KIGALI, Rwanda
Rwandan prisons are pilling up
to problematic levels and the increase in inmates is attracting the attention
of rights organisations.
Transparency International and
Legal Aid Forum conducted a study and found out that the numbers are
staggeringly disturbing.
They disclosed that the
overcrowding in Rwandan prison populations has increased to 174%.
The study dubbed Policy
Research on the Implementation of Alternatives to Imprisonment in Rwanda by
Transparency International Rwanda, a local corruption watchdog said that there
are currently 84,710 people consisting of 11,000 people who are detained
provisionally excluding those that are held in various RIB stations.
Figures indicate the number of
people in jail in 2020 was 6600 at a 136 percent of overcrowding rate, but it
has increased to 8400 in two years at 174% overcrowding.
The increasing rate according
to legal practitioners is exacerbated by prosecutors who rush to seek
imprisonment of suspects before courts without doing thorough investigations or
thinking of other possible means.
Immaculee Ingabire, the
Director for Transparency International Rwanda, a local corruption watchdog,
says the prosecutors have wrongly made it a norm to seek imprisonment for
anyone suspected of committing a crime.
She believes prosecutors
should think out of the box and look for other remedies that could render
justice instead of imprisonment.
“It has now become a norm that
prosecutors’ request 30 days of detention for suspects whenever they appear
before the judge. Yet, there are alternatives that can be used as means to
punish and rehabilitate offenders without seeking imprisonment,” he said.
She further adds that
alternatives to imprisonment serve to reduce pressures on the prison apparatus
by reducing pre-trial detention and prison overcrowding.
Theophile Mbonera, the
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Justice, says the finding is timely
emphasizing that the responsible organs will have to consider the finding and
respond to it wisely.
“This research can raise the
debate where people could discuss the matter and see if the outcome of the
findings can be given credit,” he said.
Referring to the increasing
number of 11,000 pending cases, Andrews Kananga, the Executive Director for
Legal Aids Forum, a local NGO that offers legal assistance to vulnerable
communities said judicial organs should foster speedy rendering of justice as a
solution to overcrowding.
He said, however, alternative
systems can provide a lasting solution.
“I think the institutions
should meet and discuss the matter,” he noted.
There are 12 alternatives to
imprisonment existing in Rwandan laws. However, the majority of them are not
applied.
These include fines without
trial, release on parole, plea bargaining, probation, and community service
among others.
The study recommends that the
alternatives to imprisonment can reduce overcrowding by 97.38% and the
financial costs of imprisonment by 98.5%. - Taarifa
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