Prison and detention center conditions remained harsh and potentially life threatening.
The MHRC expressed concern regarding the human rights of detained persons. The MHRC cited overcrowding, poor sanitation, and inadequate food and health care as major problems in prisons and detention centers. It also observed that torture was widespread and that most prisoners and detainees lived in degrading and inhuman conditions. Through October the MHRC received one complaint regarding the rights of prisoners and other detainees. It received 26 such complaints in 2013.
Physical Conditions: The prison system’s 30 facilities, built to accommodate approximately 5,500 inmates, routinely held at least double that number. As of September 24, the Maula Prison in Lilongwe held more than 2,400 inmates - triple its 800-inmate capacity. According to the Prison Service, there were 12,156 inmates in the prisons as of October 7. The Zomba Central Prison was condemned as unfit for human habitation by the Prisons Inspectorate in 1997 but remained in use, holding more than 1,950 inmates in a facility built to hold 800.
Police also held detainees, many for longer than the legal limit of 48 hours, in police stations not designed to accommodate long-term detentions humanely. This was driven, in part, by mismanagement in the justice system and misallocation of the limited funds available to police. Authorities often did not hold pretrial detainees separately from convicted prisoners
The country’s 129 female prisoners were held within 16 prisons. They were segregated from male prisoners, and monitored and controlled by female guards and a female officer-in-charge.
According to the Prison Service, as of October 7 there were 965 prisoners between the ages of 18 and 21, including 849 serving sentences and 116 awaiting trial. Young offenders were housed in five facilities separate from general prisons. There were 10 children in prison living with mothers who were serving sentences. As of November there were 95 children (87 boys and eight girls) in the country’s two juvenile reformatories. The capacity of the two facilities combined was approximately 500. In police detention, children were not always held separately from adults.
Overcrowding, inadequate nutrition, substandard sanitation, poor health care facilities, and inadequate infrastructure remained serious problems. Prisons and detention centers, while generally well ventilated, had no provisions for temperature control other than wood fires. Basic emergency medical care generally was available in the daytime but unavailable after regular working hours. For more serious cases of illness and injury, referrals were made to district hospitals or medical clinics. Potable water was available.
Daily prison rations were meager. Officials allowed family members to bring food and encouraged inmates to grow vegetables and raise livestock; however, malnutrition in the prison population remained a problem. A UN report called on the government to take immediate measures to ensure access to adequate food in prisons.
Due to the lower numbers and donor support of female prisoners, prison conditions were better for women in terms of space and access to prison amenities.
According to the Prison Service, as of November, 70 inmates died in prison. Leading causes of death included tuberculosis (12), AIDS (11), pneumonia (11), and malaria (8).
According to the Inspectorate of Prisons, the government remained largely noncompliant with the High Court’s 2009 requirement to improve prison conditions.
Administration: Prison recordkeeping was considered generally reliable. Each prison has a designated welfare officer, some of whom had received specialized training, to receive prisoner complaints regarding conditions. This complaint process is mainly verbal and informal, resulting in little follow-up. Prisoners sometimes had the opportunity to make complaints to nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that make records of cases for inclusion in government advocacy and reports, but this rarely resulted in follow-up on individual cases.
Prisoners could have visitors, observe their religious practices, and submit complaints to prison authorities without censorship. Prison staffing, however, remained inadequate, with only one prison staff member for every five inmates. The law establishes the Inspectorate of Prisons, which is charged with “monitoring of conditions, administration, and general functioning in penal institutions taking due account of applicable international standards.” The inspectorate is chaired by a justice of appeal or a judge, and it includes the chief commissioner of prisons, a member of the Prison Service Commission, a magistrate, and the ombudsman. With international donor support, the inspectorate inspected 90 percent of prisons between March and July. It found recurrent problems of poor sanitation, poor diet, overcrowding, prisoner abuse, poor ventilation, detention without charge beyond 48 hours, understaffing, prison officer corruption, and insufficient prisoner rehabilitation such as education and vocational training.
Community service programs were available as alternatives to prison terms for first-time offenders with permanent addresses who were convicted of less serious crimes. The government also worked with the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and NGOs to implement diversion programs for juveniles and nonviolent offenders as an alternative to custodial sentences.
Victim support units attached to police stations in larger jurisdictions, such as Lilongwe, Zomba, and Mzimba, attended to the needs of vulnerable individuals, such as victims of trafficking and gender-based violence. Victims sheltered with police at other locations, however, had no protective measures in place.
Independent Monitoring: During the year the government permitted domestic and international NGOs and the media to visit and monitor prison conditions and to donate basic supplies. Representatives of the Malawi Red Cross, the UN special rapporteur on the right to food, and foreign diplomats also visited prisons during the year.