Human IS Right needs to reflect

After more than four years of intense activity, hopes and results achieved with a lot of commitment Human IS Right is taking a break.
We need to reflect on all what we have done and, moreover, on all what we have not done.
We strongly hope to be back soon, maybe with the help of all the ones among you who believe in us.
Just a word, thanks...!!!

The Prison Experience

It is estimated there are currently around 9 million people in prisons across the World. Statistics can tell us which countries or regions have the highest rates of incarceration. The numbers can tell us about the most common offenses, subdivided by race and sex of offender. Statistics can record the number of assaults and fatalities among inmates. What these numbers cannot convey is the essence of what it means to be a prisoner and what the prison expe...rience entails for those being punished.
Living in a total freedomless institution can be profoundly traumatic in itself and doing so against one’s will, as a form of punishment is enough to generate powerful, specific emotions and experiences. But when faced with threats to one’s life, health or wellbeing because of issues such as prison overpopulation, physical and sexual violence, abuse of power by prison staff and management, prison riots and gang wars etc., loss of freedom becomes only one part of a more complex and darker story.
Beyond providing legal aid to pre-trial detainees, Human IS Right goes further to answering questions pertaining to the physiological, psychological, sociological, and economic conditions on detainees and its effect on society.

 

The alarming prevalence of Gender Based Violence

The alarming prevalence of Gender Based Violence in the mile 16 and Ekona communities around Buea has raised the attention of many. Within this framework Human IS Right is currently undertaking interventions in many home and institutions working in collaboration with the National Commission on Human Rights and Freedoms to curb the situation by talking one on one with victims who are mostly young women between the ages of 16 and 32 and as well bringing most cases to the attention of public authorities such as the Regional Delegation of the Women and the Family, the Regional Delegation of Social Affairs and the Ministry of Justice and other NGOs involved.

Contributions to the strategy of implementation of human rights

Within the framework of the 5 years national action plan for the promotion and protection of human rights in Cameroon, Human Is Right was invited to make contributions to the strategy of implementation following guidelines from the department of human rights under the ministry of Justice, the national commission on human rights and freedoms and the prime minister's office.

Stay up to date!

Stay up to date on how Human IS Right is driving positive social change through research, education, and public engagement that inform local communities, the judicial system, the national commission on human rights and freedoms and civil society organisations on programs designed to address disparities in well-being and promote social inclusion in a sustainable way.
We have been committed to providing access to justice to less privilege persons.

Reviewing education in prisons (Kumba and Buea): a critical challenge.

Human IS Right in partnership with Operation Total Impact and CAMBECSOR are currently carrying out formal education and reformation education to adults and juveniles within the Buea and Kumba prisons. It is a real challenge to undertake this difficult task.
Our team wishes to find out from You, how can participation in prison education programmes be improved? How do we measure performance and effectiveness...? Which teaching models work, and what good practice exists?

We encouraging all our past interns/volunteers and all those who wish to support our work to make their voice heard. The action aims to assess how we can improve education for prisoners, with plans to make recommendations to government in 2016. We welcome all contributions which has the potential to ensure that education in prisons offers a wide ranging curriculum which provides meaningful learning opportunities.
You can input your experiences, evidence, and proposals by email to administration@humanisright.org

Hello everyone!!!

Hello everyone!!!

We have been so busy and it is amazing that we even have time to pause to read an email. But let’s take a quick break to reflect on the impact we are making in our world.

In the past few months, Human IS Right has supported more than 50 detainees from Buea, Kumba, Tiko, Limbe and Douala and has partnered with more than 5 organizations to keep up with this great initiative. We are proud that these figures and our work reflect tangible results in the lives of numerous individuals in need of access to justice. Our impact can be seen in detention centers , the courts, police and gendarme detention centers...

We are impacting persons living in most degrading human conditions and bring hope and light in their lives. As we move ahead, we are particularly excited about the new partnership forged with local diplomatic representations through the connection of the National Commission of Human Rights and Freedoms.

Everyday we all work so hard and sometimes get lost in the to do lists, and email inboxes to realize the sum total of the impact we are having on the work. Together we can multiply our impact by investing in the non profit sector and support organizations and networks that are addressing critical social issues.
www.humanisright.org

Transforming Prisons into learning centers, an urgent need.

Many people in contact with the Criminal Justice System need to develop qualities and skills such as resilience, self-confidence, communication and team work. Not only are these wider life skills critical for challenging offending behaviour, but they can also act as a foundation or stepping stone on the path to engaging with more traditional forms of learning.

