Gisèle NGUNGUA SANGUA, D. R. OF CONGO 

“The domain of human rights is to me an influent and appropriate domain, open to anyone who cares for justice to give a voice to the voiceless. This space gives hope to those who do not believe in justice.”

Ms. Gisèle Sangua has a degree from the University of Lubumbashi in private and judicial law. She is a lawyer at the Lubumbashi Bar Association and the International Criminal Court and has founded an organization “Action large des Femmes Avocates” providing legal assistance to victims of violence and detained women.  The organization also actively takes part in the promotion of women’s rights, leading several awareness activities on the basic principles of the rights of women and girls.

The challenge: To address prison overcrowding, which stems from the poor coordination between the different actors in the criminal justice sector.

Project: Access to Justice for All

Gisèle’s project “Access to Justice for All” seeks to empower justice actors to take full responsibility to act for the overall improvement of justice and to streamline the handling of legal cases without unreasonable delays. As such, Gisele will provide legal assistance to 200 detainees in Kassapa prison in Lubumbashi, one of the most overcrowded prison of the Democratic Republic of Congo as well as providing training to local defense lawyers so that they may provide legal representation and monitor conditions of detainees. Ultimately, the long-term objective is to “unblock” the prison facilities to ensure the proper functioning of justice.