Sawabenu, a Liberian rule-of-law civil society organization, has blamed systemic weaknesses in the country’s justice and correctional systems for the mass jailbreak at the Kakata Central Prison in Margibi County on September 20, 2026.
In a statement issued September 25, the organization said the incident exposed longstanding problems involving prison overcrowding, prolonged pretrial detention, judicial delays, inadequate legal representation and limited resources for correctional facilities.
Sawabenu said the Kakata Central Prison was housing 217 inmates in a facility designed to accommodate only 60 people at the time of the jailbreak, representing more than 360 percent of the facility’s intended capacity.
Of the 217 inmates, 158 were pretrial detainees, accounting for more than 72 percent of the prison population, according to the organization.
Sawabenu said the figures demonstrate the extent of Liberia’s pretrial detention crisis and warned that persistent overcrowding poses risks to both human rights and public safety.
The organization said more than 60 percent of Liberia’s national prison population consists of people awaiting trial.
It attributed the situation to judicial delays, court backlogs, inadequate access to legal defense and inconsistent application of bail provisions.
Sawabenu said it had witnessed the problem firsthand during its legal interventions at the Kakata prison.
In June 2026, the organization deployed volunteer lawyers through its Justice on Wheels Mobile Legal Clinic across Montserrado and Margibi Counties.
Working with the Public Defender, City Solicitor and Kakata City Court, the legal team facilitated a fast-track trial at the prison that resulted in the release of 21 pretrial detainees.
Many of those released had reportedly spent months in detention without trial for minor offenses.
Sawabenu said similar interventions were conducted during the final quarter of 2025 and in other counties with support from SIDA.
The organization argued that the increasing number of pretrial detainees documented during those interventions was among the factors contributing to the conditions that preceded the Kakata jailbreak.
The group said it had also raised concerns about Liberia’s pretrial detention and correctional systems weeks before the Kakata incident.
On August 27, Sawabenu convened a National Dialogue on Pretrial Justice Reform at the Ministry of Justice under the theme, “Justice for All, Delays for None.”
The gathering brought together justice-sector stakeholders, international organizations and civil society actors to discuss prolonged pretrial detention, prison infrastructure and resource shortages.
Sawabenu said the dialogue produced 19 recommendations aimed at addressing weaknesses in Liberia’s pretrial justice system.
The organization said several of the measures it is now calling for following the Kakata jailbreak were already identified during that dialogue.
Sawabenu described the Kakata incident as part of a wider pattern of recurring security failures in Liberia’s correctional facilities.
The organization noted that the September jailbreak was the second mass escape from Kakata Central Prison within 24 months, following another breach in September 2024.
It also referenced previous mass escapes from the National Palace of Correction in 2012, Monrovia Central Prison in 2013, Voinjama Central Prison in 2016 and Grand Cape Mount Prison in 2018.
According to Sawabenu, the repeated incidents point to chronic staffing shortages, inadequate infrastructure and insufficient funding across the correctional sector.
The organization said Liberia’s correctional facilities receive approximately US$810,001 in direct operating costs under the current national budget.
It further claimed that the Police Training Academy receives about 20 percent more direct budgetary support than the entire corrections sector, while basic sustenance and hygiene consume approximately 73 percent of the corrections allocation.
Sawabenu said the crisis cannot be addressed solely by focusing on prison security.
The organization placed responsibility for the broader problem across the Legislature, Executive and Judiciary, citing funding limitations, delayed prosecutions and weaknesses in judicial case management.
It specifically referenced Sections 18.2 and 13.5 of Liberia’s Criminal Procedure Law, arguing that cases eligible for dismissal remain on court dockets and that provisions allowing magistrates to release detainees under certain circumstances are not consistently applied.
Sawabenu said some of these problems involve judicial practices that can be addressed within the existing legal framework.
In response to the jailbreak, Sawabenu is calling for a full, transparent and impartial investigation into the security breach.
It wants the findings made public and officials found responsible for negligence held accountable.
The organization is also demanding an urgent nationwide review of pretrial detention cases, with priority given to nonviolent offenders, bail applications and stalled cases.
It called for the expansion of fast-track judicial proceedings and jail-delivery programs, as well as increased access to public defenders, particularly at magisterial courts.
Sawabenu also urged the government and Legislature to increase funding for the correctional sector to address overcrowding and infrastructure deficiencies.
As joint security forces continue efforts to locate inmates who escaped from the facility, Sawabenu is urging members of the public to provide information about the whereabouts of escapees directly to law enforcement.
The organization also cautioned against harboring escapees, noting that doing so violates Liberian law.
At the same time, it called on security forces to respect human rights during the pursuit, including avoiding excessive force, arbitrary searches and collective punishment.
Sawabenu said it remains committed to working with government institutions and other stakeholders on reforms.
The organization said it currently serves on a Technical Working Group tasked with translating the 19 recommendations from its August national dialogue into an actionable framework and participates in monthly Ministry of Justice human-rights coordination meetings concerning prisons.
The group said its Justice on Wheels initiative has demonstrated that reviewing cases and securing the release of unlawfully detained persons can be achieved at relatively low cost.
“The mechanisms and laws exist; decisive action is now required,” Sawabenu said, calling for stronger collaboration among justice-sector institutions to address Liberia’s pretrial detention and correctional challenges.
