African NGO Works for Transformation in the Justice System
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African Transformative Justice Project
ATJP seeks to establish alternative practices for the administration of justice. With funding from the Department for International Development in London, PRAWA started pilot projects in Nigeria, Gambia, and Ghana. These projects have two phases: education and training in victim-offender mediation and the opening of mediation centers in each country.
In 2001, Marian Liebmann, a mediator and trainer from the UK, was asked to develop and deliver the mediation training. PRAWA representatives preceded the training events with informational sessions and the identification of important stakeholders in each country. Stakeholder groups included prison service, social welfare services, other government agencies, NGOs, journalists, local traditional leaders, etc. Groups provided representatives for the mediation training. These sessions often accompanied stakeholder meetings.
The course covered the basics of victim-offender mediation while attempting to be sensitive to the local culture. To achieve this, Liebmann and her assistant used local scenarios gleaned from participants to construct role-plays. Scenarios included the theft of a mobile phone, arson, burglary, and rape. The trainers also took time to learn about the local conflict resolution practices, especially in Gambia where local chiefs participated in the training.
Mediation and Peace Centres opened in two Gambian cities in June and August of 2002. In the opening ceremony in the city of Brikama, the acting Deputy-Solicitor General described the project as being very similar to African traditional practice and as helping reduce the prison population and provide access to justice to those who would normally not be able to receive it.
PRAWA’s Other Activities
PRAWA uses other activities to advocate for justice reform and to provide concrete assistance to offenders. The alternatives to imprisonment project works to inform governments and civil society about the need to provide alternatives to incarceration while advocating for improvement in prison conditions. In 1999 and 2000, PRAWA participated in a national conference that resulted in the Abuja Declaration on Alternatives to Imprisonment. This conference brought together many different justice officials, the chair of the African Commission on Peoples and Human Rights, representatives from community service schemes throughout Europe and Africa, several NGO’s and academics. The conference resulted in a working group on alternatives to imprisonment.
PRAWA’s Penal Reform Advocacy programme unites a network of journalists to investigate prison conditions and to report on reform efforts. The group also maintains a research centre for groups interested in justice reform and torture prevention.
PRAWA’s offers training, health care services, and family link services through the Rehabilitation, Care and Support Services. The training includes vocational skills, social skills, and Alternatives to Violence training. These support services target offenders, ex-offenders, youth at risk, and victims of torture. The project also hopes to demonstrate good practice in order to advocate for expansion and replication in other contexts.
Resources used for this Story:
Penal Reform International. N.d. Sub-Saharan Africa. 23 October 2002.
Prisoners Rehabilitation and Welfare Action
Training Workshops on African Transformative Justice Opens. The Independent November 5, 2001.
Lynette Parker
November 2002
Last modified 2005-05-19 09:01
