Prison in the spotlight after stampede deaths

The DRC’s Makala Prison – the scene of a deadly and failed breakout a week ago – is in the spotlight with former inmates describing it as ‘hell’. Journalist Stanis Bujakera was sent to the notorious prison last September after the authorities accused him of writing an article that alleged the military was involved in an opposition politician's death. He spent six months there. ‘Makala is not a prison, but a detention centre resembling a concentration camp, where people are sent to die,’ he told BBC News. The prison, located in capital city Kinshasa, has a capacity of 1 500 prisoners but is estimated to hold around 10 times more. Human rights groups have long complained of the dire conditions Makala inmates face, including overcrowding, unsubstantial food and poor access to clean water. After masses of inmates tried to break out of Makala last Monday morning, 129 prisoners lost their lives, Interior Minister Jacquemain Shabani said. Twenty-four were shot dead as they tried to escape, Shabani reported, but most were suffocated in a stampede. Four surviving inmates told The New York Times that prior to the escape attempt, prisoners had been held in stifling cells without running water or the electricity to power fans for more than 36 hours. Some prisoners had initially broken out to escape the heat, they said. Rostin Manketa, director of Congolese human rights group La Voix des Sans Voix, also slammed the conditions at the facility.