Prisoners are human too
By The Post
Fri 05 Oct. 2012, 15:40 CAT
It is said that no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. It is also said that a nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones. And Zambia treats its imprisoned citizens as if they were not full human beings, they were sub-human.
A great majority of our prisons are not fit to be used as detention centres for our remand and convicted prisoners.
Every visit to our prisons by court officials, human rights activists and even by representatives of religious organisations, has consistently revealed that our prisons are overcrowded. And this has been over many years. It is not a new complaint. But nothing so far has been done to seriously reduce congestion in our prisons.
We are constructing roads and all sorts of other infrastructure, but very little attention is being paid to the extension of our detention centres.
It is true that most of our prisons were built long before independence. And at independence, our population was slightly over three million.
Today, we have a population of 13 million. Prison facilities that were built for a population of about three million cannot be expected to cater to 13 million.
And some of our prisons were really built for second-class citizens and are not fit to be used by a nation in which every citizen has become first-class, equal.
We have people in the top leadership of our country who were incarcerated in these prisons before and after independence. They know very well the conditions that exist in these prisons. It is therefore difficult to understand why they are slow in reacting to these issues, in remedying the inadequacies of our prisons.
There may not be so many leaders in the present government who have been to prison. But the principal leader of this government has been a victim of unjustified politically-inspired prison detentions. And as such, he knows very well what needs to be done, and done urgently.
We know that there are many pressures on this government. There are children with very urgent health, nutritional and educational needs to be taken care of. There are also very urgent developmental projects to fund.
And every day, the government is being reminded of the need to deliver on its election promises. There are people making more and more noise every day about this and that.
And it's human nature to first clear off the noisemakers by addressing their concerns. Prisoners are in a very weak state with no voice of their own to be heard and very few people are there to speak for them. They are not there to be seen and heard. And in a situation of sangwapo, they lose out because they are locked away from the decision makers and society in general.
For them to get anything from this order, someone has to remember them and speak for them.
Yes, most of these prisoners are criminals. And some of them are very bad criminals who have killed, maimed and destroyed the lives of other human beings. In some cases, their conduct is close to that of animals. But they are not animals. They are human beings who have fallen short of the standards expected or required of them by society and indeed by their Creator.
But they are still human beings deserving our respect and compassion simply by the fact that they are human beings made in their Creator's own image. Whatever they have done or whatever they have failed to do that has landed them in prison does not remove from them their humanness. They are bad human beings. And just that - bad human beings.
But still human. Bad conduct does not turn them into something else other than human. Their behaviour puts them next to animals but they are still human beings deserving to be treated as human beings who have wronged society and probably their Creator. They are still very much entitled to the dignity of a human person.
Their incarceration, however, deprives them of the ability to fend for themselves or provide certain things for themselves. They are not in a position to feed and clothe themselves. The state, which has incarcerated them, owes them that duty.
It is the state's responsibility to ensure that every prisoner has reasonable access to good nutrition, clothing, sleeping and sanitation facilities. Everything that a human being needs to remain alive and in good health that a prisoner cannot provide for himself, the state should provide.
Prisoners deserve reasonable access to clean drinking water, adequate food and air. In overcrowded facilities with poor ventilation, prisoners have little access to clean air. And this opens them up to all sorts of airborne diseases like tuberculosis. Poor sanitation opens them up to all sorts of diseases like diarrhoea.
Let's turn our prisons into corrective centres and not into facilities for the destruction of everything in them that makes them human beings. For those who are willing and able to learn, to improve their education and literacy levels, let them be helped.
Let's give them adequate opportunities to improve themselves as human beings so that when they come out of prison, they are able to integrate themselves into the community in a more valuable way.
And for those who have to live the remaining parts of their lives as prisoners, let's help them through education to be better prisoners. We say this because even in prison, there is life to be lived, there is a community one is a member of.
If we don't change our attitude towards prisoners, we will be creating a bigger and bigger problem for ourselves because the people we are sending to prison will never come back as better people.
Prison will only succeed in making them hard-core criminals who will continue to be in and out of prison for the rest of their lives.
Let's punish wrongdoers, those who commit crimes, but let's not allow this to rob them of their humanity.
