A non-governmental organisation, Prisoners Rehabilitation and Welfare Action (PRAWA), has called for the independence of the national human rights institution, as a way of institutionalising human rights promotion and protection in Nigeria and other African countries.

The group made the call at the on-going 44th session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights (ACHPR) in Abuja, adding that there are cases of detention of mentally ill persons in prisons in many countries in Africa, including Nigeria.

Mrs Uju Agomoh, who read the groups's report at the session said, "there is need to institutionalise human rights promotion and protection within the various member states.

This amongst other things can be achieved through the independence of the human rights institutions, commitment of special funds for compensation of victims of human rights abuses, including torture victims, victims of arbitrary arrests, detention and cruel and inhuman treatment and punishment etc, non interference with the work of NGOs/CSOs, including the media, establishing independent human rights funds at both local and national levels to support the promotion and protection of human rights work by both NGOs and government agencies involved in human rights work".

According to her, "there are cases of detention of mentally ill persons in prisons in many countries in Africa. Of special interest are the cases of persons who have not committed any offence (or have shown any propensity of doing so prior to their detention), in Nigeria n prisons statistics these people are classified as civil lunatics. In April 2007 during our intervention on this issue, it found for instance that in one of the prisons in Nigeria, Enugu Prisons, there was about 100 persons in this category some being erroneously classified as criminal lunatics".

"54 of such persons whose detention warrants indicated that they were civil lunatics were released by the Chief Judge of the State through our intervention and transferred to the Federal Neuro-psychiatric Enugu for appropriate treatment where necessary.

The above situation is not peculiar to Enugu Prisons or Nigeria. One of the women was detained while suffering from post natal depression at the instance of her husband, who wanted to marry a second wife. We urge the Commission to set up a special task force to investigate this situation in African countries and make appropriate recommendations to redress this".

Further she said, "we urge the commission to call for member states to establish a mechanism which will ensure linkages and integration of support and services by various government agencies, health, education, youths and sports, welfare, industry etc, in prisons.

This will help promote comprehensive prison reform despite the limited resources faced by many African court.

We also brings to the attention of the commission the evidence of physical and psychological torture, extra judicial killings and summary executions perpetrated by criminal justice agents and other agents of member states".