Liberia Publications

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US Department of State Human Rights Report Mozambique 2011

"By law the maximum length of investigative detention without a warrant is 48 hours, during which time a detainee has the right to judicial review of the case. The individual may be detained another 90 days while the PIC continues its investigation. When a person is accused of a crime carrying a sentence of more than eight years, the individual may be detained up to an additional 84 days without being charged formally. With court approval, such detainees may be held for two more periods of 84 days each without charge while the police complete their investigation. The law provides that when the prescribed period for investigation has been completed and if no charges have been brought, the detainee must be released. .... Excessively long pretrial detention continued to be a serious problem, due in part to an inadequate number of judges and prosecutors and poor communication among authorities. Approximately 35 percent of inmates were in pretrial detention. The LDH reported in many cases authorities held inmates far beyond the maximum allowed under law before their trials began and that in the city and Province of Maputo alone in the first half of September there were 532 detainees that were being held beyond the legal limit."

US Department of State Human Rights Report Benin 2011

"Prison conditions continued to be harsh and life threatening. Overcrowding and lack of proper sanitation and medical facilities posed risks to prisoners’ health. A July 2010 mediator of the republic’s (ombudsman) report on the condition in the nine civil prisons indicated that prisons were overcrowded, and malnutrition and disease were common."... "Approximately 75 percent of persons in prison were pretrial detainees; length of pretrial detention varied from two to 11 years. Inadequate facilities, poorly trained staff, and overcrowded dockets delayed the administration of justice."

US Department of State Human Rights Report Angola 2011

"According to the Ministry of Interior and press reports, the 34 prisons had 11,692 available places for 19,898 prisoners in November"..."There were 9,234 men in pretrial detention and 10,113 men serving a sentence. There were 551 women, of whom 253 were in pretrial detention and 298 were sentenced."..."The law states detainees should not be held longer than 24 hours, but many were held for days. Excessively long pretrial detention continued to be a serious problem. An inadequate number of judges and poor communication among authorities contributed to the problem. Police beat and then released detainees rather than prepare a formal court case. In some cases authorities held inmates in the prison system for up to two years before their trials began. NGOs reported that more than 50 percent of inmates were pretrial detainees, most of whom had not been formally charged. The government did not release detainees who had been held beyond the legal time limit, claiming that previous releases of pretrial detainees had resulted in an increase in crime."

30 Days/Dae/Izinsuku February 2012

This month's media summary report includes news about governance and corruption, escapes, and parole and sentencing, as well as prison related news from other African countries.

Conversation on the Criminal Justice System in West Africa

A look at the Criminal Justice System with Professor Chidi Odinkalu of the Open Society Justice Initiative. Published in October 2010 by West Africa Insight, which is a Publication of West Africa Horizon Scanning - Project of the Centre For Democracy Development in West Africa.

Militias Threaten New Hope for Libya

This report by Amnesty International says that a year after the uprising against Muammar Gaddafi, Libya's militias are "largely out of control", with the use of torture ubiquitous and the country's new rulers unable – or unwilling – to prevent abuses. Thousands of detainees are being held in various prisons across the country. In at least 12 cases since October, prisoners have been tortured to death, including Omar Brebesh, Libya's former ambassador to France, who died in Tripoli last month.

Version authentique du Rapport de la Commission Nationale des droits de l'Homme sur les allégations de cas de torture faites par les personnes détenues dans le cadre de la procédure ouverte pour atteinte à la sûreté de l'Etat.

Version authentique du Rapport de la Commission Nationale des droits de l'Homme sur les allégations de cas de torture faites par les personnes détenues dans le cadre de la procédure ouverte pour atteinte à la sûreté de l'Etat. La Commission Nationale des Droits de l'Homme a adopté à sa séance plénière du 15 février 2012 le rapport sur les allégations de cas de torture faites par les personnes détenues dans le cadre de la procédure ouverte pour atteinte à la sûreté de l'Etat. Contrairement à ce qui a été adopté, le Gouvernement a fait publier un rapport travesti obtenu sur menaces. La Commission, fidèle à sa mission, tient à établir la vérité et publie par la même occasion le rapport dans sa forme originelle.

30 Days/Dae/Izinsuku - December 2011/January 2012

This edition of 30 Days/Dae/Izinsuku covers news items from December 2011 and January 2012, including issues of governance and corruption, unsentenced prisoners, prison conditions, rehabilitation, South Africans imprisoned abroad, parole and sentencing as well as prison related news from other African countries.

CSPRI Newsletter No. 40 - January 2012

The South African parole regime has become a complex and confusing system. Recent case law has brought to light the effect of numerous amendments to the governing legislation and, to some degree, clarified how the eligibility of parole will be determined for various categories of prisoners. This newsletter sets out the governing legislation, explains the various amendments which have occurred, and discusses relevant case law.

