The authorities at Juba Central Prison have blamed overcrowding at the facility on delayed trials of inmates on remand by the judiciary.
While addressing inmates on Tuesday during a visit by a delegation from the Strategic Police Advisors Group from New York in the USA, the director of Juba Central Prison, Lt. Gen. Michael Malou Makuach, said the number of inmates on remand is overwhelming and has caused overcrowding at the only prison in Juba City.
“Overcrowding is one of the major challenges faced by the administration of the Juba Central Prison and one of the reasons is that there are many inmates whose trials have been delayed and they have not been tried,” he said. “As of today, 1,532 inmates are here on remand and have not been tried in courts of law.”
According to Gen. Malou, the prison facility was designed to house only 250 inmates but it now accommodates 2,847 inmates, way beyond the capacity of the prison.
“This facility was established to accommodate 250 inmates but due to the rise in crime in Juba City and since the Juba Prison is the only prison facility existing in Juba, it is now accommodating over 2700 inmates which is a matter of concern,” he said. “In this regard, we recommend the construction of new (prison) facilities to cater for the increased numbers.”
Gen. Malou said also said the facility had poor hygiene, lacked a supply of clean water, and suffered from a shortage of medicine among other things.
On his part, Patrik Engström, the head of the Strategic Police Advisors Group delegation, said their visit was to get firsthand information from the prison to appropriately advise the government and the United Nations on the provision of services to the inmates.
“For us, it is very important to come here today to meet you to see the conditions and to understand the situation here so that we can best advise our governments so that our governments can best provide support,” he explained. “I cannot pretend to understand your entire situation but what we do by coming here is try to understand better how our government helps the UN to help South Sudan and help you.”
Meanwhile, Marlene Snowman, a chief superintendent of police and correction advisor at the UN expressed concerns about the challenges facing women in the prison.
“As a woman, I understand the challenges that the women face, not only in my own country but here as well,” she said. “And so, the importance of resilience and strength and courage among women is important because that is how we can make a change.”
According to the Juba Central Prison authorities, there are 201 on death row, 674 serving their sentences, while the rest are inmates on remand awaiting trial.
In the women’s wing, 44 are convicted and serving time, 54 are on remand, 8 inmates suffer from depression and there are 9 juveniles, bringing the total to 106.