By Kemo Kanyi
The National Human Rights Commission recently organisedthree-day training for security officers from various disciplines in human rights and sexual and gender-based violence.
Theme on “Integrating Human Rights Approach and Gender in Law Enforcement,” the synergy aimed at preparing security forces with requisite skills to effectively carryout their mandate with professionalism.
Emmanuel Daniel Joof, Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission, emphasised the need for the training of law enforcement in order to broaden their understanding.
“The National Human Rights Commission has recognised the paramount importance of ensuring that the guardians of our nation’s security are not only well-equipped to fulfil their duties but also firmly grounded in the principles of human rights and the rule of law. The Gambia has made remarkable strides in recent years towards strengthening its commitment to human rights and justice following over two decades when human rights violations were rampant in the country and the TRRC report revealed how widespread and systematic it was, and unfortunately largely carried out by our own security forces. Despite the gains we have made in human rights, we cannot afford to be complacent. Human rights violations, including acts of sexual and gender-based violence, continued to pose significant challenges within the society,” he recalled.
He says it is imperative that these issues are addressed head-on as the conference session is designed to empower participants to understand the fundamental principles of human rights and humanitarian laws to identify and address instances of sexual and gender-based violence.
The National Security Adviser, Aboubacarr S. Jeng, commended the National Human Rights Commission for providing such capacity building to the security sector.
“The current curricula of various security services can be improved to properly reflect the key principles, standard and norms of human rights and humanitarian law and to better address the issues of gender-based violence. The security personnel need to be regularly and systematically trained on gender, human rights, and humanitarian law in line with the on-going reforms and institutional development of the security sector,” Jeng outlined.
He postulated that it was the omission and negligence of lack of training of security officers that have enabled security officers to use force against civilians which led to systemic perpetration of human rights violation and abuses during the former regime
