- THE PRESIDENT’S EDITORIAL -

2016-2019 - Four years on!

 

It is now four years since the ACATs had mandated the International Bureau to further the FIACAT’s progress along the three axes of the 2016-2019 strategic plan. It is therefore time to take stock.

The FIACAT has been active with regard to its international and regional representation. It has regularly supported the ACATs before the United Nations when their states are reviewed by the treaty bodies, submitted alternative reports and organised side events. At the regional level, before the Council of Europe, the European Union and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the FIACAT is known for its expertise on torture, ill-treatment and the death penalty. The FIACAT is thus regularly consulted on the drafting or revision of guidelines, general observations or opinions.

The FIACAT strategically utilises international, regional and programmatic meetings to build the capacity of the ACATs’. The World Congress Against the Death Penalty, meetings of the European ACATs, sessions of the ACHPR and workshops with opinion makers provide opportunities for the FIACAT to organise trainings for the ACATs and their local partners in various fields: submission of alternative reports, project management, and advocacy. These specialised training sessions have resulted not only in strengthening the profile of the FIACAT by increasing the number of reports submitted to international and regional institutions but has also boosted the FIACAT’s credibility and good project management and empowered several ACATs.

The final axis concerns the sustainability of the FIACAT’s actions. The Statutes and Rules of Procedure have been revised. Development of the network has mainly consisted of its consolidation. The website has been renewed, but there is a need for an effective communication strategy in order to enhance the FIACAT’s visibility. The accounts have been positive for the last four years. Recognition is due to the International Secretariat, which has undergone a change in continuity, and grown stronger with the addition of new members to cope with the increasing volume of activity. Despite this, the Bureau has not achieved all the objectives set in 2016 and has not met all the expectations of its members. There are further challenges ahead and we shall rise to them together.

I should like to thank our partners, all the members of the network and the thousands of volunteers and supporters throughout the world, who, inspired by faith and hope, sustain the FIACAT’s onward march!

Paul ANGAMAN

President of the FIACAT

PRESS RELEASE

Abolition of the death penalty for acts of terrorism in Chad , 

the country becomes the 22nd abolitionist state in Africa

N'Djamena, Paris, 29th April 2020 – On Tuesday 28th April, the Chadian National Assembly unanimously voted to abolish the death penalty for crimes of terrorism. The FIACAT and ACAT Chad welcome this historic decision and continue their advocacy for the irreversible abolition of the death penalty in Chad.

28th April 2020 will remain a memorable date for the Chadian population: that of the National Assembly's vote to abolish the death penalty. This decision is all the more historic because it was taken unanimously during the consideration of a bill on the suppression of acts of terrorism.

According to Salomon Nodjitoloum, President of ACAT Chad: "The abolition of the death penalty for crimes of terrorism is the culmination of the struggle of ACAT Chad and of all the abolitionists in the world. By taking this courageous decision, despite the resurgence of terrorist acts, Chad has joined the worldwide abolitionist trend. However, the struggle for the respect of human rights remains our objective. »

On 8th May 2017, Chad had promulgated a new Criminal Code repealing the death penalty, except for terrorism-related offences. Law N°034 of 5th August 2015 on the suppression of terrorism-related offences continued to apply the death penalty for a significant number of crimes. While no executions or convictions have been recorded in 2019, four persons sentenced in 2018 were still being held on death row in deplorable conditions and kept in a secret location away from other prisoners.

Beyond the excellent news of the abolition of the death penalty in Chad, this is a great victory for Chadian abolitionist civil society, in particular ACAT Chad, which has maintained constant pressure through advocacy with the authorities.

In recent years there has been a resurgence of the death penalty in the context of the fight against terrorism, with many countries around the world retaining the death penalty in their legislation for crimes related to terrorism. Chad, despite being threatened by the jihadist group Boko Haram, is showing that an abolitionist path is possible.

However, the abolitionist struggle does not stop there; it will still be necessary to secure the abolition of the death penalty in Chad in order to avoid any backtracking. This is why the FIACAT and ACAT Chad congratulate the Chadian authorities on this major step forward and call on them to continue their efforts by :

enshrining the abolition of the death penalty in the Chadian Constitution; ratifying the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights aiming at the abolition of the death penalty; supporting the draft protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the abolition of the death penalty.