Prisoners are human persons who, despite their crime, deserve to be treated with respect and dignity. They need our care. With this in mind, we must strive to provide for the material and spiritual welfare of prisoners. We draw the attention of our nation's leaders to the need to make every effort to reform our penal system in a way that ensures respect for the prisoners' human dignity.
Labels: PRISONS
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Prisoners still deserve their rights - HRC
By Christopher Miti in Chipata
Fri 05 Oct. 2012, 15:30 CAT
HUMAN Rights commissioner Arnold Kapelembi says prisoners should enjoy their rights just like any other human being.
In an interview, Kapelembi who recently visited places of detention in Eastern Province together with commissioner Austin Chisenga and provincial human rights officials said even if people were convicted or were just suspects, they still deserved certain rights and that their dignity should not be taken away.
He said there was need to ensure that prisoners had enough food and water while those who were sick should have access to medical facilities.
Kapelembi said prisoners who were able to continue with their education should do so because some education facilities had been established in prisons.
He said overcrowding was one of the major problems facing prisons in the country.
"The common problem that we find is congestion, you know these facilities were built many years ago for a small population but now the population has grown. You know when the population grows even crime also increases," Kapelembi said.
He said congestion in prisons as well as in police cells was a big problem in the country.
Kapelembi said after the visit of the detention facilities, they would make recommendations to the executive.
"At the same time we look at staff housing because police and prison officers also deserve decent accommodation, so we have to check their accommodation. We have to check, are they sharing accommodation? Some places we found three families sharing a two bedroomed house which is not dignified. So we still make recommendations on that," said Kapelembi.
Labels: PRISONS
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Tembo orders closure of Masaiti, Kafulafuta police cells
By Darious Kapembwa in Kitwe
Fri 22 June 2012, 13:22 CAT
COPPERBELT Police Commissioner Mary Tembo has closed holding cells at Masaiti and Kafulafuta police stations due to their inhabitable conditions.
And Tembo says the command in the province has secured land for the construction of toilets for police at Garneton and Mindolo police stations in Kitwe where officers use the nearby bushes to answer the call of nature.
In an interview yesterday, Tembo said she was forced to take the action following concerns raised by the Human Rights Commission and chiefs after they visited the two police stations.
"I decided to close the cells because of the dilapidated state in which they are. The chiefs and the Human Rights Commission condemned the state of affairs of the cells," Tembo explained.
"But I am working to ensure that those cells are refurbished into habitable facilities as soon as possible. It is very dangerous that my officers have to transport suspects to Luanshya and Kitwe on a daily basis and the response from well-wishers for the reconstruction that we have approached is very good," Tembo said.
Meanwhile, Tembo said she had secured land from Kitwe City Council for the construction of a police station at Garneton where there is no police station.
"I was very disappointed that what is supposed to be an inquiries office, is an exhibition room. So I went there myself to have an on the spot check and I think that we'll have to build a big police post with about 10 to 15 houses before the onset of the rains," she said.
"In Mindolo when the honourable member of parliament visited the area last time, it was discovered that officers are using the bush due to lack of toilets and we also discovered that there are a number of problems in Mindolo police camp. So immediately we get the bill of quantity, we'll start and we expect the business community to help because we work for the community to safeguard lives and business," said Tembo.
Labels: POLICE, PRISONS
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Government won't tamper with constitution - Akafumba
By Edwin Mbulo in Livingstone
Tue 19 June 2012, 13:23 CAT
THE PF government will not tamper with what the people of Zambia will come up with for the final constitution, says PF candidate in the Livingstone parliamentary by-election Joseph Akafumba. And the MMD-UPND alliance on Sunday shunned the Livingstone Press Club public forum held at Hindu Hall citing alleged insecurity.
Speaking during the Livingstone Press Club Forum, Akafumba said the PF central committee was yet to come up with its own presentations to the technical committee on the draft constitution.
"As a party, we have not yet come up with what we should present, but I can assure you that we will not tamper with what the people will want to be in the constitution and all we can do is to appeal to the public to participate in the constitution-making process," said Akafumba who is also party chairperson for Southern Province.
