The Regional Campaign to Decriminalise Petty Offences has long argued for a change in police arrest practices and increased accountability of law enforcement agencies. Deprose

The Mail & Guardian By Sean Tait On April 10, Collins Khosa was allegedly assaulted by members of the South African National Defence Force and

The Weekend Nation By Victor Mhango from the Centre for Human Rights Education, Advice and Assistance (CHREAA) and Anneke Meerkotter and Chikondi Chijozi from the

The Daily Maverick In the wake of the controversy surrounding a video of Cape Town resident Bulelani Qolani being dragged naked from his shack by

GENEVA (2 July 2020) — The UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) has called for the role of domestic monitoring bodies, officially known as National Preventive Mechanisms

On 26 June 2020, the UN Anti-Torture Mechanisms issued a statement on how COVID-19 exacerbates the risk of ill-treatment and torture worldwide. The statement notes

The Global Fund Sex workers in Africa are among the communities suffering the most due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as lockdowns and police crackdowns leave

The Daily Nation By Grace Ngenye When I read the Daily Nation article (June 17, 2020) on the Committee on Criminal Justice Reforms (NCCJR), my

Times Live A law that criminalises children who possess or use cannabis has been declared unconstitutional by a Johannesburg high court judge. Judge Ingrid Opperman

On 14 July 2020, the Malawi Prison Service registered its first COVID-19 case at Mzimba Prison through a prisoner. On the same day, an inmate

The African Policing Civilian Oversight Forum (APCOF) welcomes the opportunity to make this submission to the Special Rapporteur on Prisons, Conditions of Detention and Policing

A Nigerian court has voided the arrest of commercial sex workers in Abuja by law enforcement officials. The Abuja Federal High Court presided over by Justice

By: WIEGO Date: February 2020 Through photography and text, this e-book offers an in-depth look at the important role street vendors play in cities, the challenges

Although there is no law against prostitution in Malawi, sex workers routinely face abuse and wrongful arrest by police who give in to social stigma

21 Civil society organizations have formed the Uganda Coalition to decriminalize petty offences. The coalition was formed at a 2-day retreat convened by the Human

H.E the President of the Republic of Uganda has directed that no person should be arrested for the crime of “idle and disorderly”. The President has

Today the petition challenging the constitutionality of Section 168 (1) (c) and (d), of Uganda’s Penal Code Act, which creates the offence of ‘being rogue

By ERIC WAINAINA Weeks ago as Mr Kamau Mburu and other people were walking home shortly past 11 pm, they were rounded up in Kirigiti

By Sarah Nyakio Seven out of 10 inmates in the country are petty offenders with the lowest case determination rates, the Annual Criminal Justice Conference

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) will continue to highlight and push reforms to address alternative measures that may mitigate the excessive use of pre-trial

Enter a prison and brace yourself for the harsh experience of inmates imprisoned in colonial times. Not much has changed since the 1900s in terms

Mombasa senator Mohammed Faki has decried the increasing number of petty offenders congesting Kenyan prisons. Speaking in Mombasa Friday during the reopening of the Mombasa

Mr Nelson Basubinin Duut, Director of Prisons Technical and Services, on Thursday suggested that Prison overcrowding could be addressed by decriminalizing petty offences in Ghana.

    Recently, key criminal justice players in Kenya, led by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (ODPP), pitched a tent in Lamu

Mr Edmund Amarkwei Foley, a human rights activist, has urged the Government to set national targets to reduce the number of people in jail. He

An advocacy group, Prisoners’ Rehabilitation and Welfare Action, has called on the governments of Lagos, Abia, Enugu and Kano states as well as the Federal

In May 2015, the Legal Resources Foundation Trust and the National Council on the Administration of Justice commissioned an audit into the criminal justice system

Judiciary report is raising serious concerns over the number of cases being overturned on appeal, and the low number of suspects charged after arrests. The

The High Court has ordered six police officers to pay Sh4 million to a lawyer they had arrested and detained illegally. The officers will also

South Africa’s move towards decriminalisation aligns with the developmental approach to crime and violence. Speaking at the launch of the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules

A number of convicts have walked to freedom after successfully appealing against being imprisoned for crimes they did not commit. The wheels of criminal justice

Since Aug. 21, prisoners across the United States have been on one of the largest prison strikes the nation has seen in years. They have

The concrete floor of a prison cell crawls with bodies as detainees labour to draw their limbs closer to their torsos. The little light illuminating

The criminal justice system in many African countries is characterized by widespread criminalization and punishment of petty offenses through arbitrary arrests which provides a basis

In March 2015, the applicant was arrested by police whilst on his way to the market where he works as a street vendor. He was

Almost three-quarters of criminal cases in Nairobi and Narok counties are traffic violations, shows report The high number of traffic cases is disrupting the criminal

The government has formed a task force to oversee the implementation of rules to enforce instant fines for traffic offences following a court order that

Many hawkers in Kenya, from anecdotal evidence, have been women. They educate, feed, shelter and clothe their children with the income from what they knew