Publication

Many African states are confronted with criminal justice systems that are the legacy of the colonial era and prison systems justified by a retributive philosophy that is at odds with rights-based approaches emphasizing rehabilitation and reform. Many of these states, including Tanzania and Zambia, are in transition from one-party authoritarianism, attempting to consolidate multiparty democracy and wanting to be seen to observe international human rights standards, while Sierra Leone is recovering from a decade of conflict that devastated both the infrastructure and culture of the justice system.