KAKATA, Margibi—A Margibi judge says the executive branch is not doing enough to address overcrowded prisons across Liberia.
The resident judge of the 13th Judicial Circuit Court in Kakata, Mardea Tarr-Chenoweth, said prison overcrowding is a pressing concern that demands immediate action. She said it affects not only the inmates but also has a greater impact on society and the administration of justice in Liberia.
While courts are always blamed for causing prison congestion due to delays in adjudicating cases, Tarr-Chenoweth reminded the Ministry of Justice that detention facilities need to be upgraded to accommodate a growing population.
She noted that every prison in the country now hosts a population beyond its initial capacity. For instance, the Kakata Central Prison was initially built for 60 inmates but hosts 171 prisoners today.
She listed other prisons overcrowded prisons: Bondiway Prison with 78 inmates in a 16-inmate capacity space; the Buchanan Central Prison was built for 47 inmates but now has 125; Fish Town Prison was meant for five persons but now hosts 50; Gbarnga Central Prison had the capacity of 130 but now has 175 prisoners; the Zwedru Corrections Palace was established to host 240 inmates and now has 350; and the Monrovia Central Prison’s initial capacity of 375 now hosts 1,500.
According to the World Prison Brief’s 2023 report, the official capacity of Liberia’s prisons is 1,351, but 3,000 prisoners were being held across the country, with 78 percent of them being pretrial detainees.
Tarr-Chenoweth expressed concern that lodging prisoners in a crowded climate could violate their fundamental human rights and make it difficult to maintain basic hygiene, health care, and safety.
“Inmates are forced to live in cramped conditions, often with insufficient access to fresh air, clean water, and adequate nutrition,” she said. The judge added that such conditions could undermine the effectiveness of rehabilitation and reintegration programs, as it becomes difficult for prison authorities to provide detainees with educational, vocational, and counseling services needed to be reintegrated into society.
Tarr-Chenoweth recommended measures to limit the number of people entering the criminal justice system, alternative sentencing options for nonviolent offenders, as well as diverting people with mental or substance abuse issues to rehabilitation programs and promoting a community-based approach to confronting the root causes of crime.
She also called for the Liberian government to invest resources in expanding the country’s prison infrastructure to provide safe and humane care for prisoners.
“This involves constructing new facilities, renovating existing, implementing measures to enhance security, and reducing overcrowding in the shortest term,” she said.
Featured photo by Emmanuel Degleh
