Promoting Human Rights Prospective in Policing and Correction to promote fundamental human rights, rule of law and democratic values.

The implementation of the Criminal Justice System (CJS) of Liberia remains one of the major challenges to the protection and promotion of fundamental human rights for the restoration of guanine democracy in Liberia. To contribute to addressing some of the major challenges, the Rural Human Rights Activist Programme, and Serving Humanity, Education and Development (SHED) are engaged in series of activities that compliment national government’s efforts in the full implementation of the CJS. On March 22-23, & March 29-30, RHRAP in collaboration with SHED, organized a two-day training each for 60 Police and Correction Officers in Nimba and Grand Cape Mount Counties respectively. The training has enhanced their knowledge on how to Promote Human Rights Prospective in Policing and Corrections. For the past 7 years, RHRAP and SHED have been providing supports to the Police, the Prisons, and communities in the promotion of fundamental human rights and the rule of law with funding from the European Union (EU). As we did over the past 7 years, RHRAP and its partner SHED, the project lead will also be providing training for Religious, Traditional and Community Leaders on how the Criminal Justice Highways starting from arrests-court-detention/prisons and parole that is helping community residents to contribute to the full implementation of the rule of law that’s promotes and protects the fundamental human rights of community residents. In addition, the program will continue to provide legal representations for prolong pretrial detainees, provide awareness for inmates to understand their rights despites in prisons, including the rights to lawyers, to communicate with their lawyers and family members amongst others as protected by the Nelson Mandala Rules on Prison. As we (RHRAP &SHED) have done in the past with other counties like Bong, Margibi, Nimba, the program will provide the prison with Desk Phone and provide refill cards for the next 3 years so that inmates will have the opportunity to communicate with the outside world as it is monitored by prison authorities.

RHRAP and SHED will continue to reduce recidivisms by providing training in Tailoring, Soap Making Vegetable productions amongst others that will empower inmates to generate income to support their livelihoods when they are out of prison. For those that will remain in prison because of life sentenced, the program is gradually moving towards making the prisons industrial where inmates will be producing varieties of cloths including uniforms that will be sold to the market and proceeds use to benefits the inmates that are producing the materials. This will be done in line with the Nelson Mandala Rules on Prisons. For the next three years (2024 – 2026), RHRAP and SHED are implementing the second phase of the project“Strengthening Democracy and Respect for Fundamental Human Rights of Prisoners in Liberia” which is funded by the European Union (EU).