My name is Chukwuezi Obioma Sylvalyn, a 400 level clinician
from the University of Abuja Law Clinic.The NULAI/OSIWA Prison Pre Trial
Detention Project has been filled with so many activities which includes
trainings, workshops, seminars, visit to the prison (interacting with detainees
and prison officials), meetings with a legal practitioner who provides pro bono,
thereby having access to justice, report writing, record keeping and so on. All
these leaving memories which cannot be forgotten in a hurry.
One significant activity that impacted me, was the client
interviewing session with my team members in Kuje prison service. It was an
experience I looked forward to since the start of the project.
In my team, we had roles designated to each of us and mine
was the monitoring and evaluation officer which made me to take notes and keep
records of happenings in respect to the project.
Before the interview with the detainees, I learned during the
trainings and seminars how to conduct the client interviews especially with
good listening and questioning skills.
My team interviewed two inmates during our visit to the Kuje
minimum prison. During the interview, the detainees were assured of
confidentiality of the matter, a question on conflict of interest was asked, and
we told them we were offering pro bono (free) services which covered the
question of practicing fees. All these made the detainees comfortable who were
helpful in giving out information and a show of empathy was seen amongst us,
teammates.
My client interview session means a lot to me because it made
me feel like a lawyer than a student.
There were so many issues which I observed from the visit,
ranging from torture of inmates to poor facilities to inadequate equipped
prison officers and staff to inefficient management system and so on.
The one issue that caught my interest more was that of
detainees who had not been charged to court. Most of the detainees in the
prison were yet to be charged to a court of law of competent jurisdiction. This
is against Section 34 and 35 of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria.
Section 34 which provides that every individual is entitled
to dignity of the human person. And as such should not be subject to torture,
inhuman and degrading treatment. Is this not the case of any detainee who has
not been charged to a court of law? As they are subjected to what the
Constitution frowns at. They are yet to be tried but are kept in a place for
those found guilty by the court. This will affect them psychologically.
Also section 35 which provides that every individual is
entitled to personal liberty and when such liberty can be withdrawn. Going
further, it provided for reasonable time as to when a detainee should be
charged to court and so on.
The issue of not bringing detainees on time to court has
resulted to over populated prison which has led to inmates not properly cared
for.
Kuje prison is said to have the original capacity of 560 inmates,
as at April 2018 when we visited it had over 850 inmates in which over 630
inmates were pretrial detainees. With this, some stand while sleeping, poor
hygiene leading to easy spread of diseases amongst the inmates.
Also poor documentation of case files and an inefficient
management system.
The saying "justice delayed is justice denied"
comes to play in respect of the detainees awaiting trial. As days, months, or
even years of productivity is lost and can never be regained.
My participation in this NULAI/OSIWA project has been an eye
opener for me. It includes exposure such as going to places I have never been
to (the prison), meeting new people, trainings and workshops e.t.c.
I also have acquired and improved on some skills. For
example, the communication skill which includes listening and knowing when, how
and why to ask a question. Also my monitoring and evaluation skill was affected
positively too as report taking and record keeping are done effortlessly.
The Clinic values (Leadership, Integrity and Hardwork) which
I have also adopted as personal values were made stronger in course of the
project and I have added one to it which is sacrifice.
This project changed my attitude towards the prison system as
before now I thought only guilty persons were the only ones found in prison but
I realized that those who are merely accused of a crime are also kept there
too. And it is so unfortunate that a mere accusation of a person can land one
inside the four walls of a prison.
It also helped me in respect to my behavior and the lesson I
learned is that sacrifice should be part of our lives. Like the saying of
Mother Thersea "we cannot do all things but we can do small things with
great love"
The issues of our dear prison system has made me so empathic
and a reform of the prison officers/staff, inmates, management system,
facilities and so on is the way forward.
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