CountryGabon
Ministry responsible
Ministère de la Justice et des Droits Humains, Garde des Sceaux
Prison administration
Administration Pénitentiaire
Contact address
BP 2110, Libreville, Gabon
Telephone
+241 73 19 63
Fax
+241 73 53 19
Website
Head of prison administration (and title)
Brigadier General Jean Germain Effayong-Onong
Directeur
Prison population total (including pre-trial detainees / remand prisoners)
5 226
at August 2021 (Minister of Justice)
Prison population rate (per 100,000 of national population)
228
based on an estimated national population of 2.29 million at August 2021 (from United Nations figures)
Pre-trial detainees / remand prisoners (percentage of prison population)
80.2%
(April 2018)
Female prisoners (percentage of prison population)
2.2%
(April 2018)
Juveniles / minors / young prisoners incl. definition (percentage of prison population)
2.9%
(16.1.2014 - minors; from figures for Libreville central prison only)
Number of establishments / institutions
9
(2015 - in addition to the nine prisons there are some jails and detention centres)
Occupancy level (based on official capacity)
(Libreville's central prison held an estimated 1,753 prisoners at 16.1.2014 despite being built for only 300 - African Commission for Human Rights. No official figures have been traced for the country as a whole but according to the U.S. State Department human rights report for 2016 the physical conditions in the prisons and detention centres include ‘gross overcrowding’.)
Prison population trend
(year, prison population total, prison population rate)
2006 c 2,750 c 195
2013 c 3,500 c 210
2015 3,373 191
2018 4,476 241
2006 c 2,750 c 195
2013 c 3,500 c 210
2015 3,373 191
2018 4,476 241

Pre-trial/remand prison population: trend

The table below gives an indication of the recent trend in the pre-trial/remand prison population. The final row shows the latest figures available.

It consists of the number of pre-trial/remand prisoners in the prison population on a single date in the year (or the annual average) and the percentage of the total prison population that pre-trial/remand prisoners constituted on that day.  

The final column shows the pre-trial/remand population rate per 100,000 of the national population. 

                                                       GABON

Year

Number in
pre-trial/remand
imprisonment

Percentage
of total
prison population

Pre-trial/remand
population rate
(per 100,000 of
national population)

2006
2015

c. 1,100
c. 2,250

c. 40%
c. 66.7%

c. 78
c. 127

2018

3,589

80.2%

193

It should be noted that the number of pre-trial/remand prisoners fluctuates from day to day, month to month and year to year. Consequently the above figures give an indication of the trend but the picture is inevitably incomplete.

The pre-trial/remand population rate is calculated on the basis of the national population total. All national population figures are inevitably estimates but the estimates used in the World Prison Brief are based on official national figures, United Nations figures or figures from other recognised international authorities.

Female prison population: trend

The table below gives an indication of the trend in the female prison population. The final row shows the latest figures available.

It consists of the number of female prisoners in the prison population on a single date in the year (or the annual average) and the percentage of the total prison population that female prisoners constituted on that day.  

The final column shows the female prison population rate per 100,000 of the national population. 

                                                      GABON

Year

Number of
female
prisoners

Percentage
of total
prison population

Female prison
population rate
(per 100,000 of
national population)

2015

119

3.5%

6.7

2018

97

2.2%

5.2

The number of female prisoners fluctuates and so the above figures give an indication of the trend but the picture is inevitably incomplete.

The female prison population rate is calculated on the basis of the national population total. All national population figures are inevitably estimates but the estimates used in the World Prison Brief are based on official national figures, United Nations figures or figures from other recognised international authorities.

(If the rate were calculated on the basis of the number of females in the national population it would of course be approximately double the figure in the final column).

Prison population total
Prison population rate