HEADS and representatives of penitentiary administration from nine African countries are meeting in Kigali for a regional workshop on prison infrastructures in Africa. The meeting was organised by the International Committee for Red Cross (ICRC)-Rwanda in collaboration with Rwanda Correctional Services (RCS) as a platform for participants to exchange experiences, best practices and lessons learned in as regards proper maintenance of places of detention. Launched by the ICRC in 2017, the initiative aims to promote the exchange of good practices and identifying solutions to common challenges observed in all countries involved. Opening the workshop on Tuesday, January 28, Beatha Mukeshimana, the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Justice, said that proper maintenance of prison infrastructure is crucial for any country that respects the rights of its citizens, including inmates. The Commissioner General of Rwanda Correctional Service, George Rwigamba delivers his remarks in a regional workshop on prison infrastructures in Africa. She said that these rights to inmates include having an environment in which prisoners can fully enjoy their rights to fair accommodation, healthcare service, water and food, education and play sports among others. “It is important to understand that good prison infrastructure is a human right and is within human treatment perspective that international norms on prisons requires. In Rwanda, inmates’ rights and infrastructure are among our priorities,” Mukeshimana said. Every fiscal year, RCS allocates 10 per cent of its annual budget to infrastructure and this year alone nearly Rwf2 billion was committed to improving and upgrading infrastructure in correctional centres across the country. Mukeshimana revealed the state of prison infrastructure in Rwanda is generally good, despite limited resources. “In Rwanda, we have tried within our means to improve our prison infrastructure and we continue to upgrade them to have all required facilities. However, I must say that the budget is never enough, we strive to do our best taking into consideration that maintaining what we have achieved is also crucial,” she added. The ongoing workshop, which runs until January 31, brought together participants from nine countries; Ethiopia, Gambia, Kenya, Libya, Nigeria, South Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania and hosts Rwanda. In 2018, according to ICRC, nearly 1,300 places of detention were visited in 86 countries, including 32 in Africa. Francois Moreillon, the ICRC Head of Delegation, said African prisons authorities still have difficulties in properly maintaining existing infrastructure due to budgetary constraints among other challenges. “What we need to know is ‘what should the role of prisons be within the wider discourse on justice?’ We have to ensure that people are detained in conditions that are respectful of human dignity and are of national, international standards and make sure that prison architecture reflect on political choice,” he said. The ICRC boss said the issue of infrastructure maintenance, recent or old, very often represents a major challenge compounded by overcrowding and whose indirect costs, human and financial, are often underestimated over time. Moreillon said lack of appropriate training are among factors that limit administrators’ ability to play and deliver the prison services desired. He said the platform is a unique forum where the right people meet around the table with the knowledge on the reality on the penitentiary infrastructure situation and the challenges that can be encountered so they can find solutions together. Statistics indicate that, today, prisons around the world are home to over 11 million people globally. In Rwanda, there are over 75,000 inmates in 13 prisons across the country.
