29 November 2011 - As part of its mandate to build up national capacity in South Sudanese prisons, UNMISS Corrections Advisory Section and Human Rights Office in Yambio, Western Equatoria State, have been training prison officer recruits there since September.

UNMISS Correction Officer and trainer Charles Kamwengo said the exercise at Yambio Prison Training Centre, which targets 291 recruits from the state's 10 counties, aimed at improving the situational performance of prison administration.

"The objective of this training is to ensure that they understand the management of the prison system before they are deployed," he said. "This is in line with the support to the Government of the Republic of South Sudan to strengthening state capacity in the areas of rule of law, security and justice system."

The recruits had been training before UNMISS offered its assistance since January 2011 and were expected to graduate in February 2012, according to Yambio Prison Training Centre manager Sergeant Major Wilson Abui. UNMISS officers will be training them until they graduate.

Training topics include treatment of prisoners, code of conduct for law enforcement officials, human rights, Prisons Act and regulations, prisoner rights, and security of prisoners.

"This is one of the most important trainings we have (done) so far because it will help our staff to acquire a standard knowledge on the meaning and definition of prison administration and inmate rights," said Brigadier Khamis Alhaji, Director of Western Equatoria State Central Prison.

Rober Bati Benjamin, a participant, said he had learned many important issues including how to escort prison inmates and security of prisoners and the prison. "I learned that inmates have the right to make contact with the outside world, which I did not know before."

Brigadier Alhaji thanked UNMISS and called for additional training in public relations, psychology, sociology, psychiatry and farming management.