04/ Guidelines on the conditions of arrest, police custody and pre-trial detention in Africa FOREWORD The Guidelines on the Conditions of Arrest, Police Custody and Pre-Trial Detention in Africa (the Luanda Guidelines) were adopted by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the Commission) during its 55th Ordinary Session in Luanda, Angola, from 28 April to 12 May 2014. Articles 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 and 26 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the African Charter) set out States’ obligations to provide all people with the rights to life, dignity, equality, security, a fair trial, and an independent judiciary. The Luanda Guidelines will assist States in implementing these obligations in the specific context of arrest, police custody and pre-trial detention. Under Article 45(1)(b) of the African Charter, the Commission is mandated to formulate standards, principles and rules on which African Governments can base their legislation. It is on this basis that these Guidelines have been developed. The Commission acknowledges specific criminal justice-related human rights concerns across Africa, namely, arbitrary arrest and detention, and poor conditions of police custody and pre-trial detention. These are prevalent but under-examined areas of criminal justice practice and reform. Pre-trial detainees often exist in the shadows of the criminal justice system because their detention and treatment are not subject to the same levels of oversight as sentenced prisoners. Pre-trial detainees experience conditions of detention that do not accord with the right to life and dignity, and are vulnerable to human rights violations including arbitrary arrest and detention, the risk of torture and other ill-treatment, and corruption (where their release or access to services can be dependent on their willingness to meet monetary or other demands from officers). High rates of pre-trial detention contribute to overcrowding of detention facilities. Procedural safeguards and conditions that do not accord with agreed minimum standards undermine the rule of law, have a significant impact on the rest of the criminal justice chain, waste public resources, and endanger the health of inmates. My work as the Special Rapporteur on Prisons and Conditions of Detention in Africa has demonstrated to me the importance of ensuring that law enforcement agencies exercise their power of arrest only when necessary and uphold and protect the rights enshrined in the African Charter in their pre-trial practice and procedures. The adoption of the Luanda Guidelines is an important step towards promoting a rights-based approach to decisions to arrest and detain suspects, and to conditions and safeguards with respect to police custody and pre-trial detention. The Guidelines reflect the collective aspirations of our States, National Human Rights Institutions and Civil Society Organisations in promoting a rights-based approach to this critical area of criminal justice. The Luanda Guidelines