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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
Time: 12:11 am
Time: 12:11 am
Results for pre-trial detainees
1 results foundAuthor: Yenkong, Pangmashi E.N. Title: Prisoners in-justice: Prisoners' encounters with the criminal justice system in Cameroon Summary: Imprisonment is the ultimate sanction of the state in nearly all countries, and its use in the developing world has risen considerably in recent years. The prison occupies a central place in the politics of crime control and has become a normal social destination for growing numbers of citizens. More than 9.25 million people today are held in penal institutions throughout the world mostly as pre-trial detainees or as sentenced prisoners. Africa now has one of the highest pre-trial detainees comprising of 45 per cent per 100,000. Overcrowding and under resourced are one of Africa's most pressing problems. African states such as Cameroon comprise one of Africa's most overcrowded prisons. Cameroon's prisons face a host of challenges, including deficits of good governance, funding and other resources. Two thirds of the entire prisoners in Cameroon are yet to be tried. The Bamenda Central prison comprises of one of the 72 prisons scattered around the national territory with an average prison population of 575 inmates. Cameroon is party to a number of International human rights treaties including the Convention against Torture and other cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT). The Cameroonian government has also made considerable efforts recently to promote the rule of law in the country. This includes constitutional and legislative guarantees for fair judicial processes. Nonetheless, upon examination of the Bamenda Central prison, several common themes of human rights abuses emerges including the failure to protect the rights of accused persons, overcrowding and abusive prison conditions, and the unfulfilled mandate of rehabilitation. Throughout the country, as a result of the social and economic inequities that plagues the Cameroonian society, the difference between the rich and the poor continues to increase. A majority of the population remains unable to have access to the Criminal Justice system. The poor are far more likely than the rich to be arrested, if arrested charged, if charged convicted, and if convicted sentenced to prison. Hence the criminal justice has a model: the rich get richer and the poor get prison. At the time when it seems essential to comprehend what the prison is and how accused people get there, research into the criminal justice system lacks scholarship dearth. There has been a decline in academic interest, coupled with low levels of government research funding; and the failure to adequately address sensitive issues plaguing the criminal justice system. To date, the majority of research in prison has focused primarily on common areas of enquiry in prison and prison programs notably administration in prison, prison programs and prison welfare services. Prisoners have become less enthusiastic research areas as no study has been addressed relating to inmate's perception of justice. The central problematic in this research is how the prisoners view their situation in prison and how they see themselves with regard to the justice system in Cameroon. My main aim of this research was to engage in a dialogue with prisoners through interviews to be able to understand their agency in the prison and how that informs their perception of justice. Providing a space for these perspectives and experiences within the criminal justice system positions this thesis within a larger dialogue with human rights discourses, analysis of the prison, relationships of power and informal justice systems. Given these practical and theoretical interests, I discovered that I could only conduct such a study employing qualitative research methods skills. My methodology was guided by principles of participatory action research. In this context, I was actively involved with prisoners and families. I immersed my self in their prison culture and became part of a number of activities carried out by prisoners. I interacted with more than two hundred prisoners, and had extensive interviews with ninety-seven prisoners over an extended period of seven months. I wrote their lives prior to imprisonment, during and after prison. My primary goal was to relay their interviews using their words. I equally carried out a participant observation of the criminal justice agencies. I decided to employ a feedback to the outside community by building a bridge between prisoners to their respective families whom I considered as vital actors in the lives of inmates. Details: Leiden: Leiden University, African Studies Centre, 2011. 112p. Source: Internet Resource: Thesis: Accessed October 13, 2016 at: https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/handle/1887/18563/ASC-075287668-3175-01.pdf?sequence=2 Year: 2011 Country: Cameroon URL: https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/handle/1887/18563/ASC-075287668-3175-01.pdf?sequence=2 Shelf Number: 144936 Keywords: Criminal Justice SystemInmatesPre-trial DetaineesPrisonersPrisons |