The Campaign for Human Rights and Development International (CHRDI) has declared a Human Rights Emergency in Sierra Leone’s correctional system, accusing the state of a “catastrophic, state-orchestrated collapse of lawful custody” at the Freetown Male Correctional Centre (Pademba Road) and the New England Female Correctional Centre.
The declaration follows an exhaustive forensic monitoring mission conducted on 14 October 2026 at both facilities, CHRDI said in a press release issued 19 October 2026 and signed by its Chief Executive, Abdul M. Fatoma.
CHRDI says conditions inside the two maximum-security facilities have degenerated into “incubators of cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment” amounting to statutory torture, in violation of Section 17 of the 1991 Constitution, the UN Convention Against Torture, the Nelson Mandela Rules and the Bangkok Rules.
Key Findings:
1. 20 Deaths Since March: Twenty preventable deaths documented since March 2026 — 13 inside cells, 7 in hospital — caused by severe anaemia, chronic malnutrition and poor clinical care.
2. Severe Overcrowding: Pademba Road holds 2,016 male inmates against an original capacity of 324. New England Female Centre holds over 184 women. CHRDI says inmates get just two starvation rations a day — bread and tea for breakfast, plain rice with sauce for lunch — with the State allocating just 23 bags of rice and 99 litres of palm oil daily for over 2,016 people.
3. Judicial Paralysis: Over 1,000 of the 2,016 inmates at Pademba Road are on trial or unindicted. At least 481 have been held long without formal indictment, 108 have had cases adjourned since 2016, and 172 remand detainees have been awaiting committal since 2020. CHRDI calls this “de facto punitive incarceration” without trial.
4. Epidemic Risks: 18 active, contagious Tuberculosis patients confined without clinical isolation alongside 48 inmates living with HIV/AIDS. 19 individuals with acute psychosocial disabilities held without psychiatric certification. 28 minor surgical operations carried out in unsterile, ill-equipped infirmaries.
5. Poverty Behind Bars: 25 people jailed solely for inability to pay minor fines as low as Le 4,000. One woman remains in prison for an unpaid Le 15,000 fine even though her custodial sentence ends in days. 21 drug suspects held by the Transnational Organised Crime Unit (TOCU) in “safe custody” without judicial authorisation.
6. Women and Infants: Official registers at New England record 184 inmates but physical counts exceed 200, creating “unrecorded custody.” Seven nursing infants and toddlers — including three born in custody — are confined in toxic cells without maternal care, in breach of the UN Bangkok Rules.
CHRDI says a young man acquitted by a Supreme Court Justice during a special Jail Court session was re-arrested and has been detained for 12 months, which it calls double jeopardy and abuse of power.
“What CHRDI has forensically documented across Freetown’s correctional centres is not merely institutional negligence; it is an active, state-tolerated humanitarian and human rights crime,” Fatoma said.
Non-negotiable Demands
CHRDI issued an ultimatum to the Executive, Judiciary, Ministries of Justice, Internal Affairs, Health and the Sierra Leone Correctional Service (SLCS) to:
1. Conduct an immediate physical audit of all cell blocks to eliminate unrecorded custody
2. Convene an emergency Judicial Taskforce to release 481 unindicted detainees and 108 victims of decade-long stalled trials
3. Immediately evacuate 7 nursing infants and mothers to welfare and maternal health facilities
4. Isolate 18 TB patients and provide uninterrupted ARVs to 48 HIV patients, transfer 19 psychiatric detainees to Kissy Psychiatric Hospital
5. Pardon and discharge 25 people jailed for minor fines and fast-track non-custodial sentences
6. Deploy emergency ambulances and implement risk allowances and psychosocial support for correctional officers
CHRDI says failure to act triggers the international state responsibility of Sierra Leone for breach of binding domestic and international obligations.