Akafumba said he was the best candidate for the Livingstone seat as he was a resident of the town.
He said the tourism sector needed re-investment as the Sun Hotel was monopolising the sector.
"We have lagged behind in development. We used to be a textile town and the town would be nothing without the Victoria Falls. That is why we have taken the provincial administration to Choma so that we can re-plan the sector. We need to get out of the monopoly by Sun Hotels and also we need to say come July 5, then casualisation ends," he said.
And independent candidate Stephen Zulu whose campaign theme is "I will walk with you, talk with you, listen to you and work hard for you" caused laughter when he said all prisoners should be released if prisons could not be rehabilitated.
Zulu said prisons in UK were like hotels.
"Not that I have been a convict but I have been told by people who have been there. If the prisons can't be rehabilitated then we should do as the Bible says, 'let the people go'," Zulu said.
Another independent candidate, Zondhwayo Soko, said members of parliament who do not work with the government of the day were very wrong.
Labels: CONSTITUTION, PRISONS
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Freedom Rider: Criminal Injustice System
Wed, 05/30/2012 - 01:08 — Margaret Kimberley
by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley
If police states are ranked by the number of persons imprisoned, then the U.S. is the world’s worst and biggest police state. The system runs on greed and racism. “Being ‘tough on crime’ is a metaphor for keeping black people under control.” It is a place where being a “big black guy” means conviction, and where
“prosecutors routinely overcharge defendants with long sentences, and force innocent people to plead guilty in order to avoid decades behind bars.”
Freedom Rider: Criminal Injustice System
by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley
“Jim Crow was made illegal, so a legal means of destroying the black community had to be created.“
There are so many things amiss in the United States that one hardly knows where to begin discussing them all. Yet of all the calamitous situations faced by Americans, the cruelest by far is the criminal justice system. America is the world’s prison capital, and just one state, Louisiana, has an incarceration rate 13 times higher than China’s and 5 times higher than Iran’s.
Mass incarceration did not come about by happenstance, but was a coordinated and perfected reaction to the successes of the civil rights movement. Jim Crow was made illegal, so a legal means of destroying the black community had to be created.
America’s obsession with punishment always results in a cause celebre which gets media attention because of obvious unfairness, prosecutorial misconduct or blatant racism. However, these details are less important than the unmitigated horror of American justice. The ordeal of Brian Banks is a case in point.
Banks was a 16-year old high school student and football stand out in Long Beach, California when he was falsely accused of raping a classmate in 2002. Banks faced a charge not only of rape, but kidnapping as well. He wanted to invoke his right to plead innocent, but Banks was facing a 41-year sentence if convicted. As Banks’ recalls, his lawyer pointed out that he was “a big black guy” whom the jury would assume to be guilty. Banks followed the advice to plead no contest.
“The entire criminal justice system ought to be on trial.”
Even after serving five years in prison, Banks was forced to be monitored with an ankle bracelet, and register as a sex offender. Sex offenders in particular are in effect prisoners forever, unable to live where they want or monitored for years at a time. The draconian measures don’t end sexual assaults or make anyone safer. They are just added to the long list of ways to mete out more suffering.
Such is the case with untold thousands of Americans who end up in the maw of the system despite being innocent of any wrongdoing. The recantation of the alleged victim made the Banks case a headline story, but the entire criminal justice system ought to be on trial.
Prosecutors routinely overcharge defendants with long sentences, and force innocent people to plead guilty in order to avoid decades behind bars. Prosecutors in the state of Florida have decided that they don’t really want to try cases in court any longer. They punish suspects who want to go to trial by seeking sentences that are 5, 10 or even 20 times longer than the sentence that would be served had they pleaded guilty. Marissa Alexander fired a shot at her husband, and could have pleaded guilty and served only 3 years in prison. By insisting upon going to trial, and despite the fact she didn’t actually shoot anyone, Alexander will now serve 20 years behind bars.
What we witness in American courts bears no resemblance to a justice system, which would give judges discretion and allow defendants a day in court without fearing a life sentence. The system even punishes the innocent for saying that they are innocent. Many states automatically deny parole to individuals who assert their innocence and keep them locked up until they confess the guilt that isn’t theirs.
