Top officer of UN Office on Drugs and Crime impressed with Fiji Corrections Service

A top officer of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime is impressed by the level of interest from the Fiji Corrections Service officers to adhere to the International standards that were set by the UN General Assembly on the governance of prisons and how to treat prisoners.

The Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Officer of UN’s Office on Drugs and Crime Philipp Meissner who is conducting a training workshop with senior officers of the Fiji Corrections Service says he is impressed that there is great interest ny corrections officers to not only learn about the rules but also apply these rules.

🇫🇯 Fruitful scoping mission in #Fiji to support corporate statement of @Correction_fiji: „Semper Restituens“ (always #rehabilitation) 🔄 & to explore @UNODC assistance in strengthening compliance w/h the #NelsonMandelaRules @FijiGeneva @nazhatskhan @jdouglasSEA @ICRC_AsiaPac pic.twitter.com/WujTqcIuN2

— Philipp Meissner (@ph_meissner) December 11, 2018

He says the workshop primarily relates to prison management and how offenders are being treated behind bars in Fiji.

The Senior Corrections Officers were also told in the workshop about how and what they can do when dealing with prisoners who are from transgender community.

Situations where Corrections Officers have to do a body search for drugs and the prisoners are reluctant because they are from the transgender community was also discussed in the workshop today.

The Deputy Commissioner Fiji Corrections Service SP Apimeleki Taukei says this is something that they are focusing on to treat them equally.