Liberia’s government, still struggling to rebuild the country after a 14-year internal armed conflict, has stated its determination to improve the prison system. However, conditions in Liberia’s prisons are so poor that they violate basic human rights. Prison inmates are crowded into dark, dirty cells, without adequate food, sanitation or health care. Some suffer permanent damage to their physical or mental health as a result. Most have not been convicted of any crime. The vast majority are people living in poverty, without access to lawyers and with few financial resources.