Overcrowding in prisons has reached a standard average of 113%, till October 26, with the highest percentage of 180% and a minimum rate of 70%, according to data published by the Ministry of Justice on the circumstances of prison institutions in the context of the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic and the steps taken to this effect. The Justice Department examined in the report the preventive measures taken to contain the spread of the virus in the different penitentiary institutions.
These prisons house 22 thousand prisoners, Justice Minister Mohamed Boussetta announced at a Parliament’s hearing session Monday. Among the examples cited to decrease congestion in prisons, an expansion in capacity through the construction of new prison units to compensate dilapidated premises. Six prisons will be presented with an additional 5380 beds in the next stage (2021-2023): half of which by the end of the year and the rest (2680 beds) by the end of 2023, according to the same source. Currently, the space reserved for each inmate in prisons is 2.94 square meters.
The goal is to have at the shortest 3.16 square meters at the conclusion of 2021 and 4.06 square meters at the end of 2023, declared the Ministry of Justice. In addition, the Ministry recorded that 2150 convicts have been given an alternative punishment to prison through community service. Support offices have additionally been activated in the courts of Tunis, Manouba, Bizerte, Monastir, Kairouan and Gabes to rehabilitate prisoners and prepare their reintegration.
This mechanism will be generalised after the decision of the Ministry of Justice to create 7 more support offices in the courts of first instance of Ariana, Ben Arous, Beja, Gafsa, Sfax, Kef and Medenine. During the hearing session with the government in parliament on Monday, the Minister of Justice announced that 87 cases of infection with the coronavirus were recorded among inmates and 90 cases in prison officers.
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