The Commissioner General for Rwanda Correctional Service (RCS) George Rwigamba on Monday said that the prevalent phenomenon of homosexuality in the country’s prisons has been addressed by putting in place appropriate mechanisms toward ending overcrowding in some detention facilities.
Commissioner General of Prison (CGP) Rwigamba told reporters in Kigali that a number of measures have been taken including providing more spaces in various prisons across Rwanda.
“In the very beginning, there wasn’t enough beds for prisoners and some inmates were forced to sleep on mattresses on the ground in their cells as an alternative for many individuals to share the same bed,” the prison official said.
He added that nowadays all detention facilities are equipped with bunk beds with three levels which can accommodate many individuals in the same cell.
Yet Rwanda prison authorities refuted the existence of homosexuality, this same sex orientation has of recent caused public concern.
There has been a number of homosexuality cases that were evidenced in prisons (mainly) and in some schools, churches and to a lesser extent in the public space.
Rwanda as a country has not been dialoguing much about homosexuality, but the phenomenon irates public opinion.
There are currently 13 prisons across Rwanda with just over 68,000 inmates.
Five such facilities are for women and one for juvenile offenders.
CU/as/APA