The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), in collaboration with the UN Police (UNPOL) and the prisons service, on Tuesday concluded a human rights and gender-sensitivity training for 30 prison officers in Yambio, Western Equatoria State, a press release said.
According to UNMISS, the training was aimed at enabling prisoners to serve out their sentences in decent conditions and help their eventual reintegration into society upon release.
Gloria Karikari, a UNPOL officer, told the participants at the conclusion of the training that they are the foundation on which the corrections system rests and they should ensure that the rights of prisoners are respected.
“You are the bedrock upon which the South Sudanese corrections system rests,” UNPOL’s Karikar said. “It falls on all of you to ensure that no prisoner has their fundamental human rights infringed upon.”
She added: “It is only with empathy and kindness that persons who have, in the past exhibited criminal behavior, will be able to complete their sentences and rejoin their communities as productive citizens.”
Major Alex Yairo, a prison warden in Yambio, said he learned how to cater to the needs of female and juvenile prisoners.
“As a prison official, it’s important for me to know how to uphold the rights and dignity of every inmate,” Maj. Yairo said. “The other important aspect I learned from this training session is how to properly cater to the needs of female and juvenile prisoners, who have completely different sets of needs respectively.”
For her part, First Lieutenant Mary Pee believes that state authorities must take steps to improve living conditions in Yambio prison.
“For someone accused of a crime to reform their ways, they must be treated with dignity while incarcerated,” She said. “Currently, the conditions in our prisons are not conducive towards inmate reformation and this hampers their ultimate reintegration into society.”
Lt. Pee’s views are echoed by her colleague Elizabeth Arminio who requested UNMISS to continue building capacities among prison officials across Western Equatoria through similar interventions in the future.