Senegal’s Minister of Justice, Ousmane Diagne, announced that a new 2,500-capacity prison in Sébikotane is 90% complete and will soon be operational.
This announcement, made Saturday, came in the wake of a recent report by the National Observatory of Places of Deprivation of Liberty (ONLPL), which highlighted the problem of overcrowding in Senegalese prisons.
According to Diagne, the new prison is part of the government’s efforts to address overcrowding.
A new 2,500-place prison is 90% ready. It is a prison that meets standards. The penitentiary establishments are full, far exceeding the required number, he said during the UMS general assemblyon Saturday.
The Minister of Justice said that the new prison was initially assigned to a gendarmerie (military) barracks but was reclaimed a few months ago after he raised the issue with the Prime Minister, who then involved the national gendarmerie.
He said, “We must punish those who violate the laws, transgress the regulations. But they must be imprisoned in prisons that meet standard standards. We must preserve the dignity of the detainees.”
In the same light, Diagne announced that measures will be taken to ban abuses, violence, and mistreatment meted towards those detained in both judicial police investigation units and prisons. He acknowledged that the state has the responsibility to uphold human rights and ensure proper conduct within the correctional system, adding that ongoing efforts are being made to “improve certain prisons.”
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