VZCZCXRO2987
OO RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHAN #0623/01 1730936
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 220936Z JUN 07
FM AMEMBASSY ANTANANARIVO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5009
INFO RUCNSAD/SADC COLLECTIVE
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0070

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANTANANARIVO 000623 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/FO, AF/E, DRL 
PARIS FOR D'ELIA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM SOCI PGOV PREL MA
SUBJECT: ICRC NOTES MINOR IMPROVEMENT IN MADAGASCAR PRISONS 
 
REF:  ANTANANARIVO 393 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY:  Of 80 countries in which the International 
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) monitors prison conditions; 
Madagascar continues to stand among the worst.  An ICRC 
representative met with Embassy staff to note that while there have 
been positive trends over the past year in the Government of 
Madagascar's (GOM) efforts to improve prison conditions, the GOM 
lacks the means to implement budgetary, legislative, and 
administrative reforms, allowing severe malnutrition and 
overcrowding to persist.  While there is currently political will at 
the highest government levels, the ICRC is concerned this momentum 
will die out as other political priorities take precedence.  This 
issue remains a high policy priority for the U.S. Mission in 
Madagascar.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (U) ICRC Chief of Mission Maziar Mostafavi met with Embassy 
staff June 18 to give an informal readout of the upcoming memorandum 
assessing prison conditions in Madagascar.  Its conclusions are 
based on a nationwide assessment of 13 prisons conducted from 
January through April 2007.  The formal memorandum is slated to be 
delivered to the Embassy and to the Department by ICRC 
representatives in Washington in the coming week. 
 
BUDGET INCREASE HAS LIMITED IMPACT 
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¶3. (SBU) While Mostafavi applauded the fact the Presidential budget 
has increased by one million USD since 2006 to meet the goal of 
providing prisoners with 750 grams of food per day, he voiced the 
concern this may be too little, too late.  Calling the prisons 
"death houses," Mostafavi reported seeing a number of emaciated 
prisoners on the verge of death due to lack of food and medical 
attention -- problems that could be relatively easily remedied. 
After a several-month delay in implementation, many prisons have 
only managed to augment food levels from the 2006 levels of some 300 
grams per day to current levels of approximately 500 grams of food 
per day.  A small part of the budget increase has also gone toward 
medication for prisoners.  Unfortunately, not all prisons have 
infirmaries with trained staff, and the ICRC found some prisons 
hoarding medicine in case of epidemic.  Mostafavi also expressed 
concern that the one million USD might prove to be a one-off, rather 
than a permanent increase in the prison budget. 
 
SEVERE OVERCROWDING STILL THE RULE 
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¶4. (SBU) In February 2007, the Ministry of Justice reported over 
17,000 prisoners were housed in Malagasy prisons, compared to an 
overall capacity for 11,572 inmates.  (This figure was recently 
revised down from the 1976 capacity estimate of 13,000.)  The prison 
population has decreased by approximately 3,000 from 2006 figures 
due to success with a new "release on parole" program and two 
presidential pardons in 2006.  To address the prevailing pre-trial 
detention problem, the Ministry of Justice has been working to bring 
to trial the approximately 1,973 cases of people arrested before 
December 31, 2004.  At the end of 2006, judges had whittled this 
number down to 444 unresolved cases.  The ICRC praised such measures 
to deal with overcrowding, but noted the percentage of pre-trial 
detainees - even after these efforts -- remains consistent at 65 
percent.  This is presumably a result of newly incarcerated 
prisoners awaiting trial. 
 
