Conditional release and its impact on safety and security in prison: Case study: Musanze Prison

Abstract

This study examines the impact of conditional release on safety and security in prison. The study is located in the domain of peace studies and conflict transformation given that prospect of conditional release may led to the reduction of conflict and insecurity in the prison in transforming a former law-offender and changing him/her into a law-obeying citizen. The study has been conducted in Musanze prison, located in Musanze district and has covered the period of time going from the year 2017 to the year 2019. The general objective of this study was to explore how conditional release helps to maintain both prison safety and security. For the achievement of this general objective, the research has been guided by some specific objectives included in the text. The main question of the study is: “To what extent is conditional release helping to maintain both prison safety and security in Musanze prison?” In this research, Data were collected through qualitative research methodology and; to determine the sample size, it has relied on purposive sampling. The findings of the study have shown that awareness of the law on conditional release is not the problem. However, findings revealed that the issue is related to the will of civil servants in charge of arranging required operations and granting that conditional release to all applicants fulfilling required conditions. Concerning the measures that can be taken to make this release regular and applicable to all rightful applicants, inmates suggest strict respect of the law, without disturbing inmates with directives which should not contradict written law. Figures about recent conditional release from the year 2017 to 2019 show an increase of inmates released, but crimes not eligible to conditional release are also changing and increasing and what is worse is the fact that eligibility or non eligibility is not applied similarly for all prisoners. The respondents stressed that to serve as an incentive to good discipline; this conditional release must be regular, not only in occurrences but also in being granted to everyone who fulfils required conditions. As it is displayed, the figures of disciplinary punishments that have found after checking the archives of Musanze prison to verify how these punishments have been used to punish inmates offending the internal disciplinary code; the figures of punished inmates have been decreasing whereas the figures of beneficiaries of conditional release have been increasing. So, from these figures, the research can conclude that the expectation of conditional release plays a positive impact on the maintaining of safety and security in Musanze prison. Thus, the general objective of exploring how conditional release helps to maintain both prison safety and security has been reached. In fact, this research is an important contribution of corrections and rehabilitation studies. A work like this one is often an important source of knowledge for concerned readers as well as potential researchers