UN rights chief deplores violence in DR Congo prisons, says conditions getting worse
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 on Tuesday.
Congo's notoriously 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.
In a humans rights briefing on Tuesday, High Commissioner
Volker Turk said prisoners in Congo were being kept in "disastrous
conditions" without access to lawyers or contact with their families.
"In detention centres run by the intelligence services,
in particular, a number of detainees are subjected to torture and other
ill-treatment, including sexual violence", he told the U.N. Human Rights
Council.
Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi's spokesperson did not
immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for Congo's army,
which oversee the intelligence services and their detention centres, said he
had not been informed about Turk's comments.
When he came to power in 2019, Tshisekedi promised to close
the intelligence services' detention centres, long notorious for violently
mistreating detainees.
After last month's prison break Tshisekedi ordered an
investigation and a review of Congo's main prisons to reduce overcrowding.
But four U.N. sources in Congo who did not wish to be named
said they had been denied access to the intelligence services' detention
centres for more than a year, and had been unable to visit Makala since last
month's incident.
Congo's notoriously 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.
In a humans rights briefing on Tuesday, High Commissioner
Volker Turk said prisoners in Congo were being kept in "disastrous
conditions" without access to lawyers or contact with their families.
"In detention centres run by the intelligence services,
in particular, a number of detainees are subjected to torture and other
ill-treatment, including sexual violence", he told the U.N. Human Rights
Council.
Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi's spokesperson did not
immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for Congo's army,
which oversee the intelligence services and their detention centres, said he
had not been informed about Turk's comments.
When he came to power in 2019, Tshisekedi promised to close
the intelligence services' detention centres, long notorious for violently
mistreating detainees.
After last month's prison break Tshisekedi ordered an
investigation and a review of Congo's main prisons to reduce overcrowding.
But four U.N. sources in Congo who did not wish to be named
said they had been denied access to the intelligence services' detention
centres for more than a year, and had been unable to visit Makala since last
month's incident.
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