“The system even punishes the innocent for saying that they are innocent.”
The corrections and criminal justice system in this country is nothing but a nest of corruption and must be torn apart. Prisons and jails are used to create jobs for prison communities, make money for corporations and keep black people from effectively challenging the system as they did forty and fifty years ago. Prosecutors and politicians benefit from tough sentencing and can expect publicity, election victories and higher office should they seek it.
They have little to lose with “three strikes your out” life sentences and decades in jail for low level drug dealers. Being “tough on crime” is a metaphor for keeping black people under control. The code words are clearly understood and the fear created by media’s “if it bleeds it leads” obsession makes even many black people support these awful measures.
No crime is too small to put thousands of people away. Even child support enforcement is used to put black people behind bars who, once there, obviously can’t support their children at all. But dead beat dads, sexual predators, drug kingpins and other imagined or exaggerated criminals are never the point. They are used to keep the dreadful system running, make money for corporations, get votes for politicians, and keep racist and/or uninformed Americans happy.
The case of Brian Banks gets media attention because a liar put him behind bars. It is tempting to remember that aspect of his case but it shouldn’t be what we think about. We should think about an unnecessarily long sentence, presumption of guilt of a “big black guy” and permanent punishment.
There will always be people whose stories generate more sympathy or who have better organized supporters. Even as they get our attention we must acknowledge that there are thousands more like them. The cause of the moment should be an occasion to expose the beast and kill him once and for all. That will be the story most worthy of our attention.
Margaret Kimberley's Freedom Rider column appears weekly in BAR, and is widely reprinted elsewhere. She maintains a frequently updated blog as well as at http://freedomrider.blogspot.com. Ms. Kimberley lives in New York City, and can be reached via e-Mail at Margaret.Kimberley(at)BlackAgendaReport.com
Labels: EUGENICS, PRISONS
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Prison conditions depress Liato
By Joseph Mwenda
Sun 27 May 2012, 13:30 CAT
INCARCERATED former labour minister Austin Liato has complained that his health condition may worsen after being made to share a single mattress with other inmates, sources at the Lusaka Central Prison have revealed.
And some of the inmates who were released from Lusaka Central Prison, commonly known as Chimbokaila, on parole on Friday, explained that Liato was a "Big Bwana" in prison owing to his financial influence.
According to inside sources, Liato walked into prison with confidence on Thursday but was later in the evening appalled with the sleeping arrangements.
"This is not a friendly place, when you walk here everything changes. He thought he would continue enjoying life here, but he was depressed when we took him ku Chitakataka Sleeping cell. He is a prisoner like the rest and he is sharing a mattress with others," sources said.
The sources said the hefty former minister was praying for the weekend to pass so that he could be released on bail pending appeal.
"We are not making him work at all but he is weak. You can tell that he is depressed, that is why he is worried that his health might be affected if he stays long here. He is confident that he will be out on Monday. His wife is also worried and she comes to spend time with him during visiting hours. Today yesterday, he also requested that he sees his driver."
A check yesterday morning found Liato's wife and other relatives at Chimbokaila visiting him.
Meanwhile, Inmates who had an encounter with Liato said he was finding life easy in prison because he had money.
"Ba guy balefwaya ukumuchita ifya boyo. Kuti aya mukushanga indalama ninshi abantu balechula. But teti mudala, balemusunga bwino bashilika. Ni big bwana ulya, lelo uluchelo achipelako na guy umbi zali iya transport. (Some inmates wanted to manhandle him. How can he bury money when people are suffering? However they could not succeed because the prison warders are taking good care of him. He is a rich man. Today (Friday) he even gave a pardoned inmate K100, 000 for transport," an ex-prisoner explained.
Liato is serving a two-year sentence after being convicted of one count of being in possession of property suspected to have been proceeds of crime.
In December last year, police investigators dug out K2.1 billion from his Mwembeshi farm which has since been forfeited to the state, together with the recovered money.
After being sentenced, Liato mocked the two-year jail term slapped on him by Lusaka principal resident magistrate Aridah Chulu, saying it is short and he should be granted bail pending appeal.
