In Côte d’Ivoire, an outing by the Minister of Justice during a ceremony marked the spirits this week. Thursday, when he officially handed over the keys to 22 vehicles to magistrates in the country, Sansan Kambilé raised his voice about illegal pre-trial detentions, the number of which has exploded in recent years.
With our correspondent in Abidjan, Francois Hume-Ferkatadji
According to a report by the General Inspectorate of Judicial and Penitentiary Services of Côte d’Ivoire, 677 files of incarcerated litigants have been forgotten in the cupboards of the Abidjan court of first instance. Among these files, 400 are time-barred, which means that the defendants or accused – currently in pre-trial detention – should in theory be released. In Côte d’Ivoire, the law sets the period of pre-trial detention at a maximum of 18 months in correctional matters, and 24 in criminal matters.
Will ” not to teach »
According to the daily Morning Fellowshipthe Minister of Justice, Sansan Kambilé, banged his fist on the table in front of an audience of magistrates, on April 6, deploring that “ these cases were not dealt with, not out of forgetfulness, but out of a clear desire not to investigate “.
Last year, the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) indicated that 35% of the 23,000 Ivorian prisoners were in pre-trial detention, without however specifying the number of illegal pre-trial detention.
266%
A situation that contributes to the problem of ” prison overcrowding also denounced by the CNDH. An overpopulation estimated at 266% in 2019 by the Observatory of places of detention. The CNDH recommends making greater use of alternative measures to incarceration.
Two years ago, a group of experts from Amnesty International described as ” deplorable » living conditions in Ivorian prisons and called for « end the systematic use of pre-trial detention “.
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