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Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
Time: 10:51 pm
Time: 10:51 pm
Results for prisoners (south sudan)
1 results foundAuthor: Ashamu, Elizabeth Title: “Prison Is Not For Me”: Arbitrary Detention in South Sudan Summary: While ensuring accountability for crimes is a critical aspect of establishing the rule of law, arbitrary detention is rife in South Sudan, with individuals who should not have been detained at all spending months or even years in one of the country’s approximately 79 prisons. There are people in prison detained simply to compel the appearance of a relative or friend; because they were said to show evidence of mental disability; or because they are unable to pay a debt, court fine, or compensation award. Many are serving prison terms for adultery or for customary law crimes such as “elopement” or “pregnancy,” which place undue restrictions on the rights to privacy and to marry a spouse of one’s choice. Legal aid is almost totally absent, leaving individuals charged with crimes—the vast majority of whom are illiterate—unable to follow the status of their case or to call and prepare witnesses in their defense. In “Prison Is Not For Me” Arbitrary Detention in South Sudan, Human Rights Watch documents how, because of weaknesses across the criminal justice system, many of the approximately 6,000 individuals in South Sudan’s prisons are deprived of their liberty arbitrarily and should not be living behind bars. It also describes the grim conditions in which they live—overcrowded and unsanitary, and without adequate health care or food. In the face of severe underdevelopment and myriad long-term challenges, South Sudan’s leaders have voiced their commitment to uphold human rights. The government should urgently work to reduce arbitrary detentions by enacting legal and policy reforms that limit remand detention and end imprisonment for adultery and for non-payment of debts. It should also find a way to guarantee the right to legal aid, to ensure rule of law actors are sufficiently trained, and to provide proper care for people with mental disabilities outside of prison. Details: New York: Human Rights Watch, 2012. 105p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 10, 2012 at: http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/southsudan0612_forinsert4Upload.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Sudan URL: http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/southsudan0612_forinsert4Upload.pdf Shelf Number: 125534 Keywords: Arbitary DetentionHuman RightsInmatesPrisoners (South Sudan)Prisons |