Labels: AUSTIN LIATO, PRISONS
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Guy's visit to the prison of death
By The Post
Thu 12 Apr. 2012, 13:30 CAT
IT is said that no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. And it is also said that a nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones - and Zambia treats its imprisoned citizens like animals.
And thanks to Guy Scott, the Vice-President of our Republic, because his visit to Mukobeko Maximum Prison with the press, with television cameras enabled the Zambian people to have an idea of how life is in that prison.We expect more from this government in terms of prison conditions. Michael Sata has spent time in jail, of course unjustifiably and maliciously so.
In Michael, we have a leader who understands the true conditions of our prisons and has from time to time talked about it, associated himself with it. More is expected of Michael's government on the issue of improving prison conditions.
There has been enough talk on this issue. Prison conditions don't require much disquisition. What is needed is action to change the inhuman conditions of our jails.
It is also pleasing to learn that this government is not interested in hanging people, in the death sentence. This is not the first time we have heard this from a government of our country.
Levy Mwanawasa denounced the death sentence. Levy refused to turn himself into a chief hangman by signing death execution orders for condemned prisoners as long as he remained in power: "…Life is sacred and I will not allow people to be slaughtered like chickens".
Many people were delighted to hear these words from their president and thought Levy's principled opposition to the death penalty would be followed through by his government and help our people to rid themselves of this evil and inhuman form of punishment.
There is need to abolish laws that allow and compel our courts of law to sentence people to death. The case for abolishing the death penalty becomes more and more compelling with each passing year. Everywhere, experience shows that executions brutalise those involved in the process.
As Levy had eloquently explained, nowhere has it been shown that the death penalty has any special power to reduce crime. And in country after country, it is used disproportionately against the poor. Yet too many politicians and other citizens still believe that they can solve urgent social problems by executing a few or even hundreds of their prisoners.
Too many of our people are still unaware that the death sentence offers our nation not further protection but further brutalisation. The death penalty is premeditated and cold-blooded killing of a human being by the state. The state can exercise no greater power over a person than that of deliberately depriving him or her of life.
No matter what reasons we give for executing prisoners and the method of execution we use, the death penalty cannot be separated from the issue of human rights. As Levy once put it, there can never be a justification for torture or for cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The cruelty of the death penalty is evident.
Like torture, an execution constitutes an extreme physical and mental assault on a person already rendered helpless by government authorities.
Like killings which take place outside the law, the death penalty denies the value of human life. The death penalty cannot be reconciled with respect for human rights.
And if the death penalty can be justified for one offence, justification that accord with the prevailing views of society or its rulers will be found for it to be used for other offences.
Whatever purpose is cited, the idea that we can justify a punishment as cruel as death conflicts with the very concepts of human rights. The significance of human rights is precisely that some means may never be used to protect society because their use violates the very values which make society worth protecting.
When this essential distinction between appropriate and inappropriate means is set aside in the name of some greater good, all rights are vulnerable and all individuals are threatened.
The death penalty, as a violation of fundamental human rights, would be wrong even if it could be shown that it uniquely met a vital social need. What makes the use of the death penalty even more indefensible and the case for its abolition even more compelling is that it has never been shown to have any special power to meet any unique social need.
Countless men and women have been executed for the stated purpose of preventing crime, especially the crime of murder. Yet, as Levy demonstrated, study after study in diverse countries has failed to find convincing evidence that the death penalty has any unique capacity to deter others from committing particular crimes.
Undeniably, the death penalty, by permanently incapacitating a prisoner, prevents that person from repeating the crime. But there is no way to be sure that the prisoner would indeed have repeated the crime if allowed to live, nor is there any need to violate a prisoner's right to life for the purpose of incapacitation: dangerous offenders can be kept safely away from the public without execution.
Every society seeks protection from crime. Far from being a solution, the death penalty gives the erroneous impression that firm measures are being taken against crime. It diverts attention from the more complex measures which are really needed.
When the arguments of deterrence and incapacitation fall away, one is left with a more deep-seated justification for the death penalty: that of just retribution for the particular crime committed. According to this argument, certain people deserve to be killed as repayment for the evil done: there are crimes so offensive that killing the offender is the only just response.