 

Press contacts:

Mr. Salomon Nodjitoloum, President of ACAT Tchad – nodjitoloumsalomon@gmail.com Ms. Xavière Prugnard, Representative at the African Union – x.prugnard@fiacat.org

PRESS RELEASE

Decongestion of Cameroonian prisons: a presidential decree too restrictive

 

Yaoundé, Paris, 23rd April 2020 - In response to the coronavirus situation, a decree to commute death sentences and remit other sentences has been issued by the President of the Republic of Cameroon. ACAT Cameroon and FIACAT question the effectiveness of this measure due to its excessively limited scope.

Presidential decree N°2020/193 of 15 April 2020 to commute and remit sentences grants a presidential pardon to certain detainees, aimed at avoiding a potential disaster in the overcrowded prisons where the risk of the spread of Covid-19 is high. ACAT Cameroon and FIACAT welcome these measures taken to decongestion Cameroonian prisons. However, an in-depth analysis of the decree shows that the latter is not sufficient to tackle this health crisis.

Cameroonian prisons count a total of 17 915 available places. However, in 2017, there were 30 701 prisoners, representing an occupancy rate of over 171%. This situation is particularly alarming at a time when the current epidemic requires at the very least a "social distancing".

More than 70% of persons deprived of their liberty throughout the country are in pre-trial detention. However, according to article 1 of the presidential decree, the measure is aimed exclusively at persons who have been definitively tried and sentenced, thus excluding pre-trial detainees.

Moreover, more than 60% of the persons in detention are detained for offences that prevent them from benefiting from a commutation or remission of their sentence, according to article 4 of the decree. Thus, more than 50% of the detainees definitively convicted will remain in prison. Also, among those sentenced to death, more than a third of them were charged for terrorism-related offences since 2015, which are excluded from the measures taken by the decree.

As an example, as of 20th April 2020, 3 473 persons were being held in Douala Central Prison. 2 385 were in pre-trial detention, meaning that 69% of the detainees could not benefit from the measures set out by the decree. Of the 770 persons definitively sentenced and therefore concerned by these measures, 608 detainees were released, representing only 17.5% of the prisoners. In the Yaounde Central Prison, the figures are even more eloquent since only 361 detainees were released among the 4,000 prisoners, representing only 9% of the prison population. These figures show that the provisions made by the presidential decree are far from sufficient to combat prison overcrowding in Cameroon.

Considering the health crisis affecting Cameroon and the world as a whole, and considering also the prisons’ overcrowding, ACAT Cameroon and FIACAT call on the Cameroonian authorities to:

allow, in the short term, more prisoners to benefit from presidential pardons, especially pre-trial detainees who represent 70% of the prison population; stop, in the long term, the systematic use of pre-trial detention in order to combat prison overcrowding and improve conditions of detention.

 

Press contacts:

ACAT CAMEROUN – Mr. Bissay Maxime, bismax75@yahoo.com FIACAT – Ms. Prugnard Xavière, x.prugnard@fiacat.org

JOINT STATEMENT

Faced with the spreading of COVID-19, take urgent and immediate measures to protect the rights of detainees in Africa

24 March 2020 - To the governments of the Member States of the African Union and international human rights organisations in Africa

While, in the past 10 days, Europe has become the new epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic, which first affected China before spreading to the rest of the world, African countries are preparing to face an increase in the number of cases, now considered unavoidable by the WHO.

As of Friday 20 March, there were 769 cases across the continent, including 275 deaths (99 in Burkina Faso, 56 in Senegal, 6 in Egypt, 6 in Algeria, 4 in Guinea, 2 in Morocco, 2 in DRC, 1 in Sudan, 1 in Niger). A rapid increase in the curve of recorded cases is now inevitable and guidelines have been issued by governments to control the spread of the virus. This is, of course, to be acknowledged.

In all the countries overwhelmed with the new Coronavirus, the most vulnerable categories of the population are also the most at risk of the virus. In addition to people over 65 years old who are the age group at risk, socially and economically vulnerable people bear the brunt of any shortcomings in the health and social protection systems. This is particularly the case for detainees and migrants in detention or containment.

Indeed, according to the scientific community, prisons and centres for illegal immigrants represent an increased risk, not only because the virus spreads faster in a confined, often poorly ventilated and unsanitary place, but also because pre-existing medical conditions compromise the health of detainees. In fact, infectious diseases circulate in greater proportions within the prison population (S. Kinner & al., Lancet, 2020).

While it can be expected that, because of the wide disparity in medical and prison systems and infrastructures in different African countries, the levels of exposure to the health crisis are likely to vary across countries, the issue of prisons is currently too largely ignored in the African context, despite the fact that prisoners are high-risk places for transmission.

