Rwanda continues to grapple with prison overcrowding as more and more people are locked up in jail without going to court, the National Human Rights Commission told Parliament Wednesday in Kigali.
Reports by the National Human Right Commission which is a Government’s entity to supervise and control human right issue in the country, show that there are currently about 65,000 inmates in Rwanda’s prisons located in different districts. About 28,000 of them are genocide convicts.
The commission said the high number of people in jails without going to court and for too long, high number of people kept at transit centers for too long and many pending cases, is another issue of major concerns in Rwandan prisons.
The joint session of parliament heard that the overcrowding is as a result of three factors: increasing cases of defilement, drug abuse and theft.
Back in 2014, prison population was at 96.6% national average, but has since reached 124.8 percent as of July 2019, according national human commission Chairperson Madeleine Nirere.
Speaking before parliament, the commission stressed the need to build more jail facilities across the country to decongest the overcrowded jail facilities.
Reports by the Commission show that Rwamagana district jail in eastern province is the most crowded followed by Musanze (North), Bugesera (East), Gicumbi (North), Huye (South),Muhanga (Central) and Rusizi (South Western).
CU\abj\APA