By M.A. Egge
Somaliland’s human rights officials yesterday appeared before the Standing Committee of the Senate hence revealed that compensation rights for people wrongly imprisoned was underway in the pipeline to be implemented.
The chairman of the National Human Rights Committee, Mohamed Barud Ali disclosed that the bill of rights that caters in depth for rights of prisoners, whether in remand or jailed, arbitrary arrests and associated bill of rights was in the offing and would soon be finalized.
He told the senate committee that they are aware of all jailed persons, those arrested arbitrarily be they journalists or others, those incarcerated without due processes hence held without concrete evidences, etc and that the human rights commission has always taken its cue in addressing the issues as they evolved.
He said that time and again they have highlighted the issues including in their official reports.
The commission’s chair took issue with so-called lawyers who abet in having their clients held in remand for unnecessarily longer periods.
He pointed out that the review laws will empower such people wrongly held to be compensated and the culprits redressed.
He also noted that there were suspects who were also held in police stations longer than necessary without being remanded in the prison facilities as per constitution.
He disclosed that whenever necessary they swiftly took up issues on those jailed arbitrarily and without due processes and sought for their release especially as concerns journalists
The executive director of the National Human Rights Commission Abdisamad Saad Hassan gave a multi-faceted report related to their services for the nation pointed out that the commission provided pro-bono services for aggrieved or accused persons who could not afford legal fees.