The voluntary sector makes a key contribution to this, with many organisations excelling at providing education services which encompass more creative approaches to learning, often making use of the arts or sport to engage learners and complement more traditional learning methods. Human IS Right www.humanisright.org , Operation Total Impact and CAMBECSOR works as partners to support the development of creative interventions to support people in prison with impressive results. This consortium hopes that based on past achievements (this year over 50% results recorded at the CGE ordinary level and Baccalaureat for Buea, Kumba and Kribi inmates) current and future plans to make prisons learning centers, the Ministry of Basic education, the GCE Board, the ministry of social affairs and the ministry of Justice will review policy of how the quality and methods of prison teaching can be improved and to make recommendations to further support such approaches.

A Reign of Terror!

A 10-year-old girl was recently used as a bomb-detonator just after massacring up to 2,000 people in Nigeria. Are we faced to a reign of terror in Northern Nigeria and Northern Cameroon?

It is noticed that Nigerian President Jonathan Goodluck is almost silent regarding this escalating violence during this electoral periods in Nigeria and almost nothing was said in his election campaign.

On the other hand, what is the World saying regarding this increasing growth of violence and reign of terror? The UN Security Council hasn't even issued any single statement on Nigeria and Cameroon! 

It can only be noticed that escalating violence has renewed pressure from world governments to act. 

There is need for an emergency UN security council meeting to put in place strategies to PUT AND END to the reign of terror of Boko Haram in Nigeria and Cameroon. This is URGENT!!! 

Let's raise our voices as one- for the sake of that little tiny innocent girl, all the kids recruited by force and by will to act as human bomb detonators and all those who are innocently killed in Northern Nigeria and Cameroon.

Happy 2015!!!

Happy 2015!!!

Amidst the joy of holiday celebrations, it is also time to reflect on the highlights of the year.
Human Is Right says a big thank you to all stakeholders for being part of our amazing year! To our amazing interns, we started the year welcoming many of you, being part of our team, then we ended the year with much achievements thanks to your amazing contributions.
We now look ahead to 2015 and engage the new year. Despite the challenges faced in 2014, we have had a great year and you were all part of our achievements.
To all our supporters who now look takes the new locomotive of 2015, we encourage you to consider Human IS Right in your planning. We invite you to make an impact by supporting Human IS Right’s work and being our ambassadors in your communities. Your investment in Human Is Right supports a great initiative that facilitates access to justice for the less privilege while creating impact today and into the future.

Thanks you!!!

Amazing!

During our one week stay in Bakumba documenting early child marriage, we interviewed some elders in the village to find out why early child marriage and pregnancy and were told it is a problem of modern times. In the days of their youth, their did not experience such a thing.

Amazing how modern times can affect people's behavior.

Partnerships!

Human IS Right in partnership with Paolo Patruno under the project BIRTH IS A DREAM worked one week in Bakumba, a village located in the depth of the forest of the South West Region in Cameroon to document early child marriage and child pregnancy. After a long journey and one week spent in the village of Bakumba, Human IS Right and Paolo Patruno are now working inside the Douala New Bell prison to document maternal health in prison.

 Human IS Right's legal team at a working session with the Center for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa. On the agenda consultations and way forward for the cases of pretrial detainees in prolonged detention.

Another victory!

Another victory for justice harvested by Human IS Right's team legal defense team this week.

3 pretrial detainees released after a long struggle with the judicial system championed by Human IS Right's vibrant legal defense team. It takes a fierce fighting spirit to a achieve results in a judicial system engrained by corruption, administrative bottlenecks, unprofessionalism among others. Through our Prisoner's Rights Project we have been working tirelessly within the past few weeks on cases of detainees who have been in prolonged detention (over 2 years in some cases) to facilitate access to justice.

From petty criminality to endless prison custody

 

Somewhere in Cameroon, a young man we will fictitiously call Thomas stole a few electronic devices from a lady's house. Caught by one of the lady's relative, Thomas was severely beaten before being arrested by the police. Here starts the long story of a 16-year-old boy victim of the unadapted and slow Cameroonian judicial system.

 

Although a minor should never be thrown in prison according to Cameroonian law, Thomas has just celebrated his seventeenth anniversary this week, among his minors inmates, hardly separated from the overcrowded adult cells. Imagine how joyful can a birthday be in a place where even teenagers have to struggle for their daily food. And try to explain why a presumed innocent young man can spend eight months in prison, being called every since and then to attend to the repeated adjournment of his trial.

