The Chairperson of the National Commission for Human Rights and Freedoms (NCHRF), Dr Chemuta Divine Banda, has opened the first national meeting organized on prison conditions by an NGO, Centre D’Orientation Educative du Cameroon (COECAM).

The three-day meeting which started this January 27, 2016, centred on improving prison conditions in the country.

During the session, Dr Chemuta Divine Banda emphasized that prisons should remain corrective centres where the rights of detainees are upheld.
Representatives of COECAM on their part called for greater synergy between private and public partners towards ameliorating the living conditions of prisoners.

Representatives of the European Union and some European Diplomats took part in the session.

Statistics indicate that the number of inmates in Cameroon have increased over the years, leading to overcrowding in prisons.