DRC: NGOs warn of detention conditions and overcrowding in prisons
A view of Makala central prison in Kinshasa, DRC (Illustration).
© AFP PHOTO / JUNIOR D. KANNAH
Text by: RFI Follow
1 min
Fifteen human rights NGOs, supported by the Bill Clinton Peace Foundation, denounce the dilapidated state of the country's prisons.
Overcrowding, particularly within the prison unit of Makala, in Kinshasa, leads to many problems: food, illnesses, tensions between prisoners.
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In 2021, following a first report, the authorities had already promised: decongestion of prisons, better food, health solutions.
“Political” promises, say human rights organizations today.
Lawyer Charlène Yangazo is a member of the collective which has just published a new report.
We provide a food that is commonly called here the "voungoulé", that is to say a mixture of corn seeds and beans.
Voungoulé is a distortion of “you will die”.
But there are even some who do not have access to this mediocre meal.
Emmanuel Cole heads the Bill Clinton Foundation for Peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which coordinated this report.
After numerous visits to the various prisons in the country, he considers that the living conditions there are disgusting and dangerous for the detainees, particularly in Kinshasa.
As you know, the prison was built for 1,500 people and today there are 10,000. There are many prisoners who sleep on the floor, in the showers… Illnesses, malnutrition… There are tuberculosis.
So the situation is catastrophic.
These harsh conditions of detention in prisons in the DRC have led to another phenomenon: the multiplication of escapes in recent months.
Furthermore, the NGOs consider that prison overcrowding is linked to the “abuse of power” of certain magistrates accused of negotiating provisional releases in exchange for sums of money.
They ask the authorities to do everything to stop this system.
I am shocked and revolted by the behavior of our magistrates.
You can't fill the prison with someone who is hungry, has stolen a loaf, and ends up in prison.
To do what ?
Why cases that can be settled at the level of the prosecution?
Mr. Willy Mwanga, lawyer
Guillaume Thibault
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