Even Dead Bodies Must Work - Office of the High Commissioner for ...

II. Findings
The engagement of a prisoner in doing work as a principle would be ok, but it
has to be closely supervised so that it is not abused.... There seems to be an
insensitivity when it comes to the mobilization of labor. If a prisoner is on TB
treatment, ARVs—you send him to where there are no services? … If they are
on TB treatment, and you take them to a farm, you create drug resistance.
—Prison medical authority, Uganda Prisons Service, November 18, 2010
Prison Conditions
Overcrowding
Overcrowding in Ugandan prisons is endemic and by 2019, the UPS projects the prison
population will more than double. 36 Contrary to international and Ugandan law requirements
that accused people and convicted prisoners be held separately, 37 at every prison visited, all
categories of prisoners (convict, remand, and debtor 38 ) were mixed. 39
Although international standards establish basic requirements with respect to prisoners’
accommodations, including with regard to ventilation, floor space, bedding, and room
temperature, 40 15 of the 16 prisons visited by Human Rights Watch were significantly over
their official capacity. Fort Portal Women’s Prison was slightly undercapacity; Muduuma
Prison, by contrast, was filled to a staggering 3,200 percent of capacity. 41 Prisoners reported
36 J.O.R. Byabashaija, “Unclogging Prison Congestion! Whose Responsibility?” presented at the Donor Annual Review, Kampala,
undated,
http://www.jlos.go.ug/uploads/Unclogging%20Prisons%20Congestion!%20Whose%20Responsibility%20A%20paper%20by
%20the%20Commissioner%20General%20of%20Prisons.pdf (accessed April 13, 2011).
37 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), adopted December 16, 1966, G.A. Res. 2200A (XXI), 21 U.N. GAOR
Supp. (No. 16) at 52, U.N. Doc. A/6316 (1966), 999 U.N.T.S. 171, entered into force March 23, 1976, acceded to by Uganda on June
21, 1995, art. 10; United Nations (UN) Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (Standard Minimum Rules), adopted
by the First United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, held at Geneva in 1955, and
approved by the Economic and Social Council by its resolution 663 C (XXIV) of July 31, 1957, and 2076 (LXII) of May 13, 1977, paras.
9-11; United Nations (UN) Human Rights Committee, General Comment 21, Article 10, Humane Treatment of Persons Deprived of
Liberty (Forty-fourth session, 1992), Compilation of General Comments and General Recommendations Adopted by Human Rights
Treaty Bodies, UN Doc. HRI/GEN/1/Rev.7 (1994), paras. 9 and 13. See also Prisons Act of 2006, sec. 64(1).
38 In March 2010, the UPS housed 169 debtors. UPS, “Summary of UPS Prisoners Statistical Returns.” This practice is directly
contrary to international law. ICCPR, art. 11.
39 However, female and male prisoners were separated.
40 UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, paras. 9-19. These standards, although non-binding, have been
recognized as the minimum standards acceptable to the international community through adoption by the General Assembly.
41 In March 2010: Luzira Upper was at 366 percent of approved capacity; Luzira Women’s at 357 percent; Murchison Bay at 128
percent; Butuntumura at 893 percent; Muduuma at 3,200 percent; Kitalya at 104 percent; Masaka Main at 333 percent; Masaka
Ssaza at 1,611 percent; Muinaina at 269 percent; Jinja Main at 247 percent; Jinja Women’s at 133 percent; Fort Portal Men’s at
“Even Dead Bodies Must Work” 14