Prison Overcrowding

Partnership for Addressing Prison Overcrowding in South Africa

According to the International Centre for Prison Studies, the South African prison population was at 139.9% of capacity in 2009. Overcrowded prisons pose several difficulties for South Africa – and any country facing a similar problem – they are hard to control and they increase the negative impact on prisoners’ ability to make pro-social decisions upon release from prison. In response to the growing overcrowding problem, PF South Africa joined with several other concerned organisations and individuals to form the National Initiative against Overcrowding in Prisons (Initiative).

PF Zimbabwe Addresses Prison Overcrowding

Recently, Peter Mandianike, PF Zimbabwe’s Executive Director, addressed the Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs regarding the substandard condition of Zimbabwe’s prisons. His intervention followed a senior prison official’s report that widespread malnutrition and disease is spreading in Zimbabwe prisons due to rampant overcrowding and the lack of funding for food and medicines.

Defending the Poor

On the day he was released from prison he began looking for work. He knew his family had suffered during his time in prison and he desperately wanted to begin providing for them again. It was difficult going. Then one afternoon, a few days later, the police came and accused him of committing a robbery in the area. He was summarily arrested and dragged off to prison. As an ex-prisoner, his guilt was readily assumed. Unable to afford legal help, his conviction is all but assured. His situation is bad, and his family’s welfare is worse than ever. He feels totally isolated, forgotten and alone.

Ensuring Due Process for Prisoners in Liberia

Prison Fellowship Liberia is participating in a Case Flow Committee created by the national government to review the cases of prisoners being held without trial. Each week, the committee – consisting of representatives from the United Nations Mission in Liberia, the Ministry of Justice and PF Liberia – reviews cases to identify prisoners who have not been formally charged in court.

Liberating the Captives

It started with a family feud and then Zanele Dlamini found herself in prison. When her half-sister accused her of stealing, Zanele fervently protested her innocence. But she couldn’t afford legal representation and under duress she confessted to the theft. Now she and her baby were facing ten months in prison because she couldn’t pay the fine of just $30USD.

Facilitating Prisoner Releases in Liberia

Recently, PF Liberia aided the release of 36 prisoners held for more than 180 days without trial in Monrovia Central Prison and Kakata Prison Centre.

Freeing Prisoners in Sri Lanka

In Sri Lanka, prisoners held in remand indefinitely are called 'no date' prisoners. While the law requires that they be given the opportunity for bail within two years, many are serving as much as three or four years without trial or a bail hearing according to Vijula Aralanantham, board chairperson of PF Sri Lanka. Responding to many requests for assistance received by staff and volunteers visiting prison, the ministry started the Prison Fellowship Legal Aid Team (PFLAT).

An Indefinite Wait for Freedom

“Innocent until proven guilty” doesn’t mean much for the nearly 800 prisoners who are crowded into the dirty, dank prison cells of Liberia’s Monrovia Central Prison. Most have yet to be convicted of a crime – some charged with offences as minor as not paying a bill – but they have languished here for years without a trial.

Speaking for the Forgotten

The old adage, “children are to be seen and not heard,” was not supposed to apply to the justice system. Unfortunately, children can often become voiceless victims in an overburdened justice system that is lacking in resources. That is what Vijula Arulanantham, PF Sri Lanka Board chairperson, discovered when visiting a juvenile remand home recently. The children here were not all offenders. Many were victims— street children abandoned or neglected.

Open Court in Prison

For years Prem Kumar, executive director of Prison Fellowship Malaysia, has watched remand prisoners languish in prison as they await trial. Recently, Prem shared his concerns about the situation of 332 remand prisoners with a friend visiting his home. This friend, a former deputy public prosecutor and current Manager of Sabah Courts, decided to see what could be done. He asked Prem to use his role as a Visiting Justice (position created in the Malaysian prison legislation to inspect prisoners) to ask these remand prisoners if they wanted to plead guilty. As a result, the first Open Court session in prison was held on 15 October.