By Mariama Njie
Alhaji Mamour Jobe, Inspector General of Police (IGP) has said that undoubtedly, human rights mean human liberty and the general respect for fundamental freedom of people.
“All nations including the Gambia are committed to major international human rights instrument which includes the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” he said on Monday at the opening of a three days training for thirty police officers on human rights
The training was organized by the National Human Rights Commission in partnership with the Peace Building support office, office of the High Commission for Human Rights and the UN Transitional Justice Project Management Unit under the umbrella of UNDP.
The training meant is to sensitize police officers about The National Human Rights Commission and its mandate, also to sensitize the police on the principles and importance of community policing, to reinforce police officers respect for and faith in, human dignity and fundamental human rights.
The training further aims to sensitize the police on issues relating to police public and assemblies and to provide information on regional and international human rights standards relevant to the work of the police.
According to him, as a management, they are working significantly to improve and equip their human rights unit to be able to take up the modern challenges of policing a democracy.
He pointed out that such training will support the GPF in its effort to build and develop the institutional and individual capacities and enable them to extend basic policing services and functions, perform their core responsibilities of maintaining internal security, law and order serving and protecting citizen.
“This training could not have come at a better time considering our recent past. In the Gambia, people’s lives were complicated by uncertainties, often damaged by the excess of the previous regimes which led to a plethora of rights violations caused by the weakness of state institutions to maintain law and order.
“It is not in doubt that the Gambia through a period of dictatorship wherein state institutions especially those in the security sector were paralysed. This training will help provide a good understanding of domestic, regional and international human rights frameworks and standards that are expected of police officers in fulfilling their obligations in the discharge of their duties,” he said.
He added it is shared knowledge that human rights have become a global subject of discussion which has achieved extraordinary consideration as it encourages diversity, interdependence and pluralism across all facets of life.
