There are 21 prisons in Sierra Leone and 14 commonly hold female detainees, of which only two (Kenema and Freetown) are exclusively female correctional centers. According to the World Prison Brief, the overall prison population was 4,732 in December 2019. This included pre-trial and convicted detainees. Data provided by AdvocAid shows that there were 93 women in detention in the country between November and December 2019: 64 were held in Freetown, six in Makeni, eight in Kenema, two in Moyamba, two in Bo, one in Kono, one in Port Loko, three in Magburaka, three in Kabala, three in Kailahun.
A study undertaken by the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice and AdvocAid has found that the country adopts an excessive use of pre-trial detention for women. Only 37 per cent of the women in prison interviewed had been convicted. Backlogs in the courts and strict bail conditions have led to women remaining in pre-trial detention for longer than necessary; the women surveyed for the study had spent on average 427 days in pretrial detention.
The report “Woman Wahala Na Prison” documented that female correctional centers in Mattru Jong, Bonthe, Pujehun and Kambia were empty during the research period. The researchers interviewed 86 per cent of the women detained during that period. Of the 67 women we surveyed, only one was not Sierra Leonean; she came from neighboring Guinea. Existing research indicates that pre-trial detention continues to be excessively used in Sierra Leone both for women and men. According to this study’s data, 62 per cent of the women surveyed were on pre-trial detention and 37 per cent had been convicted.
This is in spite of guidance in The United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for Non-Custodial Measures (Tokyo Rules) and the African Commission’s Luanda Guidelines on the Conditions of Arrest, Police Custody and Pre-trial Detention in Africa (Luanda Guidelines), which state that pre-trial detention should only be used as a measure of last resort in criminal proceedings. The Bangkok Rules further emphasize that, taking account the experiences of violence of many women offenders and their caretaking responsibilities, States should develop gender-specific alternatives to custodial measures both for women in pretrial detention and those who have been sentenced.
Pretrial and convicted women detainees were often not separated in the centers visited by the research team. They simply wore different colored uniforms. “Everyone is entitled to trial within a reasonable time or release under international standards; yet, the women we interviewed had spent an average of 427 days in pretrial detention. Some had only entered prison that month and 13 per cent had spent over 1,000 days awaiting trial.”
The interviews indicated that trials are often slow and complicated, and many women fail to meet bail conditions. “It is not good for women to spend so many years in prison. We have one inmate who has spent 7 years and is still on trial without conviction. There is an urgent need for speedy trials” a Correctional Center Officer said. ZIJ/14/08/2020
By Zainab Iyamide Joaque