PRESIDENTIAL TASK FORCE INITIATIVES 
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¶5. (U) The Presidential Prison Task Force recently launched an 
innovative program to address dismal prison conditions and the 
massive pre-trial detention problem.  Arguing the GOM only uses one 
percent of the 20,000 hectares dedicated to prisons, three model 
prison camps are to be built throughout 2007 employing tactics for 
efficient land use to make them self-sufficient.  First, prisoners 
will cultivate enough food to feed the entire prisoner population in 
their respective regions.  Second, the GOM will work with regional 
magistrates to expedite the trials of detainees, release prisoners 
early for good behavior, and reallocate prisoners to new regional 
prison camps in order to shut down older deteriorated camps.  Third, 
the GOM will rent much of the unused land to private sector partners 
to cultivate plants for essential oils, food and other products in 
order to raise revenue for prisons.  Finally, prisoners will develop 
skills in food production and brick-making to assist them with 
reinsertion into society.  The program has already kicked off with 
the construction of a new camp in Majunga, to be followed by camps 
in Tamatave and Fianarantsoa in September.  The GOM hopes to extend 
this program throughout the country in the future. 
 
¶6. (BU Mostafavi noted two major shortfalls with this initiative. 
Through the ongoing land reform process, the Presidency is starting 
 
ANTANANARI 00000623  002 OF 002 
 
 
to realize the land available for the project amounts to much less 
than 20,000 hectares.  Further, if these projects are successful and 
able to be duplicated throughout the country, their impact will only 
be felt in the medium-term.  In the meantime, the prison population, 
who need more food right now, will continue to suffer. 
 
CHALLENGES ABOUND 
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¶7. (SBU) While the ICRC applauded the legislative, budgetary, and 
administrative measures the GOM has taken to date, it noted a number 
of areas needing improvement.  Overall, the GOM's initiatives go 
over well in the capital city of Antananarivo, but the GOM lacks the 
means to implement them in the field.  The Prison Administration 
suffers from weak communication with the Ministry of Justice, which 
results in poor program implementation; budget restrictions, which 
translate into limited knowledge of the reality on the ground and 
poor data collection; and a cultural tendency to be reactive rather 
than proactive.  As an extreme example, Mostafavi noted that the 
prison administration claims to have only one vehicle to visit all 
of the prisons in Madagascar.  Mostafavi recommended the GOM's 
prison reforms be accompanied by rigorous follow-up and clear 
consequential measures. 
 
U.S. EMBASSY ADVOCACY ON PRISONS 
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¶8. (SBU) Embassy Antananarivo has consistently raised the problem of 
prison conditions with its GOM interlocutors.  In reply, we have 
often been asked to provide resources to assist the GOM in 
addressing these problems.  In fact, we have two Democracy and Human 
Rights Fund (DHRF) projects addressing improved living standards and 
skill building in prisons in Majunga and Fort Dauphin.  Nonetheless, 
we have been clear and consistent that the welfare of its prison 
population is the GOM's responsibility, regardless of whether it is 
able to obtain donor funding to assist it (Reftel). 
 
¶9. (U) The following remarks from Ambassador's McGee's farewell 
address May 23 were extensively covered in local media: 
 
"In the sphere of human rights, Madagascar's prison conditions 
remain a source of deep concern.  Those who have committed crimes 
should be tried and sentenced, but once in jail they must also be 
adequately housed and fed!  The problem of overcrowding will 
certainly be eased when persons accused of crimes are brought 
promptly before a tribunal for a fair trial, to be sentenced or 
released.  Justice must be even-handed, fair to everyone from 
prominent politicians to the poor beggar accused of stealing a kilo 
of rice.  But justice delayed is justice denied.  Bring them to 
trial, or let them go." 
 
¶10. (SBU) COMMENT:  Madagascar continues to be the only country in 
the world where, in the absence of an existing or recent conflict, 
it has a bilateral ICRC mission.  It is encouraging President 
Ravalomanana's team begins to understand its responsibility and 
recognizes that a bad score on human rights could also taint donors' 
willingness to contribute to the overall Madagascar Action Plan for 
development.  While the steps taken to date are insufficient, they 
are positive nonetheless.  However, Post recognizes the ICRC's 
concern that this political imperative could be short-lived in a 
Presidency with competing priorities.  END COMMENT. 
 
SIBLEY