South Sudan Red Cross condemns conditions in Bor central prison
December 3, 21012 (BOR) – The South Sudan Red Cross (SSRC) has concluded that the conditions in which inmates are currently housed in Bor prison on Jonglei state are unacceptable.
“When we went into the female side we found out many of them lacked blankets, mosquito nets, sleeping mats, washing soap, and some of them have children in the cell,” the Director of Red Cross, David Gai Deer told Sudan Tribune.
He noted the importance of the nets in light of Bor’s mosquito problem, and their capacity to transmit malaria.
“It is our constitutional mandate to assist the vulnerable people in prison,” he added.
He said his office intends to support around 240 inmates in the prison with blankets, mats and nets and other supplies, with plans to extend the programme out to prisons elsewhere in the state.
Human Rights Watch released a report on the South Sudanese prison system in June describing arbitrary arrests and “dire” conditions.
Minister of interior, Alison Manani Magaya, denied the allegations, describing the report as “not objective” and claiming that HRW “deliberately ignored” the “substantial improvements” made in various prisons.
(ST)