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Zaire The Prison System
The administration of prisons is the responsibility of
the
Ministry of Justice and Keeper of the Seals. Central
prisons are
located in the regional capitals and large urban centers,
with
district prisons, territorial prisons, detention centers,
and
informal lockups scattered among other towns and villages
at lower
administrative levels. In addition, some of the rural
prison camps
established to handle mass arrests and political detainees
during
the turbulence of the 1960s have occasionally been
reactivated for
similar purposes. A small number of juvenile detention
centers
exist, but they are not common, and most young offenders
are
released to their family's custody.
Prison facilities are grossly inadequate; living
conditions are
harsh and unsanitary, and prisoners are poorly treated.
The system
is marked by severe shortages of funds, equipment
(including
medicine and medical facilities), food, and trained
personnel.
Overcrowding and corruption are widespread. Reports of
prisoners
being tortured, beaten to death, deprived of food and
water, or
dying of starvation are common. Prison officials and
guards
typically steal from the often meager provisions of food
and
supplies available, and many prisoners are wholly
dependent on
family and friends for their survival. In 1993 there were
reports
that there was little food for inmates at the central
prison in
Kinshasa; the Red Cross was supplying some food to
supplement the
meager rations.
An "inspector corps" was formed by the government in
1987 to
oversee prison conditions and operation. However, it lacks
adequate
manpower, transport vehicles, and government support to
realize its
mission. Also, it has no jurisdiction over the secret
detention
centers used by security forces for interrogation and
imprisonment.
Although persons arrested for political crimes
traditionally have
not been placed in prisons, they nevertheless are
unlawfully
detained by nonjudicial means, their cases are rarely
brought to
trial, and they are held incommunicado in detention
centers or in
internal exile.
Data as of December 1993
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