CI-NEWS

Slowing spread of Covid-19: Rights Commission hails move to decongest prisons.

2020-04-26

No: 492

Slowing spread of Covid-19: Rights Commission hails move to decongest prisons.

The Chairman of National Commission on Human Rights and Freedoms (NCHRF), Dr Divine Chemuta Banda, has described as laudable and timely, the government decision to decongest the country’s prisons intended to check the spread of the novel Coronavirus pandemic.

In an exclusive interview granted Cameroon Insider, Dr Divine Chemuta Banda rejoiced that the move comes barely hours after the institution called on the government to decongest prisons. “I was delighted when I saw the presidential decree. It is a laudable initiative. I really appreciated the fact that the Head of State reacted to the call we have been making. What is left now is to see the impact that it produces. If the impact is as insignificant as some people claim, then we will just need to call the attention of the Head of State to that and ask for more,” the Rights Commission Chairman said.

“I received calls from inmates who indicated that they regretted that the decree of the Head of State will not produce any significant impact because from their reading of the decision, not up to 20 percent of the populations in the country’s prisons may be decongested. But you know statistics are very difficult to come by. That’s why members of the NCHRF are currently trying to ascertain figures and bring out what will be the impact of the presidential decree; knowing also that quite often, when he signs, implementation could be a problem,” he added.

Reacting to social media rumours that the deadly Coronavirus pandemic may have already been recorded in some of the country’s prisons, the Chairman of the National Commission on Human Rights and Freedoms (NCHRF), Dr. Divine Chemuta Banda said:

“We cannot confirm the rumours that COVID-19 is also present in some prisons in Cameroon. As we speak, there is a team of senior staff of the Rights Commission who are meeting with staff of Kondegui Prison. It is only after their meeting that they can give us an updated knowledge of the situation.”

He was also categorical on the specificity of the presidential text.

“The majority of people in detention in relation to the Anglophone crisis are still awaiting trial. But the act of the Head of State deals only with people who have been sentenced. We can expect that the Head of State would be coming back and maybe give instructions on the cases of people who are awaiting trial. By assessment, the percentage of people who are awaiting trial in our prisons is over 70 percent. The statistics of people in prison in Cameroon today are changing quite a lot. And admissions of the senior staff of the Rights Commission in detention places on a regular basis have been obstructed. So, we only rely on official publications.”

In a press conference in Yaounde last Tuesday, April 14, 2020, the National Commission on Human Right and Freedoms, besides enjoining the government to decongest the country’s prisons, also called on the population to forgo some of their rights for the country was in a crisis situation. The Commission also urged authorities in charge of implementing the coronavirus restrictive measures to ensure the respect of basic human rights. It was also an occasion for NCHRF to present its strategies drafted to contain the spread of coronavirus within and without Cameroon.

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Slowing spread of Covid-19: Rights Commission hails move to decongest prisons.