PREAMBLE
The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the Commission), meeting at its 55th Ordinary Session, held from 28 April to 12 May 2014 in Luanda, Angola:
Recalling its mandate to promote and protect human and peoples’ rights under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the African Charter);
Recalling Resolution 228 on the Need to Develop Guidelines on Conditions of Police Custody and Pre-trial Detention in Africa adopted at its 52nd Ordinary Session in October 2012;
Recognising the mandate provided to the Special Rapporteur on Prisons and Conditions of Detention in Resolution 228 on the Need to Develop Guidelines on Conditions of Police Custody and Pre-trial Detention in Africa adopted at its 52nd Ordinary Session in October 2012;
Recalling Resolution 100 on the Adoption of the Lilongwe Declaration on Accessing Legal Aid in the Criminal Justice System adopted at its 40th Ordinary Session in November 2006;
Noting Articles 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 26 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the rights to life, dignity, security, fair trial and the independence of the judiciary;
Noting further its mandate under Article 45(1)(b) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights ‘to formulate and lay down principles and rules aimed at solving legal problems relating to human and peoples’ rights and fundamental freedoms upon which African Governments may base their legislation’;
Concerned by arbitrary, excessive, and at times abusive recourse to police custody and pre-trial detention prevalent in several States Parties to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, characterised by weak criminal justice systems;
Acknowledging the vast differences between states in terms of legal systems, political and historic influences on the use and conditions of detention, socio-economic and geographical conditions;
Acknowledging that individuals in police custody and pre-trial detainees in many African countries experience arbitrary limitations on their rights, poor health conditions, and are subject to torture, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment;
Noting that pre-trial detention disproportionately impacts the vulnerable and marginalised who are unlikely to have the means to afford legal representation and assistance or comply with conditions of police bail or bond, and who in some cases may be detained through the justice system in psychiatric hospitals, departments or institutions both inside and outside of prisons and detention centres;
Recognising that police custody and remand facilities in many African countries lack appropriate infrastructure and budget and provisions for providing for the essential needs of detainees during custody;
Recognising further that arrest, detention and conditions of police custody in many African countries are characterised by lack of accountability, poorly paid and under-resourced police, malfunctioning of administration of justice, including the lack of independence of the judicial service system, excessive and disproportionate use of force by the police, lack of registration and monitoring systems for keeping track of police detention, systemic corruption and lack of resources, all of which contribute to the absence of the rule of law;
Concerned by the lack of effective and/or appropriate monitoring mechanisms and independent policing oversight agencies;
Recognising the need to formulate and lay down principles and guidelines to further strengthen the criminal justice system in States Parties with regards to police custody and pre-trial detention, and to ensure compliance with international norms and principles by the police and other law enforcement agencies;
Hereby adopt the following Guidelines on the use and conditions of police custody and pre-trial detention in Africa:
