At least 30 prison officers from Juba Central Prison are undergoing capacity-building training in Juba on how to calculate sentences, admission, and release of inmates.
This is the third such training, the first and second having been conducted in Wau and Torit respectively.
The training is being conducted by the Justice and Human Rights Observatory (JAHRO), a national non-governmental organization with support from the UNMISS Human Rights Division.
Speaking to journalists during the training on Wednesday, Major General Baak Anyar, the Director-General of Juba Central Prison, said the training will help raise the capacity of the prison officers to discharge their duties effectively
“The main objective of this training is to help prison officers to understand the human rights law and rights of the inmates. Secondly, the training is meant to raise the level of understanding of our prison officers and our soldiers. This is the target of the training.” Gen. Baak said.
He further said the training will help equip most of the prison officers who were former soldiers with no background in the prison service.
Godfrey Victor Bulla, the Executive Director of JAHRO, said the training is meant to equip the prison officers with enough skills to manage inmates.
“In such training, we are taking them through all the processes. For instance, the process of admission of an inmate, calculation of sentences, the release of an inmate, and all the rights of an inmate, including the international treaties that recognize the rights of people that are under detention,” Bulla said. “So we also bring them all these things so that the prison should be at an acceptable standard.”
Rebecca Ayaa, an officer from the Juba Central Prison who participated in the human rights training said the training will help them with the skills needed for managing the prisoners.
“This training will help us with the knowledge of managing the inmates. Now we will be able to look at the welfare of the inmates,” she said.
According to the law, an inmate is a person who has rights like any other person. Human Rights lawyers have in the past said most prison officers in South Sudan are not formally trained to work at the prison facilities.