This page contains links to Covid-19 in prisons news from various sources and is updated daily. Use the filters to view articles from different regions/topics or use the search box to look for articles based on key words. Please note that these articles are from external sources and may not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of ICPA.
What’s happening in your region? To share news updates please email Catalin Ungureanu catalinungureanu@icpa.org
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Malawi human rights groups warn of Covid deaths in packed prisons
August 6, 2020
Human rights campaigners in Malawi are calling on the government to urgently release people from its notoriously overcrowded prisons as cases of Covid-19 are rising among both staff and inmates.
Malawi to decongest prisons with Covid-19 cases rising fast among inmates
August 6, 2020
Minister of Homeland Security Chimwendo Banda has said there’s a sudden coronavirus spike in Malawi prisons that is increasing by the day, saying President Lazarus Chakwera has pardoned the first inmate to test positive and has ordered further review.
Panic as Gulu inmates test positive for Covid-19
August 5, 2020
Fear has gripped residents living around Pece Prison in Pece Division, Gulu City, after two inmates tested positive for Covid-19.
Malawi: Govt Sets Aside Money for Malawi Prison Warders Risk Allowances Amid Covid-19
August 4, 2020
Government says it has set aside money for risk allowances for prison warders in view of the raging Covid-19 pandemic.
GOVT NOT DOING ENOUGH TO PREVENT COVID-19 CASES, DEATHS IN PRISONS – POPCRU
August 4, 2020
The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) on Monday blamed government for not doing enough to prevent COVID-19 infections and deaths in prisons.
Correctional Services refutes allegations around Covid-19 parole
August 3, 2020
The Department of Justice and Correctional Services has hit back at the South African Sentenced and Awaiting Trial Prisoners Organisation (Sasapo) amid threats by the organisation to drag the minister to court.
CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES LOSE 74 STAFF, INMATES TO CORONAVIRUS
August 3, 2020
Seventy-four staff and inmates have died from COVID-19 complications at correctional facilities countrywide.
Kitgum prison turned into Covid-19 quarantine center for inmates
August 1, 2020
The Uganda Prisons Services have started evacuating inmates from Kitgum Government prisons to turn the facility into a temporary quarantine centre.
Prisoners fear for their lives at Sun City as Covid-19 wave spreads
July 31, 2020
A lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) and testing, the impossibility of social distancing and cold showers are some of the challenges prisoners at the Johannesburg Correctional Centre, better known as “Sun City”, have to navigate every day.
UNHCR donates COVID-19 materials to Malawi Prison Services
July 30, 2020
The donation took place at the Ministry of Homeland and Security on Tuesday in Lilongwe. Donated items included 150 Aprons, Face Masks and 120 Gum boots.
Prisons still overcrowded despite special parole for thousands to curb Covid-19 spread
July 28, 2020
Government has in the past five years added 2 650 extra bed space at correctional service facilities across the country, but the latest figures show close to 30 000 inmates are still without a bed.
Number of awaiting-trial prisoners increases under lockdown
July 27, 2020
At the start of SA’s lockdown, prisoners were released in a bid to reduce transmission of Covid-19 in prisons. The emphasis was on sentenced persons via special parole.
Malawi Government Under Pressure to Pardon COVID-19 Prisoners
July 27, 2020
In Malawi, pressure is mounting on authorities to consider decongesting the country’s prisons after 51 inmates and 16 prison guards tested positive for COVID-19 in the past two weeks.
Covid-19 : 10 détenus et 2 gardiens infectés à la prison de Ziguinchor
July 27, 2020
La Covid-19 continue sa progression dans les lieux de privation des libertés. En effet, après les prisons de Thiès et de Diourbel, un foyer du coronavirus est en train de se développer au sein de la Maison d’arrêt et de correction (Mac) de Ziguinchor où pas moins de 10 détenus et 2 gardiens ont été déclarés positifs à la Covid-19, informe «Libération».
NEARLY 5,000 CONFIRMED COVID-19 CASES AT CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES
July 27, 2020
CAPE TOWN – COVID-19 infections in prisons are edging towards the 5,000 mark. Correctional Services said they had around 1,300 active cases.
COVID-19: Release minors from prisons now, HPWI tasks Buhari, Governors
July 26, 2020
An appeal has gone to the Federal and State governments, to declare war on congestion of prisons, especially with the ravaging coronavirus pandemic
Nearly 400 COVID-19 cases recorded in KZN prisons
July 26, 2020
Of the cases recorded 373 people were officials while 24 of them were inmates.
Malawi: Chakwera Pardons Covid-19 Inmate – Malawi Prisons Made ‘Area of Intervention’
July 24, 2020
Minister of Homeland Security Chimwendo Banda has said there’s a sudden coronavirus spike in Malawi prisons that is increasing by the day, saying President Lazarus Chakwera has pardoned the first inmate to test positive and has ordered further review.
Congo-Kinshasa: Kasaï – Monusco Facilitates the Holding of Mobile Court Hearings to Decongest Prisons in Tshikapa
July 23, 2020
To ease crowding in the Tshikapa prisons and strengthen the rule of law, MONUSCO provided technical and financial support to the military court of the former Kasai-Occidental province for the purpose of organizing mobile court hearings in Tshikapa from July 10 to 18.
Malawi: 13 Inmates Test Positive for Covid-19 At Nkhata Bay Prison
July 23, 2020
About 13 prisoners have tested positive to Coronavirus (Covid-19) at Nkhata Bay Prison. According to spokesperson for Nkhata Bay District Hospital, Christopher Singini, 10 inmates and 3 prison warders have tested positive to Covid-19.
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