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Kigali, Rwanda (PANA) -   The trial of former Rwandan presidential guard commander, Col. Tovm Byabagamba, who is facing a new charge of phone theft, resumed Thursday in a virtual hearing with the defence team seeking their client to be judged by a military instead of a civilian court. Byabagamba, who was [...]
©- - 22 october 2020 - 15:18:51 - thread Society (276 words)


Geneva, Switzerland (PANA) - As senior UN officials spread the alarm over the rapid spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus) through prisons – where physical distancing is nigh on impossible, and hygiene is often inadequate – UN Corrections, Justice and Human Rights teams are working to protect prison staff and detainees from [...]
©- - 06 may 2020 - 06:42:59 - thread Society (979 words)


Tripoli, Libya (PANA)  - Some 401 detainees in the prison of Sorman (West), including 384 men and nine women, escaped Monday during a mutineer that broke out during the liberation of the city and its recapture by the army loyal to the government of national accord (GNA), the Libyan ministry [...]
©- - 15 april 2020 - 21:55:07 - thread Society (282 words)


Paris, France (PANA) - Mahamat Nouri, president of the Union of Forces for Democracy and Development (UFDD), a Chadian politico-military movement opposed to President Deby detained since June in France, was released on Friday , his organisation said in a statement.   General Mahamat Nouri was indicted in June 2019 by French [...]
©- - 28 march 2020 - 18:01:12 - thread Society (249 words)


Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - A total of 82 detainees in the new penitentiary and rehabilitation centre at Tripoli central prison have been released, the city's chief of police, Col.-Major Abdelghani al-Harati announced on Thursday.   This brings the number of detainees released to 152 as part of the strategy to relieve congestion [...]
©- - 26 march 2020 - 13:40:30 - thread Society (210 words)


Port-Louis, Mauritius (PANA) – Mauritius has agreed to sign the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Protocol on the Inter-State Transfer of prisoners, official sources told PANA Friday in the Mauritian capital, following the weekly meeting of the Council of Ministers. In a communique, the Government said the Protocol on the prisoner [...]
©- - 28 february 2020 - 16:44:53 - thread Society (119 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – The man responsible for nearly sparking a full-blown race war ahead of South Africa’s historic first democratic elections in 1994 by killing a high profile politician has denied allegations that he is campaigning with right-wingers to cause further instability. Janusz Walus, who killed former Communist [...]
©- - 23 december 2019 - 08:46:58 - thread Society (287 words)


Abuja, Nigeria (PANA) – Global human rights group, Amnesty International, on Wednesday categorised three Nigerians as prisoners of conscience, declaring that their continued incarceration are politically motivated and demanded their immediate release. The three journalists and human rights activists, Omoyele Sowore, Olawale Bakare and Agba Jalingo, have been facing charges of [...]
©- - 20 november 2019 - 19:27:37 - thread Society (499 words)


Bamako, Mali (PANA) - A total of 460 young Malians, imprisoned in Guinea in the "so-called QNET" case, have just returned home on buses chartered by the Ministry of Malians Abroad, PANA learned on Thursday at the High Council for Malians Living Abroad (HCME). The HCME explained that from 1 to [...]
©- - 14 november 2019 - 17:39:01 - thread Society (371 words)


Melrose, Mauritius (PANA) – Mauritius Prison Service and SME Mauritius Ltd on Thursday launched a business plan for inmates, in line with the Social Entrepreneurship Programme, to equip them with the knowledge and know-how to set up their own businesses on completion of their sentences.   At Eastern High Security Prison in [...]
©- - 19 september 2019 - 13:43:29 - thread Society (239 words)


Port Louis Maurice (PANA) - About 144 detainees received a month's reduction from their sentences from the 1,300 names submitted to the acting president, Barlene Vyapoury. The incident followed the visit, this Monday, to Mauritius of Pope Francis, reports the local press. According to the media, only those who showed good behavior [...]
©- - 09 september 2019 - 17:06:51 - thread Society (87 words)


Dakar, Senegal (PANA)  -  Senegalese minister of Justice Malick Sall on Friday announced the possibility to introduce shortly the wearing of electronic bracelet into the judicial system, saying this will need a revision of the criminal code. “We are working on the possibility to establish electronic bracelets (for provisional detainees). We [...]
©- - 30 august 2019 - 22:45:33 - thread Society (285 words)


