"The prisons of the Democratic Republic of the Congo are among the most overcrowded in the world," with "an average overcapacity rate of 432%," announced the human rights organization Human Right Watch on April 17. Citing the example of Goma prison (600%) or the other penitentiary center of Kinshasa, the central prison of Makala (461%). The entry of the new coronavirus into these raises fears of a "catastrophe" and risks of "carnage".
A total of 43 detainees tested positive Thursday and Friday at the Ndolo military prison in the center of the capital Kinshasa, the third largest city in Africa with at least ten million inhabitants. The toll could get heavier since "the taking of all the detainees is in progress" according to the last epidemiological bulletin from the health authorities on Friday. The Ndolo military prison has 1,900 to 2,000 prisoners, according to the sources.
The DRC officially registered on average 10 to 20 new cases per day since the virus appeared on its soil on March 10 (604 cases since that date, including 579 in Kinshasa, for 32 deaths).
No case in Makala prison yet
The virus would have returned to prison "by a lady who came to deposit food", according to the Minister of Health Eteni Longondo, who wants to isolate the positive cases and disinfect the cells. "Overcrowded and unsanitary prisons in the DRC pose a serious risk of the spread of the Covid-19 epidemic," Human Right Watch warned on April 17.
In its press release, HRW released photos of prisoners sleeping on the floor in a cell in Makala, "intertwined like sardines in a tin can," according to an inmate. "In the pavilion where I was until recently, there were at least 850 people in the space provided for 100," an inmate told HRW. “When you have to sleep, no one can have more than one square meter of space. If the coronavirus reaches Makala, no one will remain there. ” There are still no cases in Makala, assured the Minister of Health.
No investment to avoid the carnage
"At least 1,200 detainees" have left Congolese prisons "to curb the spread of the coronavirus," Justice Minister Célestin Tunda said on April 8. New releases could take place on Monday.
Nothing "has been put in place financially to support these measures," deplores the Congolese human rights NGO Justicia, which accused the government on Friday of "gross negligence" in the appearance of the first 43 cases at the Ndolo military prison. "The government must invest to avoid the slaughter," warns the NGO.
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