Climate change will wreak havoc on the SADC region, yet its impact on places of detention is seldom considered. According to World Prison Brief data, there are approximately 400,000 people in prisons across the SADC region (this number will be much higher if one considers other places of detention as well). Considering that persons in detention come and go and the number of staff at these facilities, there must be increased support and oversight for facilities to adapt to climate change.
The SADC Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan of 2015 acknowledges the significant impact climate change will have on the SADC region. All SADC countries will experience increased droughts, decreased rainfall and seasonal rain shifts, floods, mudslides, reduced river flows, wildfires and other adverse consequences due to climate change. In all SADC countries, climate change will impact health, infrastructure, agriculture, food security and gender equality. The Action Plan accordingly includes strategies relating to the promotion of preventive healthcare, the harmonisation of regional immigration policies, and the promotion of climate-proofing and strategic public infrastructure. Adaptation to climate change requires a range of interventions, including early warning systems, vulnerability assessments, forecasting and scenario planning, and management of the supply, demand, and quality of natural resources, including water.
Many prisons in Africa have dated colonial-era infrastructure with limited ventilation and few resources available for maintenance. This means that storms, landslides and floods can cause significant damage to infrastructure and prisoners’ and staff’s health and safety. Unlike other government buildings, even basic plans are seldom in place to deal with potentially deadly events. In 2022, two cyclones hit Madagascar, destroying two prisons and damaging three others, leaving prisoners exposed to harsh weather conditions and without access to food after surrounding roads were damaged. Often, prisons lack adequate evacuation plans, fire extinguishers, and even water. Existing plans also fail to consider the needs of persons who are sick or have disabilities.
The impact of overcrowding on prisoners’ health is often so serious that a prison sentence of any length would be a disproportionate response to a minor offence and would constitute cruel and inhumane treatment and punishment. Tuberculosis, pneumonia and hepatitis B and C, are generally higher in prisons than in the general population, with several factors contributing to the spread of multi-drug-resistant TB in prisons, including poor ventilation, HIV infection, overcrowding, malnutrition, lack of sunshine, stress, prolonged incarceration, and inadequate access to care. According to World Prison Brief data, of the 16 SADC States, only 4 have a prison occupancy rate of less than 100%, 7 have occupancy rates between 100 and 200%, and 5 are over 250%. These are average rates, and some prisons at times exceed 400% occupancy rates. As countries grapple with the cost implications of climate change and recent foreign funding cuts to health services, prisoners and prison staff will lose their already meagre access to critical diagnostic services, medicines, disease screening and vaccines. This risks not only prisoners’ and staff’s health, but also that of the broader community.
Countries that previously did not have many mosquito-linked diseases such as malaria, dengue, Zika or chikungunya will likely become more susceptible to them as temperatures increase. Similarly, rats tend to thrive in warmer temperatures, and one can expect increased rat populations in prisons and increased diseases such as bubonic plague and leptospirosis.
Already, African countries are increasingly experiencing extreme and prolonged heat waves. Prisons are poorly adapted to deal with such heat waves, which require increased ventilation, air conditioning and access to sufficient clean water to prevent dehydration. In 2020, 44 prisoners in Chad died in one night in a cell which exceeded 46°C, while prison staff ignored their pleas for help. Given the conditions in our prisons, keeping prisoners in overcrowded conditions during a heat wave would amount to cruel and inhumane punishment.
Prisons in SADC frequently face water shortages. Droughts and extreme heat will worsen water cuts, impacting hygiene and sanitation and contributing to cholera and skin rashes. Excessive rains and floods are further likely to spread the rotavirus and diseases such as hepatitis A.
Climate change will also impact prisoners’ access to food, which is often interrupted by budget constraints, supply chain problems and prison crop failures, thus worsening malnutrition in prisons. Countries have tried to deal with prison food shortages by creating prison farms and horticultural projects at prisons. These projects have greatly supported prisoners’ dietary needs and even the communities surrounding the prisons. It would be essential to mitigate climate change’s impact on these initiatives.
Where cases have been brought to courts in countries like Malawi, South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Zambia, the courts have unanimously condemned current prison conditions. However, a lack of independent and regular oversight and monitoring of prisons in SADC, means that conditions tend to deteriorate with impunity. Given the dire impact climate change will have on prisons across the region, urgent action is required by all States to actively reduce overcrowding and improve prison conditions. It would also be critical to address some of the root causes of overcrowding, such as the criminalisation of people based on their poverty or status, delayed and overburdened criminal justice processes, mandatory minimum sentences, and the failure to consider the range of available alternatives to detention.
Anneke Meerkotter, Executive Director, Southern Africa Litigation Centre