 

Thomas' family, back in the village, is lost in the complexity of justice. Not long ago, the complainant proposed to Thomas' father, living modestly from his work as a bricklayer, an amicable settlement: the withdrawal of the complaint for the equivalent of 20$. Hoping to see his son out of the prison as soon as possible, the father gathered his resources to pay what the complainant demanded. It did not bear fruits, given that the woman disappeared with the money, maintaining the judicial proceedings. Since that event, the father was not able to visit his son, lacking money to take the 45-minute ride from his neighborhood to the prison. When an NGO eventually brought him to sign the bail for his son to be released until the beginning of the trial, the file was nowhere to be found in the court registry - "come again tomorrow".

 

These days, eight months after Thomas' arrest, the officials in charge of the investigations declared the preliminary steps as finished and assigned Thomas' case to a court, cancelling the option of a release on bail. Nevertheless, due to a mistake on their side, Thomas has been committed to trial at the wrong tribunal, the one for adults. The simple transfer of his file to the appropriate court is likely to last for one more month - and then at last, the slow process of a proper trial is going to begin.

 

How come that a minor can be left on his own in a prison? How can one explain why he and his family have not been informed that there are ways to enforce an amicable settlement which was not respected? Why is legal aid not provided to a family which cannot even afford to pay a visit to its son? By how many weeks can a stupid mistake by an absent-minded civil servant extend somebody's remand? How would a year in prison influence the rest of a teenager's life? As long as these questions are to be asked, the Cameroonian judicial and penitentiary system have a long way to go.
 

A Follow Up Report On Human IS Right's Gender Project

 At last, we have reached the midway point in one of our projects! Our aim, until October 2014, is to help men, women, and children in Ekona town receive official documentation, such as marriage, birth, and death certificates, to help make their lives easier in the future. Because of the rural location of Ekona, and lack of a civil status center in the local area, many people lack these documents which are so important to their future wellbeing. Birth Certificates ensure that parents can apply for benefits for their child, and also help the child in question claim inheritance once his or her parents have passed away. Death Certificates are obviously needed to prove that the person in question is actually deceased, so that their closest relatives can inherit from the deceased. Marriage certificates ensure that should a husband die, his widow and children will not lose even more than they already have; by losing their rights to own and work the late husbands land, their home, because they cannot prove their relationship was legalised, something which is sadly a common grievance here in Cameroon.

In the most recent meeting, we met with the couples who wish to take part in a mass marriage we plan to hold here in Ekona (currently involving 22 couples) so that they can get officially married and legally registered on the same day. We talked with a representative of Muyuka Council, who is looking to assist us in possibly waivering a part of the registration fees set by the government, and talked with the nearest Registrar available who informed us what paperwork would be required to allow the mass marriage to take place. With the blessings and well wishes of the local chief, the helpful assistance from the representatives of the state council and the registrar office, and the hard work of the Ekona Womens Group Malingo Women), we hope to have many joyful pictures coming your way soon.

Written by Shona Flaherty, Prisoners' Rights Project International Intern.

A REPORT ON HUMAN IS RIGHT ACTIVITIES IN THE BUEA CENTRAL PRISON

Period covered: Mid April to end of June 2014.

Names of participants:
Chamango Blaise Aime: Project Coordinator, Human Is Right
Zenoni Mattia: International Intern from Italy
Gaffuri Riva Michela: International Intern from Italy
Heweyer Megan: International Intern from Canada

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Human Is Right acknowledges with gratitude the unconditional support of the Buea central Prison superintendent as well all his staff especially the records office towards the success of the activities. Most importantly, Human Is Right congratulates and thanks all the prisoners who participated in the interviewing process.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Human Is Right seeks to address and improve Cameroon's most pressing Human Rights Issues. Chiefly: corruption, abuse of prisoner's rights, gender inequality, civil liberty deficiencies and lack of access to efficient and effective justice.
Human Is Rights lives to ensure the promotion and protection of the rights of prisoners in Cameroon through advocacy, public education and awareness creation, membership capacity building and partnership-building with Government, Civil Society organizations, development partners and with prisoners themselves. It takes its broad mandate from the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, other international instruments on Human Rights and the Constitution of Cameroon.


