After an attempt to break out of a high security prison in the capital of the democratic republic of Congo, 129 guards, prisoners, and even medics were suffocated to death. Congolese Interior Minister Jacquemin Shabani said that 24 inmates were fatally shot by guards as they tried to escape the prison.  Yesterday, somebody living near the prison said they heard gunshots coming from the prison around 01:00 and 02:00 am until 06:00 am. Journalists arrived on the scene, but were met by police officers blocking the area. On Twitter, there is a video of the guards throwing the bodies around shortly before the jailbreak. You can see extensive damage to prison buildings in the video along with fires smoldering the whole place. Makala Prison has a capacity of 1,500 prisoners, but more than 14,000 inmates were being held there, AFP reports. 90% of the inmates were actually awaiting trial and only 6% of them were serving sentences, among the inmates are nearly 700 women and hundreds of minors. 

A Congolese journalist who was recently detained in the prison for months, spoke of its “inhumane” conditions and how inmates constantly lack food, water, and medical care. The prison is so overcrowded that inmates often starve to death, activists say. There have been multiple breakouts at this prison, the first time more than 4000 inmates escaped in 2017. Following this, 1000 prisoners escaped in 2020. Most recently, 200 escaped in 2022. As you can see, jailbreaks are very common in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The prime minister has announced a ban on transferring inmates to Makala Prison so they can build a new one in efforts to reduce the overcrowding and problematic conditions that activists have picked up on. Instead of this being a prison break, this was more of a planned execution. This is a problem that must be dealt with to avoid future prison breaks and harsh, inhumane conditions for the inmates.