It is an emotionally powerful argument. It is also one which, if valid, would invalidate the basis for human rights. If a person who commits a terrible act can deserve the cruelty of death, why not others, for similar reasons, deserve to be tortured or imprisoned without trial or simply shot on sight? Central to fundamental human rights is that they are inalienable.
They may not be taken away even if the person has committed the most atrocious of crimes. Human rights apply to the worst of us as well as to the best of us, which is why they protect all of us.
What the argument of retribution boils down to is often no more than a desire for vengeance masked as a principle of justice.
The desire for vengeance can be understood and acknowledged but the exercise for vengeance must be resisted. The history of the endeavour to establish the rule of law is a history of the progressive restriction of personal vengeance in public policy and legal codes.
If today's penal system does not sanction burning of an arsonist home, the rape of a rapist or the torture of a torturer, it is not because they tolerate the crimes. Instead, it is because societies understand that they must be built on a different set of values from those they condemn.
An execution cannot be used to condemn killing; it is killing. Such an act by the state is the mirror image of the criminal's willingness to use physical violence against a victim.
And this probably explains why Nelson Mandela concluded that "the death sentence is a reflection of the animal instinct still in human beings".
For these reasons, we urge Michael and his government to move further than Levy did and totally get rid of the death sentence from the laws of our country. Let's rid our country of the death penalty.
And Guy's visit to Mukobeko, the prison that keeps those on the death row, should be the first step in this direction.
Labels: DEATH PENALTY, GUY SCOTT, MICHAEL SATA, PRISONS
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Chongwe calls on government to build bigger, modern prisons
By Bright Mukwasa, Masuzyo Chakwe and Henry Sinyangwe
Sat 07 Apr. 2012, 13:30 CAT
DR Rodger Chongwe says the government should build bigger and modern prison where inmates should be kept as human beings and not like "animals". And Non Governmental Organisa-tions Coordinating Committee (NGOCC)board chairperson Beatrice Grillo says prisons should be places where people go to reform and not die.
Meanwhile, the Human Rights Commission has stated that the deprivation of liberty does not make prisoners less human than everyone else. Vice-President Guy Scott on Wednesday visited Mukobeko Maximum Prison in Kabwe where pathetic conditions of the facility were revealed.
Vice-President Scott, who described the state of Zambia's only maximum security prison as hell, said there was need for a total rehabilitation of the system.
During the visit, it was discovered that the condemned section of Mukobeka Maximum Prison had 281 prisoners against a holding capacity of 48.
Vice-President Scott's visit to the facility was the first of a high-ranking official since independence.
"Accommodation in these prisons has never been expanded considering the rise in our population. Chimbokaila in Lusaka, that prison was built for a population of Lusaka which had half a million and the same with Maximum Prison in Kabwe…," said Dr Chongwe, a prominent Lusaka lawyer.
"And we are 13 million people in Zambia today and we cannot, with that population, expect to use those prisons which were built at a time when numbers were less than what we have. The solution is to build bigger and modern prison infrastructure so that the inmates are kept there as human beings not as animals as described by the Vice-President that Mukobeko Prison is merely hell on earth."
He also said one of the things that should be done which had been hotly debated for sometime in the country was to perhaps consider abolishing capital punishment which was today on the statute books.
"The other thing is instead of imposing custodial sentences for minor offences like stealing a cob of maize, petty thieving…It's better to fine them and if they can't pay the fine, let them serve under some community service," advised Dr Chongwe.
And Grillo said there was need to decongest the Zambian prisons because the conditions were deplorable and inhumane.
"It is no wonder some prisoners do not reform and end up going back to the life of crime because of the conditions they were subjected to in prison," she said.
Grillo said people are supposed to come out of prison reformed and better. She said it was very unfair for a person to wait for 10 years for an appeal to be heard, describing it as inhumane as it took away all the human rights of a person.
"We need to decongest the prisons; and how can someone wait for 10 years for a case to be disposed of, how come? It's either they have a case or they don't. If the police are not able to bring a case to court within a certain period, then maybe there is no case and these people should be released," she said.
"Can you imagine if you spent 10 years and in the end you are later released because there is nothing, you have already gone through the trauma and everything."
