United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Kinshasa)
Nina Yacoubian
12 November 2007
MONUC's Rule of Law Unit organized a day of reflection for the representatives of different ministries in Kinshasa, on 10 November 2007. The general theme of the conference was: "security of the prisons".
Penitentiary reform experts from three ministries, such as Justice, National Defense and Interior, as well as detention consultants from Kenya, Senegal and Burkina, had participated in this meeting.
This workshop gave an opportunity for a network between the three ministries to be created so that an interministerial action plan for the management of jails can be put together.
Similarly, such a meeting allowed MONUC to better orient the activities of its Rule of Law Unit, to more efficiently support the Congolese government to improve security of prisons and reduce escaping risks.
Following escape incidents that became recurrent in DRC, a partnership was established since July 2006 between MONUC, the Ministry of Justice, and the 12 foreign penitentiary reform experts who are present throughout the country and who work side by side with the DRC's prisons directors.
"If there is a common denominator in all jails in the DRC, that would be escaping phenomenon, to the extent that the notion "voluntary prisoners" appeared to illustrate the current condition," one of the participants explained.
"All jails throughout the country have their own history of escape, and they all present escaping risks at all times," he added.
At the end of the meeting, the participants examined in groups the following themes: what synergy of actions between the ministries concerned in the fight against DRC's prisons escaping, the implementation of a pilot program to secure prisons, and the implementation of the partnership between MONUC and penitentiary administration in the fight against escape.
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