Currently, the only initiatives taken to reduce the spread of the virus in prisons are often limited to prohibiting visits by family and friends and getting rid of community activities. Such measures give rise to several observations:

First of all, their effectiveness can be questioned. The incarceration of new defendants, extractions to the courts and communication with prison staff are all interactions with the outside world that strongly negate the impact of these policies. It can be a source of misunderstanding, major tensions and sometimes mutinies, as was the case in France. The extremely high prison pressure found in many African prisons (sometimes reaching thresholds of 200 to 600% occupancy rate) further increases the risk of riots.

While the signatories of this report do not in themselves dispute the need for greater control over communication between the prisoners and their relatives in order to protect them, they stress that the rights of prisoners must be guaranteed and call for alternatives to be found: communication at a distance, behind glass or by videoconference, where possible.

Above all, however, the signatories consider that such measures are only subsidiary to the need to sustainable and immediately reduce the prison population. The signatories therefor call on African governments to act immediately to protect the prison population and to fight structurally for the entire population by reducing prison pressure in the various countries:

They therefore recommend:

by the means of pardons and amnesties, the release of detainees who are nearing the end of their sentences, as well as those in the age group at risk and whose detention is no longer justified. Iran has recently decided to empty its prisons in order to combat the pandemic (resulting in the release of tens and thousands of prisoners). In Africa, Tunisia quickly granted a presidential pardon to 1800 prisoners (leading to the effective release of 670 prisoners and granting a remission of sentence to others) and is considering further releases in the short term. This example is commended by the signatories of the report. In dialogue with judicial and administrative actors, take steps to suspend the use of police custody and pre-trial detention and release, without bail, detainees prosecuted for minor offences that are punishable by sentences of less than two years’ imprisonment, and do not represent a danger to public safety. In consultation with the competent judicial authorities, grant conditional release to convicted prisoners who comply with the conditions laid down in the procedures specific to each country.

In addition to measures aimed at reducing the prison population, the signatories demand that the authorities:

Put in place alternatives (telephones, letter-writing etc.), to combat the isolation of prisoners and enable them to communicate with their families and friends Increase the capacity for diagnosis and medical monitoring within prisons, as requested by the WHO and considered to be the primary method of limiting the spread of the virus; in particular, increase protective measures for prisoners with compromised immune systems, such as those with HIV or tuberculosis Make systematic medical diagnosis effective upon entry into prison, in accordance with Rule 30 of the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners. Strengthen the access to justice and the monitoring of respect for fundamental rights, through reinforcing the dialogue with NGOs and facilitating legal assistance to detainees to ensure compliance with international law, in particular Articles 5 and 16 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners. Ensure social and health monitoring of released persons, as part of the implementation of a public health policy. Adequately protect prison staff against contamination of the virus.

Signatories

NGOs et national actors

ACAT / Benin ACAT / Congo Brazzaville ACAT / Chad ACAT / Ivory coast Alliance pour l’Universalité des Droits Fondamentaux (AUDF) / DRC Association des juristes de Sfax / Tunisie Association pour la Promotion des Libertés Fondamentales (APLFT) / Chad Barreau de Bujumbura / Burundi Barreau du Kasaï Oriental / DRC Collectif des Associations Contre l’Impunité au Togo (CACIT)/ Togo Caritas Mauritanie / Mauritania Chapter Four /Uganda Commission nationale des droits de l’homme (CNDH) / Mali Commission nationale des droits de l’homme et des libertés fondamentales (CNDHLF) / Central African Republic Culture pour la Paix et la Justice (CPJ) / DRC Centre pour la Qualité du Droit et la Justice (CQDJ)/Burkina Faso Fondation Bill Clinton pour la Paix / DRC Fraternité des Prisons – Kongo Central / DRC Humanisme & Droits humains – Lubumbashi (HDH) / DRC Legal Aid Service Providers Network (LASPNET) / Uganda Lutte contre la torture / Benin Mouvement citoyen Cocorico / DRC Observatoire Marocain des Prisons / Morocco Public Interest Law Centre (PILC) / Chad Rencontre Africaine pour la Défense des Droits de l’Homme (RADDHO) / Senegal

NGOs et international actors

Avocats Sans Frontières (ASF) Conférence Internationale des Barreaux (CIB) Fédération Internationale pour les Droits Humains (FIDH) FIACAT Synergies Coopération Pr Ghislain Patrick Lessène, Enseignant à l’Université de Genève et Directeur exécutif du Centre d’Etudes Juridiques Africaines (CEJA)