METHODOLOGY AND PROCESS
The activity was carried out through the administration of questionnaire to inmates under the supervision of prison warders. Some family members were called to provide additional information to complements information gathered from the prisoners.

KEY FINDINGS
Human IS Right through the unconditional collaboration and support of the prison superintendent was granted authorisation to interview prisoners in the records office of the prison. The chief of the records office, Mr Ngafeeson was assigned to provide HISR's team all necessary support to carry out the activities which he did very well.
Our interest focused on cases of six prisoners on pre-trial detention for longer than six months and who have not being to court.

CONCLUSION
From our findings, we were able to identify two suitable cases for Habeas Corpus; the cases of K. E. and M. F. With the support of our pro bono partner Barrister Njilla Stephen, we will file in court habeas corpus on behalf of them on grounds of illegality of their detention. We aim to do same for the other detainees we interviewed after we must have carry out more findings to ensure that they make good cases for habeas corpus. Our work will involve more cases of long awaiting trial and to encourage the judiciary to take quick action regarding cases of detainees.

How our work is going on!

The Human IS Right team has been hard at work working on our two projects!

Prisoner's Rights Project

A lot of progress has been made on this project! We were ready to submit a habeas corpus application for one prisoner but the other day he told us that he was granted free bail! We are working on contacting someone from his family to come and sign for him and we will continue to monitor his situation in case something arises that we can help with. We have been working on a number of habeas corpus applications for prisoners. We do this for detainees whose imprisonment we believe is unlawful. Many factors are used to determine this such as their length of time in prison without conviction, the last time they went to court, how the arrest was handled and if or their family has ever paid a bribe to a prison official. We are still in the beginning phases of this as we are trying to interview many prisoners to build a database of cases for our network of pro bono lawyers to select from. 

We are almost done interviewing all of the minors incarcerated inside the Buea Central Prison. With this aspect of the project we are finding cases suitable for habeas corpus as well as cases that may be able to be transferred to the Borstal Institute here in Buea. The Borstal is an institution where people under the age of 18 can go with the intention to be rehabilitated away from adult prisoners and under better living conditions. Only juveniles who have not committed a felony such as murder or rape are allowed to go here. 

Amazing news!! The Business Program at Buea Central Prison has been fully funded plus some! Thank you to everyone for your support! If you have not donated and would like to please visit https://fundly.com/small-business-program-at-buea-central-prison. There are 43 days left to donate!!

Gender Equality Project

This project is also moving along, but at a bit of a slower pace! We are currently looking for a local volunteer who can take the lead position for this project. Interns always come and go so we need someone who is here long term and can really get into the project. We are also looking for international interns as Megan, the intern currently working on this initiative, is leaving in 1.5 months! 

2 weeks ago Megan went around Ekona with 2 local women to different social groups who gather on Sundays. She spoke to the groups about Human IS Right and about our current initiative of helping people get civil registration in the form of marriage, birth or death certificates. Our main focus is the marriage certificates which we plan to do through a large collective marriage in the coming weeks. As many as 90% of couples in Cameroon do not have official marriage certificates which can potentially pose major land and financial problems. If anything problems were to arise in the relationship or the husband passes away, the woman has no legal right to any land or financial assets they shared since they are almost always under the man's name. 

We hope to do this same initiative in Tole but we are still having difficulties with social mobilization and getting people interested in the project. It has been very difficult and frustrating at times, but we will continue to work hard and make this project a success!!

First balance after one month of interviewing the prisoners

It is one month that we, as Human is Right's legal team, can go to the prison interviewing the detainees: now we are bringing on three different projects, inside the prisoner's rights one, analyzing women, minors and long awaiting trial detainees situation. Our job is going on in a good way and for that we have to thank the prison staff, who gives us a place where we can do our job, and our project coordinator, Blaise Chamango, who is always available to clarify our doubts.

Since we are at the beginning of our NGO's job it could seem that there are no concrete results, but we truly believe that ours is a long term job and now the most important thing is to put stable basis for the future: that is why we have prepared specified questionnaires for the three different categories of detainees with peculiar question and, always thank to our project coordinator, we are meeting everyday other organizations and associations we can work with.

Even if we are a small NGO, we are sure that our job will give important results: our aim is not our personal glory, but it is contributing to better the judicial machinery in rendering justice within a very period, so that we can give a contribution for solving the problem of the slowness and improve on the quality of service delivery by public authorities in charge to administer justice.

Article written by Mattia Zenoni