id	author	title	date	pages	extension	mime	words	sentences	flesch	summary	cache	txt
cord-032252-8usagw86	Muntingh, Lukas M	Africa, Prisons and COVID-19	2020-08-31		.txt	text/plain	3734	181	54	Yet African states have remained remarkably reluctant to engage in prison reform, despite the fact that poorly managed prisons pose a significant threat to general public health care. When the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended the release of prisoners to address overcrowding (WHO 2020) and this call was further supported by the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) in its public advice to National Preventive Mechanisms (NPMs) (UN SPT 2020: para 9(b)), it seemed in principle like an admirable idea, but reality demanded a more cautious approach, in Africa at least. Seven countries announced significant releases with the highest number in South Africa (19,000), Ethiopia (5,600) and Mozambique (5,032) (Republic of South Africa, The Presidency 2020; Ethiopian Monitor 2020a; Daily Nation 2020) and the lowest in Botswana (149). Of the 24 countries surveyed in southern and east Africa, only two could be confirmed as not having declared a state of disaster or emergency or lockdown: Malawi and Tanzania (New Frame 2020).	./cache/cord-032252-8usagw86.txt	./txt/cord-032252-8usagw86.txt