activists accused the government of Sierra Leone of failing...

activists accused the government of Sierra Leone of failing to implement the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's recommendations on the welfare of prison inmates, including those on death row. "There are no facilities for recreation and skills-training for death row inmates. This is inhuman and degrading. Once in the cell on death row, you are isolated, deprived of basic services and psychologically tortured," John Caulker of the rights monitoring group Forum of Conscience said. Rights activists say the prison food is poor. Inmates are not issued with clothing or shoes. Cells are cold in the rainy season resulting in frequent outbreaks of diseases such as pneumonia and malaria. But the acting director of the prisons department, Moses Showers, said all prisoners were being treated according to the rules. "They all get normal rations of meals, toiletries and supplementary diets. In fact, the prisoners on death row get better diets than ordinary convicts. The prison laws do not discriminate against death row inmates." Interior Minister Dauda Sulaiman Kamara agreed that prison conditions are "deplorable". "There are no workshops, no libraries or recreational facilities for inmates and this in no way helps the prisoners to be reformed," he told IPS. Sierra Leone's maximum security prison at Pademba Road in Freetown holds all the country's 14 death row inmates. They are still awaiting a decision on their appeals. "We consider it mental torture and a clear denial of their rights to a speedy dispensation of justice," Brima Sheriff, Amnesty International's director in Sierra Leone, said. "Justice delayed is justice denied. These people must have their appeals heard or be released without any further delays." Kamara promised the government will do its best "to ensure that death row inmates are not treated like lesser mortals". But he said he would not support the TRC's call for death penalty abolition.