Only prison in West Darfur ‘inhumane, might collapse’

The only prison in West Darfur is deemed 'not suitable' for prisoners, a delegation from a Sudanese parliamentary human rights committee found this week.

The delegates from the Parliament's Legislation, Justice and Human Rights Committee described Ardamata prison, the only prison in the state, as “not suitable for the imprisonment of a rat; let alone a human being”, during a visit.

The building has two prison cells sized four square meters, holding between 62 to 69 inmates. They are held in a single room and many resort to standing rather than sitting down.

“What is worst is that the smell of the bathrooms spreads to the two rooms,” the committee said in a press statement after the visit.

Ja'far Abbas, speaker of the State Legislative Council, said the prison's condition 'does not meet the standards of humanity'. “Killers, thieves, drug convicts and those sentenced to death are living in one ward together.”

Ardamata Prison director Col. Muatasim Hassan Khairallah explained that the building might collapse at any time. “It has not been rehabilitated since its construction in the colonial era, in 1952. The maximum capacity is 140 inmates only. Meanwhile there are now 314 inmates.”

Of this number, 34 have been transferred to a prison in Khartoum. The administration of a prison in Nyala, South Darfur, also decided to transfer inmates to Khartoum and Port Sudan facilities, owing to overcrowded cells and insecurity.

This month Nyala prison received dozens of prisoners from Ed Daein city prison, where a deadly clash erupted between prisoners and police over the transfer of prisoners to other cities.