|
|
| Rights Group: Inmates Dying at a Rate of Nearly One a Day in Crowded Congo Jail |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 05/27/2002 |
|
Crowding and poor care are killing inmates of the main jail in Congo's capital at the rate of nearly one a day, a Congolese human rights group charged recently. Citing jail, hospital and morgue records, the ASADHO rights group listed 19 inmates who it said have died at Kinshasa's Central Prison of Makala between April 10 and May 8. The jail's population and deaths there 'keep increasing in parallel,' ASADHO said. The group's name is an acronym for African Association for the Defense of Human Rights. The jail currently houses about 2,700 people. Detainees include more than 100 defendants on military trial for alleged roles in the 2001 assassination of Congolese leader Laurent Kabila. The rights group said inadequate diet, inadequate health care and crowding have made the jail into a 'slaughterhouse.' 'Instead of stopping this catastrophe, authorities arrest more and more people, who they send to jail to replace those who have died,' the rights group claimed in a statement. Many inmates are jailed for months without a trial or hearing of any kind, it claimed. Makala prison director Dido Kitungwa rejected the accusations. While agreeing with the rights group's population figures, he said the jail could hold that many without crowding. 'Our inmates are not dying,' he said. 'They are in good health.' |
advertise
|
privacy policy
|
add URL
|
about us
|
terms/disclaimer
|
contact us
|
join our team
|
help
Comments:
No comments have been posted for this article.
Login to let us know what you think