The latest World Prison Population List 2021 indicated that prisons in 42 countries in Africa and 18 in Asia are overcrowded. Of the 22 countries in the world operating at double their prison capacity 13 are in Africa and 4 are in Asia.
Around the world, prisons are overfull. The direct consequences are they are diverted from their overt purpose of ‘correcting’ offending patterns of behaviour and focus more on securing the population. They turn into incubators for disease. They become hothouses for organised crime, substance dependency, extreme views and violence. Far from being a response of last resort for those whose presence in society represents the greatest threat, they have also become default repositories for the mentally ill, recalcitrant youth, disobedient daughters and petty offenders – in effect human warehouses.
A Prison Audit identifies who these people are, why they are in custody and assembles the data for the courts to determine whether they should continue to be held in prison. It provides the prison and courts with a tool to track each prisoner from the time of admission and monitor the time spent in custody.
The ActioN
The Prison Audit is a tool developed by the Governance and Justice Group (GJG) and Justice Mapping to survey who is in prison at a given point of time and analyse the reasons they are in prison.
In the first instance, the data collected inform the courts who can take the appropriate action. As further Audits are conducted in other prisons, the data provide an accurate account to policy and decision makers and the general public of the type of person occupying prison places.
The tool is adaptable by each prison administration to capture data on each new prisoner entering the prison so that s/he can be tracked through the system from admission and ensure court/release dates are not missed and no one is forgotten. It provides the head of each prison with a means of notifying the courts when his/her prison is at bursting point; and provides visiting judges and magistrates with a means of identifying prisoners who can be released under the law.
What a Prison Audit does ...
It provides a fair and lawful basis for the release of (often significant) numbers of people who everyone agrees should not be held any longer in a particular prison and reduces pressure on space in that prison. In doing so it:
requires the coordinated action of all criminal justice actors (prisons working with civil society, police, prosecutors and courts); which
results in a monitoring mechanism local to the prison to ensure future prisoners are not held unlawfully or unnecessarily.
Supports judges in consistent sentencing practice, use of bail where appropriate, and more effective use of community-based sanctions and measures as alternatives to prison;
informs public opinion and so creates the space for reforms and progressive policies to be debated and tested;
enables prisons to function as they are intended as places of rehabilitation and correction; and
ensures poor and disadvantaged prisoners are not further victimised by reason of their poverty and social status.
Why it works ...
It provides a mechanism to release prisoners held unlawfully or unnecessarily and relieves pressure on individual prison populations: it is problem solving in approach and is not costly.
As a coordinated action it improves communication and collaboration among all justice agencies and with civil society.
As a coordination mechanism it provides justice actors with a forum to meet to find local solutions to local problems.
It provides an evidence base for penal reform and progress towards SDG 16.
It is simple to apply: the data once uploaded are then programmed to generate the lists that fit the national context.
It is sustainable and allows the prison, courts and prosecution to keep the prison population under constant review.
The impact quantified...
In Khyber Pakhtun Kwa province in Pakistan, a recent Prison Audit in two prisons found 25% of prisoners were eligible for release whether on bail (for those awaiting trial) or on probation (for those convicted of a minor offence). It is being replicated in eight more prisons in KPK and prisons in Punjab are also engaged in Audits with similar results.
Earlier Prison Audits in Langata Women’s prison in Kenya released 80% remand women prisoners; in Bo Prison in Sierra Leone 50%; and in Bangladesh, 19% - in these three countries the Audit was supported by paralegals guided by the Paralegal Advisory Service Institute (PASI) in Malawi.
In Pakistan, the lists were scrutinised by the District Criminal Justice Coordination Committees; in Bangladesh by the Case Coordination Committee which is being rolled out nationally in each of the 64 districts; and in Kenya by a Court Users Committee–all include in their ToRs monitoring of their local prison(s). A Prison Audit gives practical effect to Goal 16, Sustainable Development Goals.
...and qualified
The preamble to the Kampala Declaration on Prison Conditions in Africa and Plan of Action 1996 described conditions in African prisons as ‘inhuman’. The photograph above was taken in 2005. Little has changed in almost 15 years since. In a number of countries, the situation has deteriorated further. Mean data at the national level, however, often cloak the inhuman conditions experienced by individual facilities (especially those close to urban centres).
Due to the severely congested conditions, prison officers often have no choice other than to keep their charges locked up for long periods. The cells are often poorly ventilated and inadequately lit. Food is served through the bars. One latrine will serve the needs of 40+ prisoners, well over the ICRC recommendation (25).
These conditions will never be ameliorated unless and until space is freed up.
Building new prisons is an option, but it is expensive and, as new roads bring more cars onto them, so experience around the world suggests that building new prisons produces new prisoners until they, like the roads, in turn become congested.
A first, inexpensive, rights-based, step is to see who is in prison in the first place, to ascertain if they are there lawfully and act upon the findings–and then ask whether a prison is the right answer for these offenders in every case, or whether alternatives would not offer a more proportionate, effective and cost efficient response. It is here that the Prison Audit can help.
The Prison Audit team draws on expertise from the GJG (UK), Justice Mapping (USA), and the Paralegal Advisory Service Institute (Malawi).
Further information:
The Governance and Justice Group (GJG): Adam Stapleton (astapleton@governancejustice.org)
Justice Mapping: Eric Cadora (ecadora@justicemapping.org)
Paralegal Advisory Service Institute (PASI): Clifford Msiska (cliffmsiska@gmail.com)