Cameroon Archbishop decries inhumane prison conditions and corruption

“The way we treat prisoners is a measure of our relationship with God. Ignoring their suffering means ignoring Christ. Committing ourselves to alleviating their suffering and restoring justice means serving Christ.”

Archbishop Samuel Kleda of Douala, Cameroon, offered this reminder in a pastoral letter on prison conditions published at the end of June, reported the Vatican news agency Fides.

In the text, which recalled Jesus' teaching that we hear in the Gospel according to St. Matthew, "I was in prison and you came to visit me," the Archbishop explained that the letter was "intended as an act of truth and pastoral charity, born not out of a spirit of controversy, but from a sense of duty and urgent compassion."

Its purpose, he stated, "is to denounce the systemic injustice surrounding the arrest, detention, and imprisonment of many Cameroonian citizens."

The letter, the Archbishop underlined, "seeks to expose the intolerable practice of abductions and solitary confinement, the degrading and abusive conditions in police stations and gendarmerie posts, the reality of the prison system, the corruption that plagues the entire judicial system, and the frequent violations of criminal procedure."

The Archbishop first highlighted the plight of missing persons, saying, “People are arrested and abducted, often without a warrant, by officers in uniform or in civilian clothes. They simply disappear, only to be held in secret locations. Their phones are switched off and every trace of their whereabouts is erased.”

He said their "terrified families move from one police station to another, from courthouse to barracks, only to encounter denial, indifference, or even threats."