Grillo urged the government to ensure that there was a fasttrack court to decongest the prisons so that less serious cases were dealt with as quickly as possible.
She said there should also be a law in place to ensure that cases that go beyond a certain period are disposed of because that would mean that the police had no case.
Grillo said there was need for more open prisons and urged the government to build more modern prisons as the country could not afford to be using prisons that were built 20 years ago.
And Human Rights Commission acting chairperson Palan Mulonda stated that prisoners were human beings deserving of decent existence and equal respect of human rights.
"The Commission is greatly concerned that today, Zambian prisons still echo the times when such facilities were viewed as places of punishment instead of being centres for rehabilitation of offenders who would later be integrated back into society after serving their respective sentences," he stated.
Mulonda stated that the commission was therefore delighted that the government had taken steps to address problems facing Zambia's prisons following Vice-President Scott's visit to Mukobeko Maximum Security Prison in Kabwe.
He stated that the gesture by Vice-President Scott was a sign that the government was concerned about the horrible conditions in prisons, hence their willingness to take corrective measures to finding a lasting solution to the problem.
"The Commission reiterates its call for improvement in the conditions of detention facilities countrywide and in the treatment of people detained in these facilities to ensure human dignity is preserved," Mulonda stated.
And Mulonda welcomed the government's pronouncement that it will address the issue of corporal punishment.
"The commission wishes to restate its position on capital punishment and urges government to consider acceding to the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights as the first step towards the abolition of capital punishment in Zambia," stated Mulonda.
Labels: GUY SCOTT, NGOCC, PRISONS, ROGER CHONGWE
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COMMENT - The gall to say - don't send me to prison because I'm the president. What on earth were they thinking when they took power? That this was their time to loot? Did they give any consideration to not putting Michael Sata, George Mpombo or Chansa Kabwela in prison on thin charges, for things that were barely illegal, like a bounced check or 'distributing pornography' that wasn't even pornography?
‘Please don't send me to jail; I'm too old to go to jail'
By The Post
Tue 21 Feb. 2012, 12:00 CAT
WE are not surprised that Rupiah Banda is asking Michael Sata not to send him to jail but instead forgive him over allegations of corruption. This is what Rupiah himself did to Frederick Chiluba. Clearly, he did not do it for Chiluba, he did it for himself. He set a precedent that was aimed at benefiting himself.
Rupiah's concern was not whether Chiluba had stolen or was innocent. It was about Chiluba going to jail. He openly declared that it would be very sad for him for Chiluba to go to jail. To Rupiah, someone who has occupied the office of president should not be sent to jail for any crime.
Rupiah is a selfish man who only thinks about himself and his family. He claims he is too old to go to prison and that already his family was stressed with corruption investigations and would suffer if he was jailed. Is Rupiah telling us that all these people we have jailed have no families, were not bread earners and their families are not suffering? Is Rupiah telling us that he and his family are more human than all these other people who are languishing in our jails?
Rupiah says Michael is his brother and they have come a long way. Is this all it should take to commit a crime and get away with it? What about the rule of law? What about equality before the law which requires the state to deal evenly and equally with its people? We think Michael gave him the right answer: "It's up to the Zambian people to make that decision."
But Rupiah is a very strange old man. We say this because when Michael used to remind or warn him about the consequences of such abuses, Rupiah used to respond arrogantly: "Nindalama zako?" And today Rupiah is asking the same Michael to do something about the money that was not his.
The truth is Michael has a duty to the Zambian people that takes precedent over obligations to his brother, his friend Rupiah. Unlike Rupiah who put his friendship, his commitments to Chiluba above those of the people he was elected to serve, Michael seems to know what comes first, what is primary and what comes last, what is secondary.
In these circumstances, the best Michael can do for his brother Rupiah is simply to ensure that he receives a fair trial and the due process of the law is followed in the removal of his presidential immunity and in his trial, conviction and jailing. And he should ask his brother Michael to pay him visits on visiting days and bring him his favourite game meat.
That's all Michael should do for his brother Rupiah. Trying to free Rupiah the way he himself freed Chiluba from going to jail would be an abuse for which Michael himself should later be prosecuted and sent to jail.