Eritrea Human Rights Watch Country Summary 2012

"Eritrea marked 20 years of independence in 2011, but its citizens remain victimized by one of the world’s most repressive governments. They suffer arbitrary and indefinite detention; torture; inhumane conditions of confinement; restrictions on freedom of speech, movement, and belief; and indefinite conscription and forced labor in national service."

Caught between progress, stagnation and a reversal of some gains: Reflections on Kenya's record in implementing children's rights norms

This article was published in AHRLJ Volume 12 No 1 2012. The enactment in 2001 of the Children's Act was a significant development in the implementation of international children's rights norms in Kenya. The Act still stands as the first statute which substantially attempts to domesticate Kenya's obligations under any human rights treaty (in this case, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child). Almost a decade since the Act entered into force, there is a poignant lesson to be learned. This is that in contexts such as Kenya's, where full compliance with international child rights norms requires a process of comprehensive audit of existing laws and policies, not even the enactment of a consolidated law such as the Children's Act suffices. Rather, the process requires a continuous review of all laws, on the one hand, and the putting in place of administrative and other practical measures, on the other. A significant development is the passage of a new Constitution, 2010. However, realising this potential under the new dispensation will require decisive political commitment to ensure the allocation of resources and the institution of practical measures for the implementation of child rights-related laws. The Free Primary Education programme still stands out as an example of a positive measure geared towards addressing the situation of some of Kenya's poor children. The challenge remains of replicating its example to other key areas, including health and child support to poor families. The need for further legal provisions, for example in the area of juvenile justice, the required repeal of laws such as in relation to corporal punishment and the gaps in enforcing existing laws mean that the process of harmonising Kenyan law with CRC and the African Children's Charter is far from complete.

30 Days/Dae/Izinsuku November 2011

This month's edition of 30 Days/Dae/Izinsuku covers issues of governance and corruption, unsentenced prisoners, prison conditions, South Africans imprisoned abroad, parole and sentencing as well as prison related news from other African countries. Our next edition will be sent out at the end of January 2012.

Guide to UN Convention Against Torture in South Africa Guide to UN Convention Against Torture in South Africa

This publication, released in 2011, is an update to the earlier version published in 2008. It provides an up to date guide to the implementation of the UN Convention against Torture and Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT) which South Africa ratified in December 1998. As a guide to the UNCAT it is aimed at civil society organisations, human rights activists and officials working with people deprived of their liberty. The guide is divided in six chapters as follows: The absolute prohibition of torture in international law; Framing the problem of torture in a South African context; The UNCAT and South Africa’s obligations; The Committee against Torture and South Africa; Recent case law; Domestic and international stakeholders in preventing and combating torture.

The law and the business of criminal record expungement in South Africa The law and the business of criminal record expungement in South Africa

This report reviews the use and expungement of criminal records in South Africa and was prompted by a recent amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act which created, for the first time, a mechanism for certain criminal convictions to be expunged. The situation of criminal records and their expungement is, however, not a simple one and the creation of additional registers (Sex Offender Register, Child Protection Register and Diversion Register) have added another dimension to the issue. The overall impression from the legal framework is that different pieces of legislation use different yardsticks in respect of expungements. It is furthermore a general conclusion that the scope of the mechanism created in the Criminal Procedure is extremely narrow and that very few former offenders would in fact benefit from it. The creation of this mechanism also saw the private sector creating a profit opportunity with some companies charging amounts as high as R7 500 for handling the expungement application, a procedure that should cost no more than R100. The report concludes by recommending that the retention and expungement of criminal records should be selective, purposeful and based on knowledge.

Remand detention in South Africa: An overview of the current law and proposals for reform Remand detention in South Africa: An overview of the current law and proposals for reform

This research report provides an overview of the necessary research to develop possible solutions for limiting the amount of time remand detainees spend in custody. The report discusses, firstly, the bail provisions in the Criminal Procedure Act with regard to the right to liberty and in the broader constitutional notion of proportionality. Second, case law from regional and international bodies dealing with pre-trial release is explored, and third, detention time limits and automatic bail review proceedings are discussed. Fourth, the conceptual distinction between fair trial rights and liberty interests and the South African courts’ treatment of “undue delay” cases is described. The report concludes with the recommendation that a constitutional challenge, based on the Criminal Procedure Act’s failure to adequately protect the accused’s right to liberty, be brought on behalf of South Africa’s remand detainees. Such a challenge would be based on the right to liberty and argue that without custody time limits and a regular, automatic review of bail decisions, the law in relation to bail, as it currently stands, is unconstitutional.