The transitional government of Southern Sudan is receiving assistance from the United Nations to update the country's 80 operational prisons. Southern Sudan will be independent after July 1. The article highlights overcrowding, lack of separate juvenile facilities or facilities for mental illness, shortages of potable water, and long delays in prison before detainees are even charged with a crime. "It is estimated that 45 per cent to 50 per cent of detainees at any one time have not been convicted of a crime and still await trial." Some prisoners remain in detention so long without being charged that they outserve any eventual sentence they might receive.
The UN initiative will attempt to change that. The corrections advisory unit of the UN Mission in Sudan are working with their Sudanese counterparts to enhance procedures, improve infrastructure, and raise skills of staff.
The full article is here.
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