Rabat, Morocco (PANA) - Morocco King Mohammed VI granted pardon to 4,764 people, some in prison and others on bail on the occasion of the Throne Day celebrated on Tuesday in Morocco. Between them 1,916 inmates benefited from pardon over their remaining prison terms and 2,477 prisoners, who had their prison [...]
©- - 30 july 2019 - 09:30:01 - thread Society (204 words)


Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (PANA) - Tanzanian President John Pombe Magufuli has ordered an audit of all prisons across the country to determine inmates who were wrongly put behind bars for their possible release. Dr Magufuli’s order follows his recent impromptu visit to the maximum security prison of Butimba in the [...]
©- - 19 july 2019 - 13:46:53 - thread Society (321 words)


Bujumbura, Burundi (PANA) - The association, "Solidarity with prisoners and their families" (SPF, independent), on Wednesday appealed to the Burundi government to stop the arbitrary imprisonment in country, on the eve of the "Nelson Mandela International Day".   Celebrated on July 18, the Nelson Mandela International Day celebrates the work for the [...]
©- - 17 july 2019 - 15:51:32 - thread Society (661 words)


Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (PANA) - In a rare gesture by a sitting president,  Dr John Pombe Magufuli, on Tuesday visited inmates at the Tanzanian maximum security prison of Butimba in the north-western city of Mwanza to listen to their grievances.   During the visit, broadcast live on national television, the Tanzanian [...]
©- - 16 july 2019 - 19:13:34 - thread Society (255 words)


Khartoum, Sudan (PANA) – The Sudanese military Council on Wednesday issued a decree ordering the release of over 230 prisoners of war (POWs) affiliated to the Darfur rebel Sudan Liberation Army/Movement.   Lieutenant General Abdul Fatah Al-Burhan issued the decree in consultation with the Ministry of Justice and also to show a [...]
©- - 03 july 2019 - 18:12:13 - thread Society (411 words)


Kigali, Rwanda (PANA) -  Rwandan President Paul Kagame has granted amnesty to 788 prisoners jailed for various crimes, according to a resolution passed at the Cabinet meeting chaired by the president. No further explanation was given about this unconditional amnesty announced in a statement obtained by PANA in Kigali on Saturday. The [...]
©- - 08 june 2019 - 18:31:37 - thread Society (124 words)


Kigali, Rwanda (PANA) -  At least 47 prison warders in Rwanda have been sacked for misconduct in the course of their duty, according to a statement issued after the Rwanda Cabinet meeting chaired by President Paul Kagame. The statement, made available to PANA in Kigali on Saturday said that all sacked [...]
©- - 08 june 2019 - 15:02:37 - thread Society (173 words)


Lome, Togo (PANA) - Togolese authorities have said they have blocked an attempted jail break in Tsévié prison, a town some 35 km north of Lome, official sources told PANA on Tuesday in the Togolese capital.   According to reports received by PANA in Lomé, on Monday morning, detainees broke down doors [...]
©- - 04 june 2019 - 18:18:45 - thread Society (217 words)


Kigali, Rwanda (PANA) - The "first group" of 20 Rwandese nationals, currently detained "arbritrary" by Uganda's Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence(CMI), was released Friday with one of Rwandan senior Government officials wondering why too many of his compatriots are still languishing in isolation, and incommunicado detention in neighboring country. The reaction by [...]
©- - 01 march 2019 - 19:54:19 - thread Society (341 words)


Port Louis, Mauritius (PANA) - Mauritian prison authorities have stopped providing detainees with cigarettes as of this weekend to encourage them to quit, officials sources said in the Mauritian capital on Monday. According to Prison Commissioner Vinod Appadoo, the detainees initially received a pack of 10 cigarettes a week. Subsequently they [...]
©- - 04 february 2019 - 17:02:38 - thread Society (191 words)


Libya (PANA) - The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has begun a preliminary investigation into allegations of massive violations human rights abuses in a detention centre at Maitigua, ran by the Special Deterrent Force, an armed group under the supervision of the Libyan Ministry of [...]
©- - 22 january 2019 - 11:52:11 - thread Society (230 words)


Kigali, Rwanda (PANA) - For passing this year's national college entrance examination, the Rwandan President Paul Kagame, has pardoned 16 youth, aged under 18, according to an official source in Kigali The group of 16 inmates who were incarcerated in juvenile jail, located at Nyagatare in Northeastern Rwanda, were released [...]
©- - 17 january 2019 - 19:29:06 - thread Society (191 words)


