This is a publication of of the project 'Promoting Pre-trial Detention in Africa' (PPJA). The objective of this review is to explore existing literature in respect of the reasons for female remand detention in Africa and the challenges women experience in prison. The biggest challenge to compiling this review was the lack of centralised and comprehensive statistics. The subject is under-researched and statistics referred to represent snapshot data obtained either from the database of the International Centre for Prison Studies or from various ad hoc reports. Literature pertaining to South Africa was available, but authoritative studies from less developed countries do not exist, or were last undertaken as long ago as the 1980s. The failure of states to allocate resources to female detainees and the absence of consistent and clear policies and legislation around the issues they commonly encounter suggest a lack of awareness or a lack of political will to improve the situation. Report by Marilize Ackermann
This submission discusses the 2013/14 Department of Correctional Services (South Africa) Annual Report. More specifically, it discusses human rights violations in prison (including allegations of torture), the mandate of the Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services, rehabilitation and the review of the White Paper on Corrections, the SIU investigation into corruption in prison, lengthy pre-trial detention and leadership instability.
This publication by Zambia's Centre for Law and Justice, Cornell Law School’s Avon Global Center for Women and Justice, and Cornell Law School's International Human Rights Clinic offers a compendium of Zambian juvenile law, including the processing of juveniles in the criminal justice system. It synthesizes relevant constitutional and statutory law, case law, and international human rights law and highlights best practices that practitioners may consider when working on matters involving juveniles.
This paper by Tina Lorizzo explores the implications of the Guidelines and the similarities and differences between Angola and Mozambique with regard to arrest, police custody and pre-trial detention.
Welcome to another insightful edition of Article 40, the first edition in 2014.
On 8 May 2014, in Luanda (Angola), the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) adopted the Guidelines on the Use and Conditions of Arrest, Police Custody and Pre-trial Detention in Africa. Shortly after the adoption of the Guidelines, the Civil Society Prison Reform Initiative (CSPRI) of the Community Law Centre at the University of Western Cape (South Africa) co-hosted on 21-22 May 2014 a workshop in partnership with the Mozambican Institute of Legal Aid (Instituto de Patrocínio e Assistência Jurídica, IPAJ), in Maputo, to begin a debate on the implementation of the Guidelines in Mozambique and Angola.
This second issue of the 2014 ESR Review includes two features on the enjoyment of socio-economic rights in Nigeria and South Africa. It also examines a recent decision of the South African Constitutional Court, in which it found that an interim order could as well amount to an eviction order and may interfere with the constitutional right to housing.
Our previous report Operation Clean Audit 2014: Why it failed and what can be learned examined the impact of national government’s policy that all municipalities must achieve clean audits by 2014 (OCA 2014) and identified the risks that arise when policy is not based on statistical analysis. This report shows how measuring consistency in municipal audit outcomes over the five-year term of office of local government can be a useful proxy for analysing, not only the resilience of local government, but also the utility of the provincial and national powers of corrective intervention under s139 of the Constitution.
The FFC is government's primary advisor on intergovernmental fiscal relations. This 20-year review assesses (1) the relationships between the FFC and the various component parts of the South African multilevel government system (2) the FFC's impact on decision making and (3) the FFC's governance and administrative performance.
This report records the discussion which took place in Dakar, Senegal, on 10 and 11 June 2014.
This report deals with the following: the value of independent oversight, foreign and international models of best practice, oversight structures relevant to the Khayelitsha police stations, and gave recommendations. Report by Clare Ballard
This is presentation on measurement methods in the African context made by Jean Redpath at a seminar in Dakar in June 2014.
This is an overview presentation on data, measurement and indicators made by Jean Redpath at a PPJA seminar in Dakar in June 2014.
The ‘tough on crime’ approach embodied in bail and sentencing law has had a profound impact on the trends around remand detention, including prison overcrowding of such an extent that it is estimated to have contributed to an additional 8 500 natural deaths in custody. Ultimately the policies have led, in practice, to an ‘Alice in Wonderland’ effect: fewer people are being tried and sentenced, while more than ever are denied their freedom without ever being tried in a court of law.
The Community Law Centre is calling for consultants to produce a concept note for the commemoration of the Day of the African Child (DAC) 2015 on the theme, “25 Years after the Adoption of the African Children’s Charter: Accelerating our Collective Efforts to End Child Marriage in Africa”.
This is an unofficial translation in Portuguese by PPJA researcher Tina Lorizzo, of the Guidelines on the Use and Conditions of Arrest, Police Custody and Pre-trial Detention in Africa, adopted the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), on 8 May 2014.
Unofficial translation by Tina Lorizzo of the Guidelines and Principles on Legal Aid, adopted by the United Nations in October 2012.
This first issue of the 2014 ESR Review focusses on the potential of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights as a tool for poverty reduction in South Africa. It also looks at Developing Cape Town’s right to housing in the rental sector. There are also summaries of recent developments on socio-economic rights across the world.
In 2009 the new Minister for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), Sicelo Shiceka, launched Operation Clean Audit 2014 (OCA 2014). It was the signature intervention in the incoming Zuma government’s plan to “turnaround” local government. The objective of OCA 2014 was that all 283 municipalities (now 278) and provincial departments should achieve a clean audit on their financial statements by 2014.
On 28 March 2014, the Community Law Centre hosted a seminar on states’ obligations in relation to implementation and reporting under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and its Optional Protocol. Since the announcement in October 2012 that South Africa would ratify the ICESCR, which it signed on 3 October 1994, civil society has followed with interest the events that have unfolded. In this regard, the seminar had two main objective was to discuss the ICESCR and OP-ICESCR with stakeholders who would enrich the policy debates at parliamentary and political party levels and at the community level. In his opening remarks the director of the Community Law Centre, Prof Jaap de Visser, recalled how the civil society campaign to advocate for the ratification of the ICESCR was ‘born’ in response to government’s failure to do so, despite having signed it in 1994. The campaign engages in several activities, including holding strategy meetings and engaging with Parliament, government and state institutions (through letters and meetings). He highlighted the importance of state accountability, especially by office bearers.
"I take note that whereas the Applicant herein has not proved Exceptional Circumstances, which I have already noted is not mandatory as per Section 15 T.I.A see Foundation for Human Rights Initiatives vs. Attorney General (supra), I have put into consideration the period spent by the Applicant on remand that is from the time of his committal to the High Court on 9th/11/2011 to date and noticed that his detention was unduly prolonged given his condition of ailments. In the given circumstances, I take cognizance of the International Human rights treaties to which Uganda is a signatory where emphasis has been put on the distinction between people who have been found guilty, those convicted by a Court of law and sentenced to imprisonment and those who have not."
This edition of 30 Days/Dae/Izinsuku covers news items from June 2012 on governance and corruption, parole and sentencing, unsentenced prisoners, prison conditions, South Africans imprisoned abroad, rehabilitation, as well as prison related news from other African countries.
Safety and security: Do the ANC and the DA advocate for more of the same or a shift in policy? This newsletter discusses the policy recommendations of the ANC and the DA on crime prevention and crime combating contained in their respective electoral documentation, in the wake of the next general election.
Women in Pre-trial Detention in Africa
