The NGO expresses its concern over the fate of those arrested during the walrus off the coast of Côte d’Ivoire between August and October 2020.
According to an investigation carried out by Amnesty International last month and announced on Friday 26 March, at least 300 people were jailed between August 2020, start of demonstrations towards the third term‘Alassane Ouattara and presidential election in October.
Most were recaptured, but are still in custody. “Many do not even have a lawyer, have not seen a judge,” explains Samira Daoud, head of West and Central Africa at Amnesty International. The conditions are very difficult. The Abidjan prison is chronically overcrowded. There are almost 8,000 people detained in 2020. for a prison with a capacity of 1500 persons. ”
Overpopulation in particular due to “systematic use of temporary deprivation of liberty. Half of the 8,000 people imprisoned at Maca 2020 were in prison before the trial, says the NGO’s chief.
“A form of punishment”
The case of these detainees highlights the systematic use of detention for detention by the Ivorian courts. “There is a real structural problem. There is a tendency to consider that pre-trial detention is a form of punishment, even before the trial. This is completely contrary to the principles of the law, adds Samira Daoud.
According to the NGO, the time for proceedings must be accelerated. “Most of these people should have been tried in flagrante delicto,” she said. Or at least allow these people to be released and appear free, if they were to appear before a judge, one day. “