Lusaka, Zambia (PANA) – Twenty inmates at Chinzombo Correctional Facility in Mambwe District, eastern Zambia, have escaped from lawful custody through an air vent. The Zambia News and Information Service on Wednesday quoted the Eastern Province Police Commissioner, Lackson Sakala, as saying that 12 were convicts, while eight were awaiting [...]
©- - 02 january 2019 - 07:25:14 - thread Society (148 words)


Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - Eighteen senior judges, prosecutors and judicial police officers from all regions of Libya have participated in a two-day seminar on improving conditions in Libyan prisons. Organized by the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), the seminar held on 5 and 6 December provided participants with a [...]
©- - 07 december 2018 - 20:19:02 - thread Society (242 words)


Kigali, Rwanda (PANA) - Rwanda's national college entrance exam kicked off on Thursday at a juvenile prison located in Nyagatare district in northeastern Rwanda, with six under age inmates registered examinees this year. Rwanda Correctional Service (RCS) said it hosts 373 young offenders who are aged between 12 and 18 [...]
©- - 22 november 2018 - 17:45:57 - thread Society (136 words)


Abuja, Nigeria (PANA) – Nigeria's Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday ratified a prisoners’ swap deal for the repatriation of Nigerian prisoners in China to serve out their jail terms back home. Nigerian Minister of Justice and Attorney-General Abubakar Malami announced the deal after the FEC meeting in Abuja, presided over [...]
©- - 01 august 2018 - 18:33:15 - thread Society (193 words)


Kigali, Rwanda (PANA) - Rwandan law enforcement officers are searching for three prisoners, including a former journalist and director of a religious local radio station, Cassien Ntamuhanga, who escaped early this week from one of the high-security prisons in Mpanga, Southern Rwanda, authoritative sources confirmed Wednesday in Kigali. The sources said [...]
©- - 01 november 2017 - 13:13:39 - thread Society (249 words)


Khartoum, Sudan (PANA) - A total of 125 prisoners of war (POWs) have been released by a rebel group, Sudan People’s Liberation Movement - North (SPLM-N) following negotiations and mediation by the International Committee of the Red Cross, Sudan's ministry of foreign affairs, the intelligence service and other Sudanese personalities, [...]
©- - 05 march 2017 - 20:25:02 - thread Society (167 words)


New York, US (PANA) - The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has unveiled a new manual that offers practical advice on managing violent extremist prisoners, disengaging them from violence and facilitating their social reintegration upon release. It noted that the new manual was launched to address violent extremism [...]
©- - 17 january 2017 - 05:46:49 - thread Society (348 words)


Tripoli, Libya (PANA) – Libya's judicial police department has asked the Presidential Council of the Government of National Accord to allocate more funds in its budget to facilitate protection of 8,000 inmates kept in the country's 32 prisons. "The number of prisoners in Libya has exceeded 8,000 all together in the [...]
©- - 29 december 2016 - 17:02:25 - thread Society (153 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – Ananias Mathe, South Africa’s most notorious prisoner, died at Durban’s King Edward VII Hospital on Tuesday. Prison authorities confirmed that the convicted rapist‚ murderer and house robber was suffering from a stomach complaint for the past three months. He had undergone surgery at the [...]
©- - 28 december 2016 - 06:44:40 - thread Society (191 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – The government has launched a probe after three people were killed and 26 others injured in a riot involving prisoners and wardens at a prison in Nelson Mandela Bay in the Eastern Cape on Monday. The Department of Correctional Services said the St Albans Prison [...]
©- - 27 december 2016 - 09:19:50 - thread Society (183 words)


Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - The release on Wednesday of six youth activists in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) under a presidential pardon is an exercise in window dressing unless all prisoners of conscience and others detained for peaceful exercise of their human rights are freed, according to Human Rights [...]
©- - 28 july 2016 - 13:38:17 - thread Society (381 words)


New York, US (PANA) - A group of UN and other international human rights experts are calling on governments to implement the Revised Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, dubbed the "Nelson Mandela Rules". In a joint statement, made available to PANA in New York on Monday, the human [...]
©- - 18 july 2016 - 14:54:30 - thread Society (484 words)


New York, US (PANA) - The International Criminal Court (ICC) and Norway on Thursday signed an agreement that will enable those convicted by the ICC to serve their sentences in Norway. An ICC statement made available to PANA in New York, stated that, under the agreement, persons convicted by the ICC [...]
©- - 07 july 2016 - 15:57:31 - thread Society (309 words)


Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - 12 political prisoners have been murdered in Tripoli, Libya, just days after they were released from the notorious Ain Zara prison in the country, a judiciary official said. PANA learnt that the prisoners were loyalists to former Libyan leader, Mouammar Gaddafi. The official, who pleaded anonymity, said that [...]
©- - 12 june 2016 - 14:45:33 - thread Society (122 words)


Port-Louis, Mauritius (PANA) – Mauritian Prime Minister Sir Anerood Jugnauth told Parliament on Wednesday night that as at 7 April 2016, there were 2,276 detainees in the island’s prison institutions, out of whom 1,364 were serving time and 912 were on remand. There were also 117 detainees in Police cells/detention centres. Sir [...]
©- - 14 april 2016 - 09:30:20 - thread Society (320 words)


Djibouti, Djibouti (PANA) - The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, has praised Qatar for mediating in the process that culminated in the release of four Djiboutian prisoners by the Eritrean authorities. In a UN statement issued here, the Secretary-General commended the efforts of the Qatari mediation in brokering the process and [...]
©- - 19 march 2016 - 12:36:17 - thread Society (125 words)


Lusaka, Zambia (PANA) - Zambian President Edgar Lungu has released 502 convicted prisoners to commemorate Christmas Day. The State House said in a statement issued here Thursday that President Lungu, in exercise of his Prerogative of Mercy, has signed the Order of Release. The pardoned inmates, who include two prisoners aged [...]
©- - 24 december 2015 - 17:15:21 - thread Society (171 words)


New York, US (PANA) - Two Congolese recently convicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) have been transferred from The Hague to serve their sentences in a prison facility in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). "This constitutes the first time that the ICC has designated a State for the enforcement of [...]
©- - 21 december 2015 - 19:04:52 - thread Society (382 words)


New York, US (PANA) - The UN on Wednesday launched the Revised Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, dubbed the "Nelson Mandela Rules", which UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed as "a great step forward", but also drew attention to three areas that could be strengthened from a human [...]
©- - 07 october 2015 - 19:23:34 - thread Society (772 words)


Niamey, Niger (PANA) – The International Committee of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent have continued to mobilise humanitarian assistance in Niger's Diffa region, at the border with Nigeria, where conditions have been critical. A communiqué issued on Tuesday by ICRC in Niger said that since February 2015, the conflict [...]
©- - 11 august 2015 - 20:51:09 - thread Society (245 words)


Banjul, Gambia (PANA)- Gambia's President Yahya Jammeh on Wednesday turned a new page in his 21 years in power by pardoning all persons convicted of treason, Gambian dissidents in the Diaspora, inmates convicted of murder, drug convicts and jailed rapists in the West African nation. The president announced that he has [...]
©- - 22 july 2015 - 19:38:58 - thread Society (333 words)


New York, US (PANA) - With over 10 million people in prisons worldwide, prison overcrowding has reached epidemic proportions in many countries, a senior official of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said on Thursday. Speaking at the ongoing 13th UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in [...]
©- - 17 april 2015 - 09:35:36 - thread Society (462 words)


Accra, Ghana (PANA) - At least one inmate at the Central Prison, Kumasi, in central Ghana, has died, while five security officers sustained severe injuries following clashes on Wednesday night at the prison, according to media reports on Thursday. An Accra-based radio station, Joy FM, reported that a fire outbreak and [...]
©- - 05 february 2015 - 22:36:26 - thread Society (163 words)


Lagos, Nigeria - (PANA) - Some 270 inmates were set free on Saturday evening when gunmen dressed in police uniform stormed a prison in the Tunga area of Minna, capital of Nigeria's central Niger State, the local media reported Monday, quoting the police and eyewitnesses. The reports said some arrests have [...]
©- - 08 december 2014 - 11:11:03 - thread Society (180 words)


Beau Bassin, Mauritius (PANA) - The Mauritius Prison Service (MPS) Thursday released a ten-year plan devised by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to bring down the current rate of repeated crimes in the island by arranging for additional support structures and providing for a more structured form [...]
©- - 25 september 2014 - 14:15:15 - thread Society (355 words)


Banjul, Gambia (PANA) - An opposition politician in The Gambia has described the prison conditions in the West African nation as ''horrible'' and called for measures to decongest the prisons in the country. Leader of opposition National Reconciliation Party (NRP) Hamat Bak told PANA here Monday that the prisons were overcrowded [...]
©- - 18 august 2014 - 12:17:12 - thread Society (421 words)

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