[Its a rough, tough backward country now… Jan]

From The Daily Mirror, 2 February
127 die in prison
By: Clemence Manyukwe

A total of 127 prisoners died at Khami Prison in Bulawayo last year alone, the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) has said, attributing some of the deaths to overcrowding and poor ventilation. The total number of prison deaths throughout the country was yet to be established, since reports on the situation at other prisons in Harare and Mutare were still being compiled. Statistics on the Khami deaths are carried in a report done by a team of eight prominent Bulawayo lawyers, following a government-sanctioned assessment visit to the penitentiary just outside the city on December 10 last year. The lawyers involved in the assessment included LSZ president Joseph James, Advocate Lucas Nkomo, Greyson Nyoni and Thabiso Sibanda. The appraisal also coincided with commemorations to mark World Human Rights Day, observed on December 10 every year. Speaking by phone from Bulawayo yesterday, James said they were yet to submit the report to the government, as they were awaiting reports from three other prisons. He said other lawyers had assessed a prison in Harare and two others in Mutare.

The 127 Khami deaths were blamed on the fast spread of diseases due to overcrowding. “This overcrowding has a terrible effect on the prisoners, and coupled with reduced ventilation, is the prime reason for the fast spread of diseases, notably tuberculosis. There are 96 recorded cases of TB, 25 cases of scabies and other infections. There are six known cases of Aids. There have been 127 deaths since the last visit,” reads part of the lawyers™ report. Khami has a holding capacity of 650 inmates, but on the day of the visit it was teeming with 1 167, representing an overcrowding percentage of 85.24. Of the prisoners doing time there, 961 were convicts, while the other 206 were on remand. The report said although convicted prisoners were separated from those on remand, there was no separation regarding age, resulting in juveniles being locked up in cells with hardened criminals. It was critical of the squalid living conditions of prisoners at the corrections centre where a 1.5m x 2.5m cell (3.75 square metres) originally designed for one inmate now holds three, while cells measuring 3m x 3m (nine square metres) take up to 14 prisoners. The problem of overcrowding could be solved if the courts dealt timeously with cases before them, the report suggested.

It was noted that there was a sizeable number of inmates committed for sentence and had stayed for over two years. On a positive note, the lawyers noted that the quantity of food had improved, while health services were being provided. Two doctors visited the prison thrice a week, while nine nurses and a rehabilitation technician were in attendance daily. “The provision of food has improved. The quantity thereof is enough but the quality and nutritional value is suspect. The best meal, according to the inmates, is soft porridge, which is easy to prepare. Of concern are the hours of feeding, the three meals sometimes being squeezed inside four hours,” the report said. However, there was no evidence of contact with the outside world, such as newspapers and radios so that prisoners were regularly informed about events taking place around them. In an interview, the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Patrick Chinamasa, said he was aware that prisoners were dying, but was not sure of the figures. He attributed most of the deaths to Aids-related illnesses. “In the majority of cases, they die of Aids-related illnesses. Some of them come with the disease, others get infected inside. The disease is not sparing anyone,” said Chinamasa. He added that they were embarking on a programme to acquire Anti-Retroviral drugs for the inmates, with the terminally ill earmarked for Presidential pardon. Efforts to get a comment from the prisons spokesperson, Elizabeth Banda, were fruitless yesterday.

Source: ZWNEWS.COM