“I just wanted to help”: The story of Rachel*

When Rachel* stepped in to break up a street fight in her neighborhood, she never imagined it would lead to over a year behind bars—or that she would become one of the many women scarred by the horrors of the jailbreak attempt at Makala Central Prison. 

Arrested without cause and charged with assault simply for being at the wrong place at the wrong time, Rachel found herself trapped in a justice system that failed to protect her. “I was just trying to separate a neigbour who was fighting with a man,” she recalls. “But when the police arrived, the man pointed at both of us. We were arrested and taken straight to prison.” 

What followed was a nightmare: a year and five months of unjust detention, surviving in inhumane conditions, and enduring one of the darkest nights of her life — the attempted mass jailbreak of September 2024. “That night, around 2 AM, men broke into our cells. There was no light. They started taking women out, raping them,” Rachel says, her voice trembling. “I was one of the victims.” 

While gunfire rang out and chaos spread, there was no protection, no help. The women were left to fend for themselves, and the trauma lingers. Despite the brutality she faced, no support was offered — not from the state, and not from the prison system. “They brought us low-quality medicine. That was it.” 

Rachel’s release came not through the state’s mercy, but through the relentless work of Ius Stella and our legal partners at KTF Lawyers. After months of being exploited by intermediaries who took her money without helping, Rachel says, “When KTF Lawyers got involved, I was finally freed.” 

Now back at her parents’ house in Kinshasa, she dreams of turning the page. With a talent for hairstyling, she hopes to open her own hair salon one day. “I know how to braid, style, and apply extensions. If I had my own salon, I could really make a living,” she says, her voice flickering with hope. 

But the scars remain — not just physical or emotional, but social too. “There’s a lot of shame,” she explains. “When people find out you were in prison, they treat you like you are a disease. Especially after what happened during the jailbreak… men don’t even want to come close to you.” 

Her story is not unique. And by telling it, we want to shine a light on the silence that surrounds prison abuse, wrongful detention, and the urgent need for reform. 

At Ius Stella, we believe that justice is more than getting released. Justice would mean acknowledgment, accountability, and compensation for what Rachel endured. And that is exactly why we will continue fighting to ensure that individuals who were wrongfully incarcerated get the justice they deserve and get compensated for the harm suffered behind bars.