To deal with extreme inmates, prison guards receive special training.
Prison warders, rehabilitation and reintegration staff, according to Magomu, have had a difficult time dealing with such inmates.
Thirty-six Ugandan prison guards are being trained in how to rehabilitate and reintegrate extremists.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime-UNODC is hosting the training at Admans Hotel in Entebbe, with financing from the European Union, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and the UN Office on Counter-Terrorism.
According to Wilson Francis Magomu, the Commissioner in charge of Uganda Prisons Services’ safety and security operations, violent extremist inmates are those who are on remand or have been convicted of crimes such as terrorism, abetting terrorism, and deriving pleasure from causing grievous harm such as burning or amputation of corpses, among other things.
The eight convicts in the 2010 Kampala twin bombs, according to Magomu, are among those who have been classed as violent extremist detainees. He emphasizes that the violent inmates are the masterminds behind prison escapes and brawls, and they can injure themselves and others.
Prison warders, rehabilitation and reintegration staff, according to Magomu, have had a difficult time dealing with such inmates.
The training is timely, according to Dr. John Byabashaija, Commissioner-General of Uganda Prisons Services, because it would teach officers on how to deal with violent extremist detainees.
According to Byabashaija, 189 convicts out of a total of 66,323 are currently classified as violent extremists.
During the training, prison personnel will meet with experts to discuss how to develop an integrated strategy to the rehabilitation and reintegration of convicts, including violent extremists, as well as identify extra requirements and obstacles for various kinds of violent extremists.
Prison officials should understand how to cope with violent convicts and how they communicate amongst themselves, according to Dr. Peter Bennet, a UNODC prison security expert. He went on to say that they should have systems in place to alert offenders who are radicalizing others so that quick action may be taken.
The training is part of a cooperative initiative to enhance the management of violent extremist detainees and the prevention of radicalization to violence in prisons, according to Sharon Nyambe, the UNODC’s head of office.
According to Nyambe, the rehabilitation and reintegration of violent extremist inmates has been incorporated in instructor training at the prisons training school thus far.
She goes on to say that Uganda is one of three countries in the world that have been chosen to carry out the rehabilitation and reintegration of violent extremists who have been imprisoned due to terrorism risks. Tunisia and Kazakhstan are the other two countries.
According to Karin Boven, the Netherlands’ Ambassador to Uganda, prison officials should not discriminate against violent extremist detainees because they are still human beings who must be able to have meaningful lives after being released from incarceration.
To examine how staff will manage violent extremist detainees, similar training will be conducted in six prisons, including Kakika in Mbarara, Jinja, Masaka, Luzira Upper Prison, and Kitalya.