The World's Most Overcrowded Prison Systems

One aspect of the harsh conditions prisoners in developing countries are enduring is prison overcrowding. According to the project World Prison Brief, this problem affects many African nations, where infrastructure investment do not keep up with prison capacity demand and slow justice systems mean that wait times before trials are long. The worst overcrowding conditions were detected in the Republic of the Congo. The nation has the most overcrowded prisons of any country worldwide, with its correctional institutions are operating at almost 617 percent capacity. In a neighboring country, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, more than three times as many persons are in prisons than capacity exists. Conditions are generally dire in the country's prison system. Just on Monday, a mass breakout attempt at a very overcrowded facility in the nation's capital Kinshasa resulted in 129 deaths. While 24 were shot by guards, more were killed in a stampede that ensued. Several buildings that were part of the prison burned down.

Countries in Asia are also affected. According to the World Prison Brief, Cambodia most recently had a prison occupancy level of 410 percent, coming second worldwide. The Philippines ranked fourth with an (over)occupancy rate of an estimated 362 percent. Conditions in the country's prisons have deteriorated steadily since arrests skyrocketed due to the country's war on drugs which was launched under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte in 2016. Like in Kinshasa, prisons in larger Filipino cities are even more over capacity than the average rate for the whole country.

El Salvador used to rank very high for prison overcrowding, but as of the latest release ranked 17th, with a still high occupancy rate of around 237 percent. Criminal gangs are a problem in the central American nations and President Nayib Bukele has cracked down on them hard. In the face of many of the same problems that other countries with overcrowded prisons, El Salvador recently tried mass trials.