Prison agriculture is often overlooked in modern-day corrections systems, but in a country like South Sudan coming out of decades-long conflict, agriculture can still revolutionize and reform the prison system to benefit prisoners and corrections officers alike.
Green corrections in South Sudan is a panacea to food insecurity, dilapidated prison infrastructure, a disproportionate number of staff, and a dwindling economy. The approach equally impacts reoffending outcomes, minimizes the harmful consequences of imprisonment, delivers humane correctional environments, and enhances the humanity and dignity of incarcerated people.
As obsolete or overambitious as it may sound, green corrections has a noble twist in a conflict-ridden country. Approximately 44,000 prison staff, mostly ex-combatants, manage only 12,000 prisoners, with little hope to break free from the vicious circles of conflict, poverty, and struggles to make ends meet.
Green Corrections is the only hope for prisoners to secure food, earn a respectable livelihood, and reintegrate back into society. It also generates revenue for the dilapidated infrastructure and redevelops a forgotten and ignored institution like the prison service. Surprisingly, the initiative has a twist that also provides skills to ex-combatants, making them less reliant on the prison service.
Thus, it not only reduces a huge burden on the government exchequer but also sets aside funding that can be spent on the welfare of prisoners and reforming century-old structures. There is indeed an oasis beyond the caged walls and a happy nation on the horizon.
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Redento Tongun
Director Public Relations, National Prisons Service of South Sudan
Major General RedentoTongun Victorio Laku is the Director of Public Relations and Spokesperson of the National Prisons Service of South Sudan. Major General Redento has a vast experience as a career Prisons Officer. He graduated from Prisons Officers College in Khartoum, Sudan, and rose through the ranks to the current position of the Director of Public Relations. He served in different capacities including in administration, prisoners’ affairs, Acting Commissioner of the Unified Police Force in Eastern Equatoria State, Acting Director of Prisons Service Eastern Equatoria State in Torit, Director of Torit State Prison and Director of Juvenile Reformatory.
Major General Redento holds a Master’s Degree in Sociology from University of Juba and a Diploma in Prisons Administration and other Social Sciences. Major General Redento is married with four children. He loves reading and is a fan of Manchester United and Real Madrid.
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Abdul Arshad
Senior Corrections Officer, United Nations Mission, South Sudan
Mr. Abdullatif Arshad, is a Senior Corrections Officer and Head of the Corrections Unit of the Rule of Law Advisory Section in the United Nations Mission in South Sudan. Mr. Arshad has vast experience as career prison officer, who rose through the ranks to the position of the Assistant Inspector General of Prisons in Pakistan. In 2008, he joined the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) and was laterally reassigned to the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) in 2011, where he served in various capacities, as Prison Reform Officer, Special Advisor to the Director General of the National Prisons Service, Senior Policy Advisor and Head of Corrections Unit.
Mr. Arshad is a Gold Medalist in Political Science and a Britannia Chevening Scholar, who completed his Master of Laws Degree (LLM) in International Law from the University of Nottingham, UK. He also holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Studies from Aston University, Birmingham, UK and was called to Bar of England and Wales by completing a Postgraduate Diploma in Professional Legal Skills from City University London, UK.
Mr. Arshad is a keen Golfer and loves spending free time with his family. He is married with three children.