UN rights chief deplores violence in DR Congo prisons

9/10/2024 17:21

        Prison conditions in the Democratic Republic of Congo have deteriorated, with cases of torture and sexual violence being reported in detention centres run by the intelligence services, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said.
        
        Congo's overcrowded, violent and unsanitary prisons came under the spotlight last month after more than 260 female inmates were sexually assaulted during an attempted mass escape from the Makala Central Prison in the capital Kinshasa.
        
        At least 129 people were killed when prison guards used live fire against the inmates trying to break free from the prison, which official figures say has a capacity of 1,500 prisoners, but housed more than 15,000 people.
        
        High Commissioner Volker Turk said during a humans rights briefing on Tuesday that prisoners in Congo were being kept in "disastrous conditions" without access to lawyers or contact with their families.