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Republic of the Congo

Capital city — Brazzaville

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Panorama
Contributor(s)civil society organisations, independent experts

Security, order, and discipline

Security measures

Security functions are fulfilled by

the prison service and the police or gendarmerie

The prison service sometimes enlists military units, particularly to offset the shortage of surveillance and security staff. Informal management systems exist as well. “Cell bosses” are appointed by management or the guards. Observers criticise this practice, stating that “[the bosses] extort money from the other prisoners and force them to sleep on the floor if they don’t pay.”

Some prison facilities, units or cells implement high-security measures

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Legislation states that high-security districts can be set up to hold prisoners who have been deemed dangerous and require heightened surveillance or solitary confinement measures (Correctional Code, Article 17).

Prisoners can be subjected to searches at any time. The practical details for completing searches of places and people are laid out in the prison facility’s rules and regulations (Correctional Code, Article 116).

Prisoners must submit to a pat-down before and after accessing the visitation area (Order dated 15 September 2011 establishing the remit and organisation of the DGAP’s services and offices, Article 16).

Relatives who enter the prison are searched using the following methods

pat-downs

Visitors must be searched when they enter and exit. They must deposit their proof of identity, any firearms or knives, communication devices and any other suspicious object in their possession at the security checkpoint (Order dated 15 September 2011 establishing the remit and organisation of the DGAP’s services and offices, Article 15).

Legislation prohibits the use of chains, irons and other instruments considered intrinsically degrading or painful. Other means of restraint that have been deemed appropriate can be used as precautionary measures to prevent escape during transfers. The nature of these authorised means of restraint is not specified in the legislation.

Management can also approve their use when other means cannot effectively prevent people from hurting themselves, hurting someone else or inflicting damage. In such cases, management must immediately inform the doctor or another healthcare professional with the required qualifications and report the incident to the superior administrative authority (Correctional Code, Article 35).

When an instrument of restraint is used, the following principles must apply (Article 36):

  •  no alternative, less extreme form of control would effectively reduce the risks related to freedom of movement

  •  the means of restraint causes the least amount of detriment possible and is reasonably available to control the prisoner’s movements

  •  the instrument of restraint is only used for the necessary time and is removed as soon as possible.

Security staff carry

non-lethal weapons

Staff may only be armed in certain circumstances. Weapons must only be entrusted to staff members who have been trained to operate them (Correctional Code, Article 34).

Incidents

Number of escapes

Data not disclosed

Number of hostage takings

Data not disclosed

Number of violent acts against prison staff

Data not disclosed

Disciplinary regime

Breaches of discipline are clearly defined in writing

yes

Breaches of discipline are clearly defined in the Correctional Code (Articles 117 to 123).

Possible disciplinary sanctions are divided into three levels (Correctional Code, Article 118):

1st-degree measures:

  •  written warning

  •  reprimand

2nd-degree measures:

  •  assignment to cleaning duties for a maximum duration of seven hours

  •  limited access to the visitation area for a maximum period of one month

3rd-degree measures:

  •  ban on using financial resources for personal shopping for a maximum duration of two months

  •  placement in the disciplinary unit for a maximum duration of thirty days.

A disciplinary committee, chaired by facility management, is in charge of issuing sanctions. Sanctions must be properly reasoned and communicated by the prison registrar to the relevant prisoner (Correctional Code, Article 120).

Prisoners may appeal against disciplinary sanctions

yes

Only 3rd-degree disciplinary sanctions can be appealed, via a declaration to the prison registrar. Appeals must be filed within 48 hours of receiving notification of the decision, but they do not have suspensive effect. Appeal files are sent to the competent judge, who consults the public prosecutor before taking their decision, within a maximum period of five days after receiving the file (Correctional Code, Article 120).

Solitary confinement

Solitary confinement can be used as

a sanction or for security

Placement in solitary confinement can be used as a disciplinary measure or a temporary preventative measure in exceptional cases for prisoners considered dangerous. Women and minors cannot be placed in solitary confinement (Correctional Code, Article 60).

Solitary confinement is decided

by order of a magistrate or by the prison governor

Placement in solitary confinement can be decided by the sentence enforcement judge or by the management of the prison facility (Correctional Code, Article 60).

The International Federation of Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture (Fédération internationale des ACAT, FIACAT) and ACAT Congo observed in 2015 that prisoners were transferred to the disciplinary unit of the Brazzaville remand prison arbitrarily, outside of the legal framework, at the discretion of the gendarmes or prison officers, and sometimes without just cause.1

Various civil society organisations made the same observation in 2022.

  1. Fédération internationale des ACAT (FIACAT), ACAT Congo, “Joint alternative report by FIACAT and ACAT Congo on the implementation by Congo of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment”, March 2015, p. 41 (in French). ↩

The duration for placement in solitary confinement is limited

yes, to 30 days

Solitary confinement is carried out in the disciplinary unit. A former prisoner explained that the cells are small and dark, without electricity, a bed, television or even a window.