UN Says 26 Prisoners Have Died in DRC

The UN says at least 26 prisoners have died of hunger in an overcrowded provincial prison in the Democratic republic of Congo this year. According to Sylvie Van Wildenberg, spokeswoman of the United Nations Mission in Congo, four prisoners died of severe malnutrition on July 13, while 26 others have lost their lives since January at the Mbuji-Mayi Central Prison, Kasai Oriental province. The prison holds 425 prisoners, instead of the 200 prisoners it was designed to house. [PE]