Makala, which means “coal” in Lingala, is the central prison of Kinshasa. It is also one of Africa’s main penitentiaries: there are around 8,500 inmates in a complex of pavilions and brick and metal shacks, initially designed to accommodate 1,500 people. It is a small town, an ecosystem, where all can be valued, exchanged, and negotiated down to the floor space to sleep on. Some cells of 100 m2 house 200 inmates, many of whom sleep on the floor. They are underfed and have serious problems of malnutrition. The beatings and the ill-treatments can sometimes lead to death. The extreme overcrowding and the insecurity inevitably create conflicts which will only be handled with violence.

ASF and I Watch are united in promoting the principles of respect and protection of human rights in the context of the business industry. In this context, on the 26 July 2018, we brought the activities of the Perenco Group in the governorate of Kebili in Tunisia, and their compliance with the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, to the attention of the French National Contact Point (NCP) of the OECD.

On 17th June 2019, after a decade-long formulation and adoption process, the Government of Uganda finally announced the passing of the National Transitional Justice Policy (NTJP) and officially released it in September. The passing of the Policy is partly fulfilling the Government’s commitments on accountability and reconciliation that it made during the Juba Peace process, which started in 2006, as well as its constitutional obligations.

Victim participation is a central element in achieving justice and reconciliation in Uganda. The practice is allowed by the International Crimes Division (ICD) but efforts still have to be made by courts and the legislator to actualize its full use in court proceedings. This policy brief offers an analysis as well as a few recommandations regarding the situation of victim participation in Uganda. 

Access to justice is a serious problem in the Central African Republic. That is the key finding in a study Avocats sans Frontières has just published. Analysis of the situation on the ground has revealed difficulties in access to lawyers and to a state justice system of adequate quality. Those are the reasons why citizens avoid the formal state system, and instead, turn to local chiefs, religious leaders, non governmental organisations and others. ASF recommends that development agencies draft and implement robust strategies to achieve sustainable improvements. And for them to be successful, these strategies must include all the actors involved, both formal and informal.

In Chad, ASF supports human rights organisations (HROs) with the aim of increasing the impact and scope of their activities. Last March, we went to meet individuals, local authorities, legal actors, and members of HROs, to get their opinions on the work that HROs do. In the interviews, which were carried out in Bongor, Moundou, and Sarh, everyone who was questioned expressed a high level of satisfaction with the activities of HROs.

Access to justice is more crucial than ever to ease the existing tensions in the North and South Kivu provinces of the DR Congo, which have been torn apart by violence for decades. On 21 and 23 May 2019, ASF, RCN Justice & Démocratie and TRIAL International launched a shared project to fight impunity in those regions. Two workshops, held in Goma and Bukavu, gathered over a hundred people playing a part in the prosecution of international crimes.

In Uganda, ASF has been providing continuous support to communities who have been victim of the crimes for which Kwoyelo is being tried under the International Crimes Division. Last April, ASF led joint efforts with the Victim’s Counsel, the ICD Registrar and the International Center for Transitional Justice to inform the victims’ communities of the latest trial developments, while collecting and relaying their views to relevant instances.

ASF and eight of its partners formed the Alliance pour la Sécurité et les Libertés, calling on Tunisian deputies not to adopt the bill for the organisation of a state of emergency in its current form. Far from improving security in the country, it endangers people’s rights and freedoms and curtails constitutional protections.

Joining in the celebration of women across the world today, ASF releases its analysis of the progresses and shortcomings in achieving women’s rights in Uganda’s extractive industry context.