Questions surrounding prison break attempt in Congo: Families of victims demand accountability

KINSHASA – Families of those killed in what authorities say was an attempted escape from Congo's largest prison are demanding answers from the government, while activists denounce what they say are inhumane conditions in the country's overcrowded jails.

Officials said 129 people were killed, including some shot by guards and soldiers and others killed in a stampede attempting to escape from Makala Central Prison in the capital Kinshasa early Monday. Justice Minister Constant Mutamba described the prison break as a “deliberate act of sabotage” and vowed a “strict response.”

However, human rights groups and the opposition called for an independent investigation and accused the government of using excessive force and covering up the true death toll. One prominent activist said more than 200 people were killed.

Everixk Nzeu, 25, who died in the chaos, was arrested in western Kinshasa two months ago and transferred to Makal on a provisional arrest warrant, his mother Madeleine Mbalaka told the Associated Press – without trial or conviction.

“I visited my son on Sunday and he was fine,” Mbalaka said. “But at around 6am his roommates called us and told us he was dead.”

Her son left behind an 8-year-old daughter.

The family was not able to see his body, she said, adding that they went to the morgue but were sent back.

“I ask the Congolese authorities for explanations because we do not know exactly what happened,” she pleaded. “I ask that justice be done.”

Congolese Interior Minister Jacquemin Shabani said on the social media platform X that a preliminary assessment had shown that 24 prisoners had been fatally shot by guards' “warning shots” as they tried to escape the facility.

“In addition, 59 injured people have been cared for by the government and there are several cases of rape of women,” he said, adding that order had been restored in the prison, which was partially burned down during the escape attempt.

It was not immediately clear whether all 129 fatalities were prisoners, and officials did not say how the stampede occurred. Shabani also did not elaborate on the alleged rape cases at the Makal, which houses both female and male prisoners.

The European Union called on the Congolese authorities on Wednesday to “quickly investigate these tragic events in order to establish the various responsibilities, including with regard to respect for human rights and the rule of law.”

Opposition leader Martin Fayulu compared the death toll to “martial law” and called it “an unacceptable crime that cannot go unpunished.”

But Emmanuel Adu Cole, a prominent prison rights activist, told AP that there were more than 200 dead, many of them shot, citing prison videos and statements from inmates he spoke to. AP could not independently verify the videos.

According to local residents, the fire in the prison started around midnight on Sunday and lasted until Monday morning.

“There were shots everywhere,” said Stéphane Matondo, who lives nearby. He added that military vehicles arrived shortly afterwards and the main road to the prison was closed.

Monday's tragedy highlighted the overcrowding and appalling living conditions in Congo's prisons. Makala, Congo's largest prison with a capacity of 1,500 people, houses over 12,000 inmates, most of whom are awaiting trial, Amnesty International said in its latest country report.

The facility has seen previous prison breakouts, including in 2017, when members of a religious sect stormed the prison and freed dozens of inmates.

Stanis Bujakera Tshiamala, a well-known Congolese journalist who was recently held in the prison for months, spoke of the “deplorable and inhumane” conditions there and of the fact that prisoners constantly lack food and water and have no access to sanitation and medical care.

“From the inside, Makala prison looks more like a concentration camp than a penitentiary,” he told AP. “The prison conditions are absolutely deplorable and inhumane. The inmates are treated like subhumans, deprived of their basic rights and subjected to inhumane living conditions.”

Congo's Deputy Justice Minister Samuel Mbemba Kabuya blamed the country's justice system for prison overcrowding, saying people are being quickly detained at the early stages of their trials. Justice Minister Mutamba announced a ban on the transfer of prisoners from Makala and promised that authorities would build a new prison, among other measures to reduce overcrowding.

However, these promises mean little to the victims' relatives. They say they are left in the dark about the fate of their loved ones.

“It's sad that prisoners are dying like animals,” said Joyce Imongo, whose 43-year-old brother was among those who died Monday.