10 prisoners convicted
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Women prisoners complained that they had been raped several times during the riots. According to the BBC, some women became pregnant and contracted sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV, as a result of the abuse. The court sentenced 10 male prisoners to life in prison and sentenced them to 15 years in prison.
Satisfied with the verdict
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Despite being brutally tortured during the riots, some prisoners were reportedly afraid to give evidence. However, they testified before the military prosecutor that they had been raped. Responding to the court order sentencing the convicts, the plaintiffs’ lawyer, Melanie Mumba, said she was satisfied with the verdict. “We are pleased with this verdict at the end of a long struggle for justice.” Mumbai told AFP news agency.
Cruel persecution
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The riots erupted in September 2020 at the Kasaba Central Jail. The prison was later taken over by male prisoners. This led to brutal violence against women prisoners. Prisoners, including women and girls, were forced to leave their cells after the fire broke out in the area where the women prisoners were being held. It was during this time that male prisoners, including a 16-year-old girl, were sexually abused.
The riot warning was ignored
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Twenty inmates and a guard were reportedly killed in the riots before security forces regained control of the jail. Human Rights Watch also reported on the gang rape in prison. The prison, which can hold only 800 inmates, reportedly had about 2,000 inmates at the time of the riots. The BBC quoted the report as saying that unsanitary conditions and health problems had been reported and that high-ranking officials had ignored repeated warnings that riots would break out.
There were 56 women
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“Action against 10 prisoners should only be seen as a first step,” Thomas Fezi, a Congolese researcher at Human Rights Watch, told the BBC. “There were 56 women in prison at the time of the riots, of which 37 were women and one teenager who gave a statement to the Lubumbashi public prosecutor about the rape.” Thomas Fezi clarified.
16 pregnant?
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Thomas Fezi alleges that the government failed to protect and secure prisoners at the time of the incident. According to a 2021 report by Human Rights Watch, seven prisoners, including a 16-year-old girl, became pregnant as a result of torture. But AFP reports that 16 women became pregnant as a result of the abuse, according to the victims’ lawyers.