The decongestion of the Central Prison of Makala and the Military Prison of Ndolo constituted the focal point of discussion in this meeting. A special commission has been established and will begin its work this Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at the Central Prison of Makala.

The special commission was formed of judges from the Court of Cassation, the Public Prosecutor's Office near the Court of Cassation, the High Military Court, the General Auditor of FARDC, representatives of the Public Prosecutor's Offices near the Courts of Appeal, and the General Inspectorate of Judicial Services. This commission starts its work at the Central Prison of Makala within the jurisdiction of Kinshasa-Gombe and will then move on to the jurisdiction of Kinshasa-Matete.

Judges from the Public Prosecutor's Offices near the Courts of Appeal, prosecutor's offices near the High Courts, and prosecutor's offices near the Peace Tribunals with at least one file of a defendant in custody are required to report to this commission, which will sit at the Central Prison of Makala. Inmates who have been definitively sentenced will be transferred to other prisons or detention facilities. To relieve the congestion of the Military Prison of Ndolo, which was built for 500 inmates and today has reached over 2,000 detainees, it will be proposed urgently to rehabilitate the Prison of Boma in the province of Kongo Central by the government of the Republic through the military engineering service to accommodate the convicted detainees.

Senior judges who attended this meeting have proposed the construction, in the shortest possible time, of the new Menkao prison in the commune of Maluku in Kinshasa, as well as prisons in the former configuration of the 11 provinces throughout the country.

Detainees from the Munzenze Prison of Goma in the province of North Kivu will be transferred to the Sake Prison whose construction has sufficiently progressed. The rehabilitation of the Prison of Bukavu in the province of South Kivu is also planned. Concerning detainees who have committed minor offenses, it will be up to the members of the special commission to assess their cases for their release as soon as possible.

GT