Abstract Africa’s prisons are a long-standing concern for rights defenders given the prevalence of rights abuses, overcrowding, poor conditions of detention and the extent to which the criminal justice system is used to target the poor. The paper surveys 24 southern and east African countries within the context of COVID-19. Between 5 March and 15 April 2020 COVID-19 had spread to 23 southern and east African countries, except Lesotho. The overwhelming majority of these countries imposed general restrictions on their populations from March 2020 and nearly all restricted visits to prisons to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The pandemic and government responses demonstrated the importance of reliable and up to date data on the prison population, and any confined population, as it became evident that such information is sorely lacking. The World Health Organization recommended the release of prisoners to ease congestion, a step supported by the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture. However, the lack of data and the particular African context pose some questions about the desirability of such a move. The curtailment of prison visits by external persons also did away with independent oversight even in states parties to the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT). In the case of South Africa, prison monitors were not listed in the ensuing legislation as part of essential services and thus were excluded from access to prisons. In the case of Mozambique, it was funding being placed on hold by the donor community that prevented the Human Rights Commission from visiting prisons. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted long-standing systemic problems in Africa’s prisons. Yet African states have remained remarkably reluctant to engage in prison reform, despite the fact that poorly managed prisons pose a significant threat to general public health care.

中文翻译：

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非洲、监狱和 COVID-19

摘要 非洲的监狱是人权维护者长期关注的问题，因为滥用权利、人满为患、拘留条件恶劣以及刑事司法系统在多大程度上针对穷人。该论文在 COVID-19 的背景下调查了 24 个南部和东部非洲国家。2020 年 3 月 5 日至 4 月 15 日期间，COVID-19 已传播到除莱索托以外的 23 个南部和东部非洲国家。从 2020 年 3 月起，这些国家中的绝大多数对其人口实施了全面限制，并且几乎所有国家都限制了对监狱的探访，以防止冠状病毒的传播。大流行和政府的反应证明了关于监狱人口和任何受限制人口的可靠和最新数据的重要性，因为很明显此类信息非常缺乏。世界卫生组织建议释放囚犯以缓解交通拥堵，这一举措得到了联合国防止酷刑小组委员会的支持。然而，由于缺乏数据和特殊的非洲背景，对这一举措的可取性提出了一些疑问。即使在《禁止酷刑公约任择议定书》（OPCAT）的缔约国，限制外部人员探访监狱也取消了独立监督。就南非而言，随后的立法中没有将监狱监察员列为基本服务的一部分，因此被排除在监狱之外。就莫桑比克而言，正是捐助界搁置了资金，阻止了人权委员会访问监狱。COVID-19 大流行凸显了非洲监狱中长期存在的系统性问题。然而，尽管管理不善的监狱对一般公共医疗保健构成了重大威胁，但非洲国家仍然非常不愿意进行监狱改革。