1,554 Remand Prisoners Demand Justice

One Thousand five hundred and fifty-four remand inmates at the Nsawam Medium Security Prisons have demanded their immediate trial, since their continuous stay in prison without trial is an abuse of their fundamental human rights.

The inmates, some of whom have been in prison for between three months and 20 years, alleged that police investigators demanded as high as GH¢1,200 from them and their families before taking them to court.

The inmates made the appeal when the Commissioner for Human Rights and Administrative Justice, Mr Emile Short, toured the Nsawam Prisons yesterday to assess the conditions of the inmates.

The 1,554 prisoners form about 57 per cent of the about 3,000 inmates currently been kept at the Nsawam prison. The prison was initially built for 717 inmates.

They said they had not had any legal representation since they were taken to the prison. A second-hand clothes dealer who gave his name only as Kojo said he was returning from Nsawam to Accra in a hired taxicab with some goods on board when the police arrested him.

He said two days later, the police charged him with robbing a total filling station at Legon and “since 1998 I have been here with three other friends'.

“I have been taken to court only once, which was last year,” he said. Dan, another remand inmate aged 65, said he was arrested for a name, the same as his written in a pair of sandals found at a robbery scene some 20 years ago at Sogakope.

“I have been here for 20 years and now all I want is to be taken to court. If I am found guilty, so be it but I know I have no idea about that case for which I am being kept here,” he emphasised.

Other inmates chased mediamen to narrate the horrible conditions under which they were being kept and the deplorable state of facilities at the prison.

They claimed that their continued stay on remand at the prison could be attributed to negative attitude of police investigators.

They alleged that the remand warrant for most of the inmates had expired long ago and that police investigators went to renew their remand warrants without taking them to court.

Others also said investigators handling their cases at the initial stage had been transferred, hence their inability to deal with such cases.

The Daily Graphic, during the tour, came across disabled and blind 91-year-old woman who said she was arrested along with her husband, who was in possession of wee at the time of the arrest.

She said the husband was currently being kept at the Kumasi prison. Mr Emile Short, in response to the demands and complaints of the inmates, assured them of the commission’s preparedness to help them, particularly those who had been on remand for as long as 20 years.

The Deputy Commissioner, Ms Anna Bossman, told the Daily Graphic that the commission had initiated a programme with the Judicial Service and the Ghana Prison Service to decongest the prisons and also provide legal aid to the inmates.

She said though there had been some improvement in the conditions of the inmates over the last one year, there was still the need to do more in terms of the abuse of their rights.

Ms Bossman said the commission was also in contact with lawyers in the country to see how to solve some of the challenges confronting the inmates.

She said the commission would do all it could to better the conditions in the prisons and also provide the inmates with the hope for an appeal.

The Commander in charge of the Nsawam Prison, Deputy Director of Prisons (DDP) A. K. Ansong Agyepong, who earlier briefed the commissioner and his entourage on the conditions of the inmates and staff, appealed for support to run the place.

Mr Agyepong said the number of cars at the disposal of the prison was not adequate for the smooth administration of the place. He, therefore, appealed to the public for support, particularly an ambulance for the clinic at the prison.

He said in order to integrate the convicts into society upon their release, the prison service had initiated a number of programmes, including various forms of vocational training.

“Additionally, we are running a Junior High School (JHS), a Senior High School (SHS) and computer training for those who are interested,' Mr Agyepong said.