ICRC NOTES MINOR IMPROVEMENT IN MADAGASCAR PRISONS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANTANANARIVO 000623 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR AF/FO, AF/E, DRL PARIS FOR D'ELIA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM SOCI PGOV PREL MA SUBJECT: ICRC NOTES MINOR IMPROVEMENT IN MADAGASCAR PRISONS REF: ANTANANARIVO 393 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Of 80 countries in which the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) monitors prison conditions; Madagascar continues to stand among the worst. An ICRC representative met with Embassy staff to note that while there have been positive trends over the past year in the Government of Madagascar's (GOM) efforts to improve prison conditions, the GOM lacks the means to implement budgetary, legislative, and administrative reforms, allowing severe malnutrition and overcrowding to persist. While there is currently political will at the highest government levels, the ICRC is concerned this momentum will die out as other political priorities take precedence. This issue remains a high policy priority for the U.S. Mission in Madagascar. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (U) ICRC Chief of Mission Maziar Mostafavi met with Embassy staff June 18 to give an informal readout of the upcoming memorandum assessing prison conditions in Madagascar. Its conclusions are based on a nationwide assessment of 13 prisons conducted from January through April 2007. The formal memorandum is slated to be delivered to the Embassy and to the Department by ICRC representatives in Washington in the coming week. BUDGET INCREASE HAS LIMITED IMPACT - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶3. (SBU) While Mostafavi applauded the fact the Presidential budget has increased by one million USD since 2006 to meet the goal of providing prisoners with 750 grams of food per day, he voiced the concern this may be too little, too late. Calling the prisons "death houses," Mostafavi reported seeing a number of emaciated prisoners on the verge of death due to lack of food and medical attention -- problems that could be relatively easily remedied. After a several-month delay in implementation, many prisons have only managed to augment food levels from the 2006 levels of some 300 grams per day to current levels of approximately 500 grams of food per day. A small part of the budget increase has also gone toward medication for prisoners. Unfortunately, not all prisons have infirmaries with trained staff, and the ICRC found some prisons hoarding medicine in case of epidemic. Mostafavi also expressed concern that the one million USD might prove to be a one-off, rather than a permanent increase in the prison budget. SEVERE OVERCROWDING STILL THE RULE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶4. (SBU) In February 2007, the Ministry of Justice reported over 17,000 prisoners were housed in Malagasy prisons, compared to an overall capacity for 11,572 inmates. (This figure was recently revised down from the 1976 capacity estimate of 13,000.) The prison population has decreased by approximately 3,000 from 2006 figures due to success with a new "release on parole" program and two presidential pardons in 2006. To address the prevailing pre-trial detention problem, the Ministry of Justice has been working to bring to trial the approximately 1,973 cases of people arrested before December 31, 2004. At the end of 2006, judges had whittled this number down to 444 unresolved cases. The ICRC praised such measures to deal with overcrowding, but noted the percentage of pre-trial detainees - even after these efforts -- remains consistent at 65 percent. This is presumably a result of newly incarcerated prisoners awaiting trial. PRESIDENTIAL TASK FORCE INITIATIVES - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶5. (U) The Presidential Prison Task Force recently launched an innovative program to address dismal prison conditions and the massive pre-trial detention problem. Arguing the GOM only uses one percent of the 20,000 hectares dedicated to prisons, three model prison camps are to be built throughout 2007 employing tactics for efficient land use to make them self-sufficient. First, prisoners will cultivate enough food to feed the entire prisoner population in their respective regions. Second, the GOM will work with regional magistrates to expedite the trials of detainees, release prisoners early for good behavior, and reallocate prisoners to new regional prison camps in order to shut down older deteriorated camps. Third, the GOM will rent much of the unused land to private sector partners to cultivate plants for essential oils, food and other products in order to raise revenue for prisons. Finally, prisoners will develop skills in food production and brick-making to assist them with reinsertion into society. The program has already kicked off with the construction of a new camp in Majunga, to be followed by camps in Tamatave and Fianarantsoa in September. The GOM hopes to extend this program throughout the country in the future. ¶6. (BU Mostafavi noted two major shortfalls with this initiative. Through the ongoing land reform process, the Presidency is starting ANTANANARI 00000623 002 OF 002 to realize the land available for the project amounts to much less than 20,000 hectares. Further, if these projects are successful and able to be duplicated throughout the country, their impact will only be felt in the medium-term. In the meantime, the prison population, who need more food right now, will continue to suffer. CHALLENGES ABOUND - - - - - - - - - ¶7. (SBU) While the ICRC applauded the legislative, budgetary, and administrative measures the GOM has taken to date, it noted a number of areas needing improvement. Overall, the GOM's initiatives go over well in the capital city of Antananarivo, but the GOM lacks the means to implement them in the field. The Prison Administration suffers from weak communication with the Ministry of Justice, which results in poor program implementation; budget restrictions, which translate into limited knowledge of the reality on the ground and poor data collection; and a cultural tendency to be reactive rather than proactive. As an extreme example, Mostafavi noted that the prison administration claims to have only one vehicle to visit all of the prisons in Madagascar. Mostafavi recommended the GOM's prison reforms be accompanied by rigorous follow-up and clear consequential measures. U.S. EMBASSY ADVOCACY ON PRISONS - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶8. (SBU) Embassy Antananarivo has consistently raised the problem of prison conditions with its GOM interlocutors. In reply, we have often been asked to provide resources to assist the GOM in addressing these problems. In fact, we have two Democracy and Human Rights Fund (DHRF) projects addressing improved living standards and skill building in prisons in Majunga and Fort Dauphin. Nonetheless, we have been clear and consistent that the welfare of its prison population is the GOM's responsibility, regardless of whether it is able to obtain donor funding to assist it (Reftel). ¶9. (U) The following remarks from Ambassador's McGee's farewell address May 23 were extensively covered in local media: "In the sphere of human rights, Madagascar's prison conditions remain a source of deep concern. Those who have committed crimes should be tried and sentenced, but once in jail they must also be adequately housed and fed! The problem of overcrowding will certainly be eased when persons accused of crimes are brought promptly before a tribunal for a fair trial, to be sentenced or released. Justice must be even-handed, fair to everyone from prominent politicians to the poor beggar accused of stealing a kilo of rice. But justice delayed is justice denied. Bring them to trial, or let them go." ¶10. (SBU) COMMENT: Madagascar continues to be the only country in the world where, in the absence of an existing or recent conflict, it has a bilateral ICRC mission. It is encouraging President Ravalomanana's team begins to understand its responsibility and recognizes that a bad score on human rights could also taint donors' willingness to contribute to the overall Madagascar Action Plan for development. While the steps taken to date are insufficient, they are positive nonetheless. However, Post recognizes the ICRC's concern that this political imperative could be short-lived in a Presidency with competing priorities. END COMMENT. SIBLEY