Africa
At a Glance
Nearly 1 million prisoners in Africa are locked away and forgotten.
They are cut off from their communities with little to no means of rehabilitation—a practice unknown to Africa until Europeans introduced the penal system in the late nineteenth century to curb rebellious acts and maintain order. While pretrial detention was common, the African justice system focused on repairing wrongdoings by compensating victims rather than punishing offenders.
In the current system, many prisoners in Africa face harsh conditions such as overcrowding, in-prison violence, poorly managed prison systems, in-humane health conditions, and watch their children suffer, either in detainment with them or in poverty in their communities.
