The TRRC lead counsel, Essa M Faal, has rebuked the Prisons PRO Lamin Ceesay, for his recent statement accusing TRRC officials of improper conduct during their visit to Janjanbureh and Jeshwang Prisons.

Faal told journalists in a press conference on Tuesday that Mr. Ceesay’s statement was “unnecessarily harsh and disrespectful”. He said that the Commission visited the prisons in the exercise of its mandate “and “pursuant to its power to visit any place in the country, including without giving prior notice.”

“Soon after the visit, the PRO of the prison service made a press conference in which he lambasted the commission for what he termed an ‘unethical and uncalled for’ visit. On behalf of the commission, I want to state that the language of the PRO was unnecessarily harsh and disrespectful.

“The use of such strong and disrespectful languages should not be allowed in official discourse. Our country has gone through a lot in the not too distant past where public officials are not called out to be accountable for their deeds and where others with differences in opinion are treated with contempt and ridicule. Such behaviour from public officials is unacceptable.”  

The lead counsel added: “The TRRC refused to respond at the time when the unwarranted statements were made just to diffuse the situation and avoid unnecessary escalation. It certainly would have been more helpful if the prison service had called the authorities in the commission to discuss their complaint.”