In Africa, if you remove countries that just don't even have working governments, you find the prisons are also horrible, with the exception of maybe South Africa, but even they've had a history of nasty evil and torture (read about Steve Biko). It's improved a lot, but not nearly as much as it should.
Rape seems to be very prevalent in South Africa's overcrowded prisons, and South African society seems to actively condone prison rape.
Regarding your Biko point, he was murdered before he was sentenced. Although political prisoners under Apartheid were kept under harsh conditions, after visiting Robben Island, I got the impression that conditions for them, overall, were better than those of general prisoners (especially by the mid-late 1980's).
Overall, I think that prison conditions, for general criminal suspects/convicts, have not gotten much better, although there is greater transparency, than in the past.
Rape seems to be very prevalent in South Africa's overcrowded prisons, and South African society seems to actively condone prison rape.
Regarding your Biko point, he was murdered before he was sentenced. Although political prisoners under Apartheid were kept under harsh conditions, after visiting Robben Island, I got the impression that conditions for them, overall, were better than those of general prisoners (especially by the mid-late 1980's).
Overall, I think that prison conditions, for general criminal suspects/convicts, have not gotten much better, although there is greater transparency, than in the past.
See this article on a UK extradition request, where prison conditions are being used as an argument to block extradition of a murder suspect to SA: http://www.iol.co.za/capeargus/shrien-s-gay-risk-defence-1.1...