The population of inmates in Rwanda’s correctional facilities has continued to rise despite numerous efforts put in place by the government to fight congestion.

Statistics from Rwanda Correctional Services (RCS) show that there are a total of 89,034 inmates in the 13 correctional facilities that the country has. This represents a substantial rise, because in 2022, the number was slightly above 85,000 inmates.

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The past two years have been characterised by a number of strategies introduced by the government to reduce prison population. These include the increased use of release on parole.

Release on parole is the conditional release of a convict before their sentence expires, on promise of good behaviour.

In 2022, a total of 2,617 inmates were granted release on parole and presidential pardon, while this year, some 381 have benefitted from the same.

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In addition to this, 621 inmates were released after they agreed plea bargain deals with prosecutors and the courts.

Plea bargaining is a new practice in Rwanda. It is the negotiating of an agreement between the prosecution and the defence, whereby the defendant pleads guilty to particular charges in exchange for a more lenient sentence or other possibilities which may include dismissal of the charges.

It was introduced in Rwanda in 2022 as part of the efforts for reducing congestion in prisons, curb backlog in courts, as well as fighting organised crime.

The system is used at different levels including correctional facilities, investigation stages, even at court levels.

In total, statistics from the judiciary show that some 1,500 cases were settled through plea bargains from around October 2022 to May this year.

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In addition to such efforts, the judiciary is also pushing for the use of non-custodial penalties like community service. In April this year, a Presidential Order was issued to determine modalities for the execution of community service as a penalty for qualifying convicts.

Under it, RCS will work with districts to determine places to host camps for persons sentenced to community service, when it is deemed the appropriate penalty for them.

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Speaking about the population rise in correctional facilities, Daniel Kabanguka, RCS’s Spokesperson, said it does not mean that the measures aimed at fighting congestion are not working.

He argued that though such measures are doing a good job, there are still more people coming into correctional facilities than those who are going out.

Kabanguka also pointed out that some of the people in correctional facilities are not convicts but are on pre-trial detention. Out of the total population of inmates, some 12,501 are on pre-trial detention.

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He further clarified that the rising number of inmates does not mean that congestion is increasing. With the renovation and expansion of some correctional facilities, he noted that now the congestion rate is about 140 percent, going down from about 170 percent in the past years.

The government is pushing the implementation of the Criminal Justice Policy, a course of action launched in 2022 aimed at contributing to building a coherent, connected, innovative and problem-solving criminal justice system that guarantees the protection of the public, as well as ensuring efficient mitigation of crime.

Among other things, the policy proposes imprisonment "as the last resort,” noting that though prison will always "be necessary” for some offenders, "it is destructive of people’s lives and of their families.”

The policy is being used to inform the formulation laws and other necessary facilities that make room for the use of non-custodial penalties like community service, encourage more release on bail for suspects, as well as release on parole for inmates who have demonstrated positive change.