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The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) recently awarded
Mount Saint Vincent University was recently awarded a one million dollar
grant to launch a six-year development project titled Community-based
Policing and Restorative Justice in The Gambia. The funds are
being managed by Association of Universities and Colleges of
Canada (AUCC). Although community-based policing and restorative justice
are typically viewed as separate concepts, the project team is hopes to
integrate both into a holistic program designed to promote effective
policing, democratic principles, human rights, and good governance in
this tiny West African nation.
The Gambia is a resource poor nation that, like many other African
countries, is struggling to more closely meet western models of
democratic government. Located near strife torn countries like Sierra
Leone, Liberia, Cote D’Ivore, and Nigeria, it is a beacon of relative
intertribal peace and social stability. Despite a significant European
tourist trade its economy continues to falter in the face of failing
traditional industries, most notably in the groundnut trade. It must
capitalize on is its stability but even this is under threat as the
economy comes under increasing strain.
This project is premised on the notion that future prosperity in The
Gambia is premised in its people feeling safe and perceiving that they
have a stake and voice in the activities of a fair and competent police
force. Because the police are only part of the equation in community
policing, the project will assist with initiatives to encourage the
public at large to become a partner in crime prevention and the larger
service mandate now being fulfilled by Western forces. In addition to
providing practical training for front-line officers, a certificate
program in community policing and restorative justice will be developed
and offered jointly by the Gambia Police Force and Gambia College.
With regard to the restorative justice component, it will be
important for the Canadian partners to remember that we have as much to
learn from Gambians as do they from us. Sub-Saharan Africans, with their
societal focus on collectivist values, have a much longer tradition of
settling problems at the village level than do we in the West.
Presently, many criminal matters never come to the attention of the
police, but are settled by Councils of Elders under the leadership of
Alkalos (village chiefs) or regional chiefs. Remedies sought during
these mediation sessions are consistent with the principles of
restorative justice insofar as the law-breaker must make amends for his
or her actions.
The problem is that the remedy is often seen as arbitrary or unjust,
with decisions often based along tribal or other political lines.
Especially disadvantaged in the process are women who often remain in a
position of powerlessness in this still highly patriarchal society. A
female victim may find her perpetrator making amends to her father or
husband without much consideration being given her.
Take domestic violence, for example. In the West, many jurisdictions
do not allow for police discretion when an assault is reported;
mandatory arrest of the perpetrator is the policy. The restorative
justice policies of most Western jurisdictions exclude the possibility
of many serious offences being diverted from the formal court system,
with domestic assault typically viewed in the serious category. In The
Gambia, domestic assault is still considered a private matter and
usually goes unreported. Should a woman report an assault to the police,
she typically would be advised to return home and try to better get
along with her husband. Ironically, then, were domestic assaults dealt
with at the village level, this would represent an increased recognition
of the seriousness of the act, and not, as many Westerners might
perceive, a lessening of magnitude.
In addition to the Gambia Police Force and Gambia College, the
African Center for Democracy and Human Rights Studies joins our Gambian
team. Although this Gambian-based institute has the expertise to assist
with all aspects of the project, Mrs. Hannah Forster and her staff bring
particular expertise to the restorative justice component. Our Canadian
expert is Ms. Pat Goreham, coordinator for the Restorative Justice
Program, Department of Justice, Province of Nova Scotia. Ms. Goreham
works with a province-wide network of facilitators who will lead
workshops and assist with curriculum development both in Canada and The
Gambia. It will take some time for Ms. Goreham to determine just which
Canadian best practices and just which restorative justice model can
best be implemented in The Gambia. The goal will be to develop a
culturally sensitive “made in The Gambia” approach that maintains the
integrity of internationally recognized human rights codes.
As Canadian Project Director, the writer will be able to draw on his
training as a psychologist and former police officer. The Mount Saint
Vincent University team also includes Dr. Meredith Ralston who will
focus on the gender components of the project. Her background includes
credentials as project director of a sex-tourism development project in
The Philippines and as a documentary filmmaker. The Halifax
Regional Police Service enters the project in a Canadian first for this
type of project! Canadian police forces have often acted in NATO or UN
led peacekeeping missions, but never before in volunteering services in
the absence of overt conflict. We are fortunate to have an
in-country managing partner in the form of the Nova Scotia Gambia
Association, a long-standing Canadian NGO that will assist with many of
the logistical challenges that typically face development projects.
We begin our efforts with officers and community members in the
capital city of Banjul and two rural towns. After launching the
initiative in these pilot jurisdictions, we will develop curricula to be
integrated into the basic training of all future police recruits as well
as the curricula necessary for the higher level accredited certificate
program. We are optimistic that this project will make as real
difference in the lives of Gambians.
Contact: Dr. Stephen Perrott
Department of Psychology
Mount Saint Vincent University
Halifax, Nova Scotia CANADA
B3M 2J6
Voice mail- (902) 457 6337 stephen.perrott@msvu.ca
October 2004
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