A jailbreak attempt at the overcrowded Makala Central Prison in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), turned into a horrific bloodbath on Monday, with at least 129 confirmed fatalities. According to prison officials, 24 of the dead were inmates whom prison guards shot, and most of the others were killed in a stampede.
Makala Central Prison is the largest penal facility in the DRC. Human rights advocates have been complaining for years that the prison is dangerously overcrowded. It has a nominal capacity of 1,500 inmates but routinely holds more than 12,000.
Death by starvation is not an uncommon fate for Makala prisoners. Medicine — and even clean drinking water — is in short supply. About 70 percent of the inmates have yet to receive a trial. DRC Justice Minister Constant Mutamba blamed judges and magistrates on Tuesday for causing the prison to be overcrowded by being too eager to throw people in jail before their trials are complete.
Makala also has a long history of jailbreak attempts, as overcrowding and poor maintenance make the facility difficult to secure. Sometimes the jailbreaks begin as outside break-ins, but the deadly situation on Monday was reportedly an escape plan that inmates in one wing of the prison hatched.
The prison break began at around midnight when gunfire was reported from inside the facility. According to DRC Interior Minister Jacquernin Shabani, rioting prisoners stampeded after the guards fired “warning” shots, causing a significant number of injuries and deaths. Order was not restored at the prison until late Monday morning.
The DRC government initially reported only two fatalities during the incident, a claim immediately disputed by political opposition leaders and human rights activists, who said even the government’s later admission of 129 deaths was too low.
Prison officials cordoned off the roads leading to the facility after the riot broke out, and they have suspended inmate transfers indefinitely. Videos were posted to social media showing corpses strewn around the prison grounds and inmates loading bodies into vehicles. Fire visibly damaged parts of the facility.
Mutamba said the prison riot was a “premeditated act of sabotage” and vowed a “stern response” for those who “instigated” the deadly chaos. Although an investigation of the incident is ongoing, Mutamba said part of the government’s response would include building a new jail to reduce overcrowding.
Interior Minister Shabani said that in addition to the 129 deaths, 59 injured people were “taken into care by the government,” and there were also “some cases of women raped.” Makala Central Prison houses both male and female inmates.
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