Richard
Burton

Madagascar’s current judicial policies insist that people accused of a crime are routinely put in prison pending trial. They can be waiting for a trial for years, with little or no information on their cases. This has led to the extraordinary situation where Madagascar’s prisons hold more people who have not been convicted than those found guilty.

People accused of petty crimes, even children, are forced to stay in overcrowded and unhygienic prisons. The unjustified, excessive, prolonged and otherwise abusive use of pre-trial detention in Madagascar has continued unabated for decades and has impacted negatively on the effective functioning of the criminal justice system. Under international human rights law, it must not be the general rule for people awaiting trial to be detained. Pre-trial detainees, that is, individuals awaiting trial or whose trials are still ongoing, and who have not been convicted, are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Under international law they also have the rights, among others, to access to counsel, and to free legal services for indigent detainees, the right to be tried within a reasonable time, and to be detained separately from convicted persons.

Unjustified, excessive and lengthy use of pre-trial detention violates the rule of law, contributes to overcrowding of detention facilities, wastes public resources, and endangers the health and the rights of detainees families and communities . Madagascar’s prolonged pre-trial detention violates a range of human rights, including the right to liberty, presumption of innocence, and to be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person. Detainees are often held in lengthy pre-trial detention for petty, non-violent offences such as theft of chickens or mobile phones, forgery or fake certificates: offences that should not warrant pre-trial detention, let alone prolonged detention.