Measuring Pre-trial
Detention in Africa
April 25-26, 2013, Bogotá, Colombia
Jean Redpath
Promoting Pre-trial Justice in Africa
Civil Society Prison Reform Initiative (CSPRI)
Community Law Centre, University of the Western Cape
1
1995/01
1995/04
1995/07
1995/10
1996/01
1996/04
1996/07
1996/10
1997/01
1997/04
1997/07
1997/10
1998/01
1998/04
1998/07
1998/10
1999/01
1999/04
1999/07
1999/10
2000/01
2000/04
2000/07
2000/10
2001/01
2001/04
2001/07
2001/10
2002/01
2002/04
2002/07
2002/10
2003/01
2003/04
2003/07
2003/10
2004/01
2004/04
2004/07
2004/10
2005/01
2005/04
2005/07
2005/10
Number of persons held pretrial in prison at month end,
South Africa, 1995-2005
70000
60000
50000
40000
30000
20000
10000
0
Number of awaiting trial detainees as at end of month
2
1995/01
1995/04
1995/07
1995/10
1996/01
1996/04
1996/07
1996/10
1997/01
1997/04
1997/07
1997/10
1998/01
1998/04
1998/07
1998/10
1999/01
1999/04
1999/07
1999/10
2000/01
2000/04
2000/07
2000/10
2001/01
2001/04
2001/07
2001/10
2002/01
2002/04
2002/07
2002/10
2003/01
2003/04
2003/07
2003/10
2004/01
2004/04
2004/07
2004/10
2005/01
2005/04
2005/07
2005/10
Proportion of persons in
prison held pre-trial at month
end, South Africa, 1995-2005
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
Percentage in prison held pre-trial as at end of month
3
Pre-trial imprisonment rates
• Pre-trial imprisonment rates are used to show the rate of
incarceration of the total population and thus gives a measure
of the propensity of the state to incarcerate pre-trial.
• These can be misleading particularly in Africa where many
people are held pre-trial in non-prison places of detention for
extended time periods .
• This is a “snapshot” measure which uses the number in pretrial detention as at a particular date.
• Does not indicate duration of detention.
• Most useful for comparing countries.
• NOTE: it may be preferable to use adult populations rather
than total populations
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African regional pre-trial
detention rates
70
64
60
66
57
50
West Africa
40
35
North Africa
Central Africa
30
East Africa
Southern Africa
20
20
10
5
0
Rate of pre-trial detention per 100 000 population
Duration of pre-trial detention
• Measuring the average (mean) or median length of pre-trial
detention is fraught with difficulty in Africa, mostly due to
problems with consistent recording of information on dates of
releases.
• In South Africa the Department of Correctional Services
publishes the proportion of people held in prison for various
time periods 0-3 months, 3-6 months, 6-12 months, etc. as at
a particular date, usually 31 March of the year under
consideration.
6
Number of pre-trial detainees
held for various durations,
South Africa, 31 March 2012
25000
22805
less than 3 months
20000
3-6 months
6-9 months
9-12 months
15000
12-15 months
15-18 months
18-21 months
10000
21-24 months
8441
2-3 years
3-4 years
5000
4-5 years
4274
2711
0
more than 5 years
2263
1605
962
820
7
1642
580
169
79
PROBLEM
• None of the measures above capture the kind of pre-trial
detention which is increasingly prevalent in Africa, which is a
form of detention without trial
• I.e. Arbitrary or political arrests leading to relatively “short”
periods of pre-trial detention often followed by release
without trial ever occurring.
• In Zimbabwe “human rights defenders” and the political
opposition are harassed and their work disrupted by targeted
periods of incarceration
• In South Africa changes to bail law mean that for many, bail
applications will only be heard more than two weeks after arrest,
meaning most spend at least 2 weeks pre-trial. Half of all cases
end in withdrawal.
• In many African countries political control is exerted through the
criminal justice system
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Pre-trial detention “Exposure”
as an appropriate pre-trial
detention indicator for Africa
• This can be used as n alternative measure where:
• The total number of pre-trial detainees is known at defined
periods e.g. at the end of each quarter.
• The total admissions to pre-trial detention during those defined
periods e.g. per quarter are known.
• The total population of the country is known.
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Quarterly exposure number
• The “Quarterly exposure number” is simply:
• The total in pre-trial custody at the beginning of the quarter plus
pre-trial admissions during the quarter
Total in custody
at beginning of
quarter
New
admissions
during
quarter
• E.g. in Malawi typical numbers might be for Quarter 1:
• 29000 in pre-trial detention as at 1 January
• 10 000 admitted 1 January to 31 March
• Quarterly exposure = (29 000 in pre-trial + 10 000 admissions)
• = 39 000 exposed to pre-trial detention
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Quarterly exposure rate
•
•
•
•
Rate = Quarterly exposure number/population
E.g. in Malawi total population is 14 million
Exposure number is 39 000
Quarterly exposure rate 278 per 100 000 total population
exposed to pre-trial detention
•
•
•
•
•
If one uses adult population (6 million)
Quarterly exposure rate = 650 per 100 000 adult population
OR 6,5 per 1 000 adults
If one uses adult male population (3 million)
Just over 1 in every 100 adult males exposed to pre-trial detention
per quarter
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Change in exposure number
• Change = Quarter 2 - Quarter 1
• Quarter 2 – Quarter 1
• = (Q2Number_ptd _beg + Q2admissions) –
(Q1Number in ptd_beg + Q1admissions)
• = ([(Q1Number_ptd + Q1admissions - Q1releases) + Q2
admissions] - [Q1Number_ptd + Q1admissions] )
• = Q2 admissions - Q1 releases
• An increase in exposure number can mean either an increase in
the number of people held for more than three months OR
more people being admitted to pre-trial detention
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