By Nelson Manneh
After serving nearly two and a half years of a ten years sentence, Keluntang Jarju walked freely out of the four walls of the Mile 2 prison, and began a journey that saw him becoming a trainer at Insight Training College.
This journey was preceded by a decision of the Gambia Appellate Court that annulled his conviction for possession of illegal drugs.
He sighed relief after his conviction was set aside by the Court of Appeal, and told Foroyaa: “This is unbelievable.”
In 2012, Jarju was arraigned at the Banjul Magistrates Court before Magistrate Dawda Jallow. He was charged with possession of cannabis, a crime he denied.
“My case was transferred to three different Magistrates at the same court before I was convicted. I pleaded not guilty because I knew I did not commit any offence, but at the end of the day, I was convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for ten years,” he said.
Throughout the trial, Jarju did not secure the service of a legal representative, reiterating: “I was sure that I did not commit any crime and even though I was convicted and sentenced, I believed that I will be free one day, that is why I chose to represent myself throughout the hearings.”
He recounted the day of his conviction and sentence, saying “when the Magistrate read the judgement, my grandfather wept, I walked towards him and he said to me ‘do you hear what the Magistrate said’. I responded in the positive and walked to the bus and was driven to Mile II Prison.”
Before his conviction, he was remanded at the remand wing of Mile II Central Prison.
Life In Prison
“I will not say life in prison is bad but it is not the best because you can easily be manipulated and transformed into a rascal; you meet people from different backgrounds. Some have already lost hope and they can do anything bad because they think their liabilities to society,” he said.
Mile II Central Prisons is partially a rehabilitation centre, but it still lacks facilities and training programmes that can help reform convicts to reintegrate back to society after serving their sentence.
“Whilst I was incarcerated at Mile II, I had hope that one day it shall be well with me, so I used to organise Quranic Recitation Classes for other convicts. My relatives did not lose hope too, they visited me at the prison frequently,” he said.
His relatives used to provide him with food when he was remanded, but he was denied food from home following his conviction, in accordance with Prison Rules.
“They (the Prison Authorities) allowed my relatives and friends to bring sanitary materials, under wears, sugar and tea for me, but food was not coming in from outside,” he recounted.
Smoking cigarette or anything within the prison’s premises is forbidden, but some inmates had access to some of these things.
“Corruption is everywhere and the prison is not an exception, some inmates used mobile phones whilst in borstal facilities,” he said.
Whilst in the prison, he got sick at some point and because of the severity of his sickness; he was put incarcerated in a one man cell at the confinement wing.
“Prison is not the best place to be, but I was partially rehabilitated there. There was a skills training project that was implemented by the authorities in collaboration with Insight Training Centre while I was at Mile II Prison. The project was meant to train inmates in different skills. I was enrolled there and I did electrical installation,” he said.
The training programme lasted for few months and they did all their practicals within the Prison, but he could not do any internship because he was still serving his jail term at the time.
“I was not the best during my training, but I was committed and when I was acquitted and discharged, I was called to do my internship at Insight Training Centre and in the process I was employed by the same institution as a lecturer,” he said.
Life After Prison
In 2014, the Court of Appeal quashed Mr Jarju’s sentence, ruling there was convincing and reliable evidence of “acquittal and discharge” to overturn the conviction.
“After two and a half years I walked home unemployed but skilled. I needed a stable job to support myself and my loved ones, pursue life goals, and strengthen my communities. But how many former inmates are able to find work? Answering this fundamental question has historically been difficult, because the necessary space wasn’t available — that is, until now,” he said.
Using a nationally representative dataset, the Gambia has a youthful population of more than one third and only a tiny fraction of this figure is consumed by the formal sector. The rest are self-employed or unemployed.
The data of convicts who have served their jail term and walked home or those that are pardoned suggested that a high percentage of them walked home without skills and are not formally employed.
“Life after prison is hard, you lose friends, you are discriminated, you are labelled, you are perceived as a criminal among others, but with persistence and fate I was able to navigate the trying moments and with patience I was able to make it to this level,” he said.
In 2016, Jarju commenced his internship at Insight Training Centre. He did well and was employed by the same institution as a full time staff in 2018.
At the Insight Training Centre, Jarju now works as a lecturer and a trainer in electrical installation.
“There are some training programs at Mile II that prisoners can grab, but it does not literally mean that Mile II Prison is a rehabilitation centre, it is far from that,” he added.
The prison needs a lot of support in order to help in the rehabilitation of inmates.
“NGOs and other philanthropists should support the inmates by providing skills training opportunities for them. Going to jail does not mean you are a criminal, to me it is just part of a journey.”
Human Rights Considerations on Incarceration
According to the United Nation Declaration on Human Rights, a verdict of custody institutes only a deprivation of the basic right to liberty. It does not involve the restraint of other human rights, with the exclusion of those which are naturally limited by the very detail of being in prison.
Prison reform is necessary to make sure that this principle is respected, the human rights of convicts protected and their prospects for social rehabilitation amplified, in compliance with relevant global standards and models.
Prison Management and Expectations
An anonymous Prison Officer said the Mile II prison needs a lot of support in order to be fit for purpose.
He explained: “A prison should serve as a correction centre especially for inmates that are jailed for minor crimes like stealing, but at Mile II Prison, it is the opposite.”
In order for a prison system to operate in a fair and humane way, the national legislation, strategies and practices must be brought in line with universal standards developed to shield the human rights of inmates.
“Authorities have a duty to ensure that the administration and treatment of convicts is in line with the rule of law, with respect to individuals’ human rights, and that the period of incarceration is used to prepare folks for life outside prison following their release,” he said.
The national legislation relating to the administration of prisons is out-dated and needs reform. In many nations the prison division is under the authority of police or military establishments and supervisors and staff undergo training regarding prison management.
Information collection and management systems are also very inadequate at Mile II, deterring the development of sound policies and strategies based on reliable and factual data.
“There are some reforms taking place at Mile II prison. The authorities have recently put in place certain measures that are helping us in our endeavours in reforming inmates. It is not our wish to see inmates going home the way they came in,” he said.
