Mandela Legacy

"It is said that no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails.A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones" - Nelson Mandela

The Gambian prison system has suffered from years of neglect and under-investment. Conditions of detention are poor and overcrowded whereas, during the previous government, the prison system suffered from a poor reputation with allegations of human rights abuses committed. Citizens spend prolonged periods in pre-trial detention with some individuals there up to five (5) years awaiting trial

The human rights climate in The Gambia improved dramatically as the new president, Adama Barrow, and his government took steps to reverse former President Yahya Jammeh’s legacy of authoritarian and abusive rule after After winning the December 2016 election President Barrow recognizes the challenges the country is facing in what he considers as “a transition period”

© Diego Ibarra Sánchez - Image from the Mandela Legacy photography project
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Mile 2, Banjul: Remand prisoners spotted head out from the tiny space where they sleep squeezing on the floor without mattresses.

© Diego Ibarra Sánchez - Mile 2, Banjul: Inmates seen in their cellblock at the confinement / security wing.
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Mile 2, Banjul: Inmates seen in their cellblock at the confinement / security wing.

© Diego Ibarra Sánchez - Image from the Mandela Legacy photography project
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State central prison, Mile II, Banjul, The Gambia. 2019, July 8th. Isolation cell at the confinement / security wing of Mile II. Diego Ibarra Sánchez

© Diego Ibarra Sánchez - Image from the Mandela Legacy photography project
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State central prison, Mile II, Banjul, The Gambia. 2019, July 12th. Remand prisoner waiting for trial, reads inside his overcrowded block cell at the remand prisoner wing of Mile II prison. Diego Ibarra Sánchez

© Diego Ibarra Sánchez - Image from the Mandela Legacy photography project
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State central prison, Mile II, Banjul, The Gambia. 2019, July 8th. A inmate is seen lost in his thoughts at the confinement / security wing of Mile II. Diego Ibarra Sánchez

© Diego Ibarra Sánchez - Image from the Mandela Legacy photography project
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Jeshwang Prison Camp, extension of the Mile II prison, The Gambia. 2019, July 13th. A view shows a block cell with a old television with bad reception. Diego Ibarra Sánchez

© Diego Ibarra Sánchez - Image from the Mandela Legacy photography project
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State central prison, Mile II, Banjul, The Gambia. 2019, July 11th. A view shows a dark corridor inside the confinement / security wing of Mile II. Diego Ibarra Sánchez

© Diego Ibarra Sánchez - Image from the Mandela Legacy photography project
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State central prison, Mile II, Banjul, The Gambia. 2019, July 9th. Remand prisoners play chess inside their cell at the remand prisoner wing of Mile II prison. Diego Ibarra Sánchez

© Diego Ibarra Sánchez - Image from the Mandela Legacy photography project
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State central prison, Mile II, Banjul, The Gambia. 2019, July 11th. A mother visits her son at the visiting room of Mile II prison. Diego Ibarra Sánche

© Diego Ibarra Sánchez - Mile 2, Banjul: Remand prisoner takes shower inside the dilapidated shared bathroom at the remand wing.
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Mile 2, Banjul: Remand prisoner takes shower inside the dilapidated shared bathroom at the remand wing.

© Diego Ibarra Sánchez - Image from the Mandela Legacy photography project
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Jeshwang Prison Camp, extension of the Mile II prison, The Gambia. 2019, July 9th. An inmate is lost on his thoughts inside a shared bathroom at the Jeshwang Prison Camp. Diego Ibarra Sánchez

© Diego Ibarra Sánchez - Image from the Mandela Legacy photography project
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State central prison, Mile II, Banjul, The Gambia. 2019, July 9th. Remand prisoners kill time waiting for their trial inside his cell at the remand prisoner wing in Mile II. Diego Ibarra Sánchez

© Diego Ibarra Sánchez - Image from the Mandela Legacy photography project
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Juvenile Justice Wing in Jeshwang, The Gambia. 2019, July 9th. A juvenile inmate cools off in a water fountain inside the Juvenile Justice Wing in Jeshwang. Diego Ibarra Sánchez

© Diego Ibarra Sánchez - Mile 2, Banjul: A prisoner on death sentence.
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Mile 2, Banjul: A prisoner on death sentence.

© Diego Ibarra Sánchez - Image from the Mandela Legacy photography project
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State central prison, Mile II, Banjul, The Gambia. 2019, July 8th. An inmate is seen through a whole while he walks inside his cell at Mile II´s prison. Diego Ibarra Sánchez

© Diego Ibarra Sánchez - Image from the Mandela Legacy photography project
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State central prison, Mile II, Banjul, The Gambia. 2019, July 9th. Remand prisoner smokes inside cell at the remand prisoner wing in Mile II. Diego Ibarra Sánchez

© Diego Ibarra Sánchez - Image from the Mandela Legacy photography project
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State central prison, Mile II, Banjul, The Gambia. 2019, July 11th. A group of inmates is seen at the end of a dark corridor inside the confinement / security wing of Mile II. Diego Ibarra Sánchez

© Diego Ibarra Sánchez - Image from the Mandela Legacy photography project
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State central prison, Mile II, Banjul, The Gambia. 2019, July 8th. A prisoner weightlifting inside the old kitchen building at Mile II Diego Ibarra Sánchez

© Diego Ibarra Sánchez - Image from the Mandela Legacy photography project
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Juvenile Justice Wing in Jeshwang, The Gambia. 2019, July 13th. A group of minors attends lessons inside the schoolroom of the Juvenile Justice Wing in Jeshwang as a part of the rehabilitation program run by The Gambian prison Service. Diego Ibarra Sánchez

© Diego Ibarra Sánchez - Image from the Mandela Legacy photography project
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State central prison, Mile II, Banjul, The Gambia. 2019, July 9th. Portrait of remand prisoner inside the dilapidated shared bathroom of the remand prisoner wing at Mile II prison. Diego Ibarra Sánchez

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