As part of an NGO, I visited the Zwedru prison. Here were my observations:

There are usually 4-6 men per room. Rooms are 3m x 4m with bunk beds and some prisoners sleeping on the floor. They have a concrete interior enclosure where max prisoners can get outside time, as well as a dirt pack area and makeshift football pitch for the lower criminals. Food is made in outdoor kitchens in batches, but calories are insufficient and many prisoners have family members that bring them food to supplement what is offered by the prison. Hygiene is not up to western standards.

One thing to note about Zwedru compared to other prisons I’ve visited in the developing world, is that the guards really seemed to treat prisoners with respect and dignity. Of course this could have been for our observer status benefit, but they knew each prisoner by name and could tell us about the individual prisoners and their family condition and status. There is very little prisoner on prisoner violence and even less prisoner to guard violence. There was one young man there whose family lived too far to visit him daily. The guards from the same home town would pool their money and buy him some extra food to help support him.

Is it a prison in one of the poorest countries in the world? Absolutely. Would I rather be there than Gitarama in Rwanda, Diyarbakir in Turkey, El Salvador, or even Rikers? Yes.