nations to always observe December 10th of every year as World Human Rights Day. He added that this is so because every human being on earth is entitled to enjoy every right given to us by the creator.
She continued that the organization decided to visit the inmates as a way of showing solidarity and making them feel like members of society. She admonished that being in the Correctional Center does not make them condemned members of the country. She maintained that they were there as a result of various circumstances that were beyond their control. "Your being here should not make feel rejected or abandoned. Your prayers in here should be God's timely intervention for your freedoms and it up a behaviors-changed attitude anytime you gain your liberty", he said.
"From what we have observed here today, we need not be told that the officers here are taking good care of you all. My team and I are here to show solidarity and support with these little gifts with support from our chairman and founder of CRD, Mr Allan Metzger. Please accept them in good faith as we pray for more provisions for subsequent visits".
"Take this as a test case for what life has in store for you all and pray for a better tomorrow. As believers, we believe that anything that happens to us on earth has been arranged by God Almighty," she warned coordinator Victoria.
In his statement, the Regional Commander of the Correctional Service East, Mr Lamin Bangura, thanked the team from CRD for the visit, terming it timely. He continued that since he was transferred to the region about three months ago, he and the entire staff have tried all they could to make the centers very friendly to both the inmates and the community members.
He furthered that, his only dismay is that 99% of all organizations visiting the correctional centers are only catering to the female inmates and paying less attention to the males. He made it clear that since 2014, the Correctional Centers and services within the country had gone through drastic changes from the old systems to the international standards of Correctional facilities globally.
He also pointed out that visitations of such are very important because there are certain things that they as workers in the Correctional Centers could not directly lobby to government for but the civil society organizations and other stakeholders may have the time and chance to do it on their behalf. Because the government always tries to do the best for them but still human wants can never be satisfied adequately. And in that light, the intervention and support of other community members are of great importance.
Representing the civil society organizations, a human rights activist, Mr. Sheku Amara Sannoh, lauded CRD for such a thought and items brought. He reiterated that the gesture is of great importance. He urged the beneficiaries to accept the gifts in good faith and always be optimistic that they may one day gain their freedoms no matter how long it may take.
He advised the inmates to consider every time spent at the centre as a moment of education, reflection, and decision-making time. "You all should put up good morals and always promise yourselves that, what led to your being here may never repeat itself. You all should consider yourselves as changed persons when you are leaving at God's appointed times", Mr Sannoh warned.
On behalf of the beneficiaries, one inmate (name withheld), thanked CRD for the visit and the items they brought. She confessed that it's been a while since an organization visited them. She told the team that they are always delighted whenever people or organizations visit them. She continued that the officers had been very nice to them and the center had helped them to acquire a lot of skills like hairdressing, weaving, tailoring, and many more.
She maintained that she went to the center as an illiterate, but she is glad that she can now read and write fluently, coupled with many other skills that would make her self-reliant when she finally gains her freedom. She pleaded with other stakeholders and organizations to consider them as part of the society and make them feel belonged.
On behalf of the media, the Financial Secretary of the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) who also doubles as the station manager of Top Radio in Kenema, lauded the officers of the Correctional Center and the members of the Civil Rights Defenders for visiting the inmates and at the same time the donation.
"As a journalist, I'm impressed with what I've seen so far. The facility is very neat mad tidy this shows that you guys are taking good care of the inmates here. I implore you all to continue in this direction and set brighter examples for others", Mustapha Sheriff commended.
Other stakeholders made similar supporting statements and a tour around the showroom in the center climaxed the visitation.
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