Report published by the Audit Service Sierra Leone on the performance of the Sierra Leone Correctional Service (SLCS) has unveiled contraventions of the United Nations Minimum Standard Rule for the treatment of prisoners.
Section 22 (2) United Nations (UN) Minimum Standard Rule states that; “Sick inmates who requires specialist treatments shall be transferred to a specialized institutions or to civil hospitals”.
The Performance Audit Report published by the Audit Service Sierra Leone has it that the Manfanta Correctional Center hosted 28 sick inmates with diseases ranging from T.B., HIV, Sickle anemia, scabies and stomach enlargement.
During the audit visit at the Makeni Correctional Center, they noted that drugs were out of stock at the drug store. Most of the containers displayed on the shelves were empty, the Report pointed out.
This situation, the Report stressed was severe to a point that the auditors witnessed an epileptic patient at the Female Correctional Center struggling with the illness, yet no drug was available to resuscitate her.
At the male cells, the Report pointed that inmates with T.B. slept along the corridor with insane inmates.
At the Bo Correctional Center, a cell that can barely accommodates six inmates, most times accommodates 15 or more inmates.
Interviews with inmates in Cell 6 revealed that fifty-six (56) of them were occupying a bed room size and all inmates in the cell were suffering from skin disease.
They further revealed to the auditors that their rooms were infested with bed bugs, hence the reason they can’t sleep due to the constant fight with the bugs.
The team saw visible blood stains on the cell walls, which according to inmates, were that of bed bugs.
Disclosures are that over the period under review, (2015-2018), government has disbursed 146.5 billion Leones to the institution in question for the welfare of inmates.
Though the government is spending such substantial amount of tax payers’ money, concerns are still being raised by stakeholders and members of the public regarding the welfare of inmates in prisons across the country, singling out the Human Rights Watch Reports (2016-2018) and Prison Watch respectively, the Report stated.
According to the auditing team, a review of a Memorandum of Understanding from the Chief Medical Officer to the National Hospital Care Manager, Connaught Hospital and the Sierra Leone Correctional Center revealed that inmates referred for treatment should be granted concession when taken to government hospitals.
According to auditors, in an interview with the Regional Health Officer in Freetown said “The MoU is not adhered to when inmates are taken to hospital”.
We are required to pay for X-ray, scanning, blood transfusion and eye medicine, especially at the Connaught Hospital before treatment are being administered, Regional Health Officer said.
The report also pointed that drugs and its intake are visible in all of the 19 prison cells across the country for which accusing fingers had and continues to be pointed at prison officers.
This, the report noted, has the potential to increase the number of inmates already in prison cells nationwide
Like all other governments around the World, Government of Sierra Leone has the responsibility to protect and promote human rights for all.
However, the Performance Audit on the welfare of inmates by the Sierra Leone Correctional Service, December of 2021 speaks contrary to the promotion and protection of human rights for all, the report indicated.
