Comoros

• Author: George Kurian
• Pages: 305

Page 305

Official country name: Union of the Comoros

Capital: Moroni

Geographic description: A group of islands in the Mozambique Channel in southern Africa

Population: 671,247 (est. 2005)

Comoros

LAW ENFORCEMENT

Structure and Organization

The national police is the Gendarmerie headquartered at Moroni with detachments on the other islands. The force is under the Ministry of the Interior. The authority of the national police in the outer islands is at best tenuous.

Police Statistics

Total Police Personnel: 608

Population per Police Officer: 1,104

CORRECTIONAL SYSTEM

Prisons are administered by the director of the penitentiary administration under the Ministry of the Interior.

Prison Conditions

Prison conditions are substandard and are characterized by poor sanitation, overcrowding, inadequate medical facilities, and poor diet. Juveniles are exempt from imprisonment. Female inmates are kept separate from males but pretrial detainees are housed with convicted felons.

Prison Statistics

The total prison population is 200, of which some 100 are pretrial detainees. The prison population is 30 per 100,000 population.

George Thomas Kurian