The Human Rights Commission Sierra Leone (HRCSL) in their State of Human Rights 2018 Annual report indicated some Police Division detention centres are challenged with poor toilet facilities, pipe-borne water, and health care units. The Report also noted that police cells were dark and lack proper ventilation.
According to the report, the Commission said that they observed these conditions at the Kissy Dockyard Station, the Kissy Divisional Headquarters, New England Ville, Calaba Town, Congo Cross, Lumley and Aberdeen and Magburaka Police Stations when they visited those facilities in May and June.
The report captured that during its visits to the Kissy Dockyard Station, the Kissy Divisional Headquarters and New England Ville police stations, it observed that suspects used buckets for passing urine and faeces, which gave the cells bad smell.
Suspects detained at Calaba Town police Division complained to HRCSL that no provision had been made for safe drinking water, and that they used unclean water fetched from a nearby gutter at the back of the police cell to flush off the pit latrine in the cell.
The report revealed that water fetched from water wells which suspects used for bathing was smelly and causes itching of their skins.
It was observed that some cells in the Western Area and the regions had card boards, which suspects confirmed that they slept on.
The report cited that poor sanitation is a threat not only to the health of suspects, but also the health of police personnel interacting with suspects.
The Report unearthed that the provisions of food for suspects remained a challenge indicating that food should be provided by the Sierra Leone Correctional Services (SLCS) on a daily basis to be collected by the Sierra Leone police for suspects in detention.
As cited in the Report, on the 23rd and 31st May food was not supplied to the Kissy Dockyard and the Kissy Divisional Headquarters in Freetown and Yele Police Stations in Tonkolili District. The Commission attributed those inconsistencies to lack of fund, logistical constraints and at times traffic congestion to and from SLCS.
“To supplement the services of SLCS suspects are sometimes provided with food through humanitarian gesture from police officers, relatives and sometimes complainants,” HRCSL said in their report.
By George M.O. Williams
18/01/2021. ISSUE NO:7981