A scene of horror played out at Makala prison the largest incarceration centre in the DRC.

At least 129 people were killed while trying to escape from the prison in the capital Kinshasa.

Authorities have blamed a stampede for most of the deaths, but some inmates were killed by gunfire while trying to break free.

This was the latest incident at the overcrowded detention facility notorious for conditions that human rights groups have long decried as inhumane.

To shine the spotlight on the life in prison facilities in the DRC is Jean-Mobert Senga, DRC Researcher with Amnesty International as well as Stephanie Wolters, a DRC expert and SA Institute of International Affairs Senior Researcher.