Overcrowding in prisons, how alarming has the situation become?
Overcrowding in most detention facilities in Cameroon, is becoming a growing concern for several rights advocates as well as family members of inmates, given the “dehumanizing” living conditions.
On Wednesday, April 5, the governor of the North region Jean Abate Edi’i, visited the Poli prison in that part of the country, after several complaints about insufficient space to contain prisoners. The Governor went to assess the situation himself, after which he assured the detainees that measures will be taken to better their living conditions.
The case of the Poli prison in the North is a good example of what has been happening in other parts of Cameroon, especially with some of the biggest correctional facilities of the country.
A report by the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) in April 2022, estimated that the Douala New Bell Prison, which was built with a capacity of 800 inmates, is severely overcrowded with at least 5,000 people, a number that increases daily due to the arrival of new pre-trial detainees.
It is the same case at the Kondengui Central Prison in Yaounde, which holds a similar number of detainees. “The Central Prison in the Capital Yaounde currently holds a number 5 times its capacity” said the Human Rights Watch in one of its statements during the peak period of COVID-19, calling on Cameroon to protect the prison population from the pandemic.
“The central prison in Buea, in the troubled South West region, was built for 700 people, but currently holds over 2,000 – again with majority in pre-trial detention,” the statement added.
The unrest in Cameroon’s English speaking regions over the past six years, hugely accounts for the high number of detainees in many detention facilities across the country. Thousands have been arrested and detained in the course of the crisis, with some dying due to deplorable living conditions.
