As the number of confirmed cases struck an alarming 200+ per day, we increasingly become concerned about the vulnerable, especially the prisoners.
One can easily forget that any person found behind bars as a prisoner or in any other detention facility, is entitled to be protected too, as their fundamental human rights should be respected.
The only right a prisoner is deprived of is the right to free movement thus limiting their potential of indulging in criminal activities. All other rights, especially their basic rights, should be met by the state, as enshrined in the constitution and other laws of The Gambia.
We therefore commend the National Human Rights Commission for calling on the State to consider decongesting the prisons and releasing all those whose crimes are neither too serious nor sexual related. Or those who might have served at least three thirds of their sentence. We hope that the Government will also consider providing adequate materials to the prisoners and the Gambia Prison Services for their protection against the pandemic.
Our fight against the pandemic should be all-inclusive and should not segregate against people who are perceived as not eligible or not entitled because of crimes they might have committed. Thus, we also call on the Gambia Police Force to maintain to the strict minimum the number of detainees in their cells at the police stations and other detention centres.
And where people are locked up in cells, the measures required to protect them from contracting the virus must be respected and implemented. As duty bearers, the State has the fundamental obligation to protect and to fulfil its obligation to the citizenry.
Meanwhile, we also call on to the Judiciary to consider a mobile court to quickly clear cases for inmates of Remand. We commend the Chief Justice for allowing few courts sessions to continue even after sending all judges on leave during this period.
We hope that the mobile courts, when initiated and implemented, would decongest the Remand wind, which is very much overcrowded with little sanitary conditions to curb the potential disaster the present situation can cause.
<Those who accomplish great things pay attention to little ones> African proverb.