This is a publication of of the project 'Promoting Pre-trial Detention in Africa' (PPJA). The objective of this review is to explore existing literature in respect of the reasons for female remand detention in Africa and the challenges women experience in prison. The biggest challenge to compiling this review was the lack of centralised and comprehensive statistics. The subject is under-researched and statistics referred to represent snapshot data obtained either from the database of the International Centre for Prison Studies or from various ad hoc reports. Literature pertaining to South Africa was available, but authoritative studies from less developed countries do not exist, or were last undertaken as long ago as the 1980s. The failure of states to allocate resources to female detainees and the absence of consistent and clear policies and legislation around the issues they commonly encounter suggest a lack of awareness or a lack of political will to improve the situation. Report by Marilize Ackermann
This submission discusses the 2013/14 Department of Correctional Services (South Africa) Annual Report. More specifically, it discusses human rights violations in prison (including allegations of torture), the mandate of the Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services, rehabilitation and the review of the White Paper on Corrections, the SIU investigation into corruption in prison, lengthy pre-trial detention and leadership instability.
This paper by Tina Lorizzo explores the implications of the Guidelines and the similarities and differences between Angola and Mozambique with regard to arrest, police custody and pre-trial detention.
On 8 May 2014, in Luanda (Angola), the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) adopted the Guidelines on the Use and Conditions of Arrest, Police Custody and Pre-trial Detention in Africa. Shortly after the adoption of the Guidelines, the Civil Society Prison Reform Initiative (CSPRI) of the Community Law Centre at the University of Western Cape (South Africa) co-hosted on 21-22 May 2014 a workshop in partnership with the Mozambican Institute of Legal Aid (Instituto de Patrocínio e Assistência Jurídica, IPAJ), in Maputo, to begin a debate on the implementation of the Guidelines in Mozambique and Angola.
This report records the discussion which took place in Dakar, Senegal, on 10 and 11 June 2014.
This report deals with the following: the value of independent oversight, foreign and international models of best practice, oversight structures relevant to the Khayelitsha police stations, and gave recommendations. Report by Clare Ballard
This is presentation on measurement methods in the African context made by Jean Redpath at a seminar in Dakar in June 2014.
This is an overview presentation on data, measurement and indicators made by Jean Redpath at a PPJA seminar in Dakar in June 2014.
The ‘tough on crime’ approach embodied in bail and sentencing law has had a profound impact on the trends around remand detention, including prison overcrowding of such an extent that it is estimated to have contributed to an additional 8 500 natural deaths in custody. Ultimately the policies have led, in practice, to an ‘Alice in Wonderland’ effect: fewer people are being tried and sentenced, while more than ever are denied their freedom without ever being tried in a court of law.
This is an unofficial translation in Portuguese by PPJA researcher Tina Lorizzo, of the Guidelines on the Use and Conditions of Arrest, Police Custody and Pre-trial Detention in Africa, adopted the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), on 8 May 2014.
This CSPRI report by Marilize Ackerman covers a range of visiting mechanisms for places of detention in Africa.
The probability that law enforcement officials will be held accountable for gross rights violations is very low. The reasons for this are discussed in this report. The report argues that there is no single reason for the current situation but rather that a myriad of factors, structural and functional, contribute to a greater or a lesser degree to the current situation. The authors contend that it would be inaccurate and superficial depiction to lay the blame at the door of only one institution, as this would ignore the effect of other factors. Moreover, the problem of rights violations and concomitant impunity is widespread and pervasive, and for this reason it is increasingly unconvincing for government to explain such cases as being the work of "a few rotten apples".
This paper highlights the need for research into how the law is enforced, who is targeted and the socio-economic consequences of arrest and detention. Information systems in the criminal justice process need to collect data which is meaningful in respect of the transformative ideals of the Constitution.
Presentation by Jean Redpath, CSPRI researcher
The submission is made in response to the 2013/14 Budget Vote as accompanied by the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) Strategic Plan 2013/14 - 2016/17 and Performance Plan 2013/14 - 2016/17. The submission deals with three broad issues: (1) alignment between the Strategic Plan and the budget, (2) creating safer prisons, and (3) rehabilitation and reintegration. The latter two focal areas are in response to a general request from the Portfolio Committee for submissions on these two issues.
Women in Pre-trial Detention in Africa