We are glad Michael is doing the right thing - he is leaving it to the Zambian people to decide. And this means leaving it to the legitimate institutions of the state, of the people to decide. This is what is happening - state institutions, institutions of the people are dealing with this matter in the most judicious way. This is what the rule of law entails - the right to equality before the law or equal protection of the law.
Whether rich or poor, political ally, relative or friend of the president - all must be entitled to equal protection before the law. And under no circumstances should the state impose additional inequalities; it should be required to deal evenly and equally with its people.
No one is above the law, which is, after all, the creation of the people, not something imposed upon them. When laws are established by the people who then have to obey them, both law and good governance are served. Rupiah doesn't seem to understand and believe in this.
To him, power is there to be abused. Only the enemies of those in power, and not their friends and relatives, should go to jail. We all know how Rupiah manipulated our Judiciary to let Chiluba go scot-free and keep his loot. And he wants that to continue and be extended to himself.
The Zambian people did not accept that and will not accept it this time. If anything, Rupiah and those who collaborated or connived with him to abuse our judicial process, to manipulate our courts of law and free Chiluba from going to jail and allow him to keep the proceeds of his corruption should be made to account for their crimes.
And this includes Jones Chinyama, the magistrate who acquitted Chiluba under a scheme that was clearly mooted by Rupiah. It should also include judge Evans Hamaundu who clearly abused his office as High Court judge to meet the desires of Rupiah and allow Chiluba to keep his loot.
Chalwe Mchenga, then Director of Public Prosecutions and now a High Court judge, who in connivance with Rupiah and others withdrew a legitimate appeal against Rupiah's acquittal to fulfil his part in a criminal scheme. And indeed Chief Justice Ernest Sakala should explain his role in all this or what he knows about it.
Rupiah shouldn't think simply because he got away with such abuses of our judicial process, then Michael can do the same and get away with it. We are glad that Michael knows what can be done and what can't be done and how best to respect the people, their institutions and what belongs to them.
If Rupiah seriously wants to be forgiven, he should fulfil the prerequisites of what needs to be done before he seeks forgiveness. The first step in seeking forgiveness is contrition, is being sorry for what one has done. When Chiluba was seeking forgiveness from Levy Mwanawasa, Levy told him to first return what he had stolen from the people of Zambia, or part of it, and then they could talk.
What Rupiah should do is to first return what he has stolen from the people of Zambia and then seek their forgiveness. Trying to patronise Michael - calling him a brother, a friend, someone they have come a long way with - will not do. The money he and his children stole from the Zambian people is not Michael's money - it is people's money.
And the people they have stolen from are suffering - some have even died from lack of proper medical care and indeed from poverty and other deprivations. Rupiah and his sons were not bothered by this. What bothered them was what went into their pockets and bank accounts and the property they were acquiring and constructing everywhere.
They had no mercy on anyone; everyone was at their mercy. They never realised that life is like a big wheel: the one who is at the top today, tomorrow is at the bottom. They never realised that the exercise of power must be the constant practice of self-limitation and modesty.
We can only say let the law take its course; give them a fair trial and send them to jail if found guilty.
Labels: FREDERICK CHILUBA, MICHAEL SATA, PRISONS, RUPIAH BANDA
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More action is needed from the action man on prisoners
By The Post
Sat 31 Dec. 2011, 14:00 CAT
"I was in prison for 40 days and the majority of people in prison are poor people. Poor people have no representation. Let us revamp the legal aid system and let us also create a new office of district attorney so that people can be properly prosecuted…poor people don't even know what legal representation is.
I stayed 40 days because I had a very effective legal representation; I even managed to get bail on a matter which they said there is no bail. My lawyers went around and got a constitutional bail."
This was said by Michael Sata on Thursday. It is true that the majority of our prisoners are poor people. The rich and politically powerful rarely go to prison. Not because they don't commit crimes. But simply because they have the money to buy justice and the political influence to get what they want.
There is very little justice for the poor in this country. Sometimes they are arrested wrongly but no one is willing to listen to their story, to their explanations. They are simply told: "Uzakambila ku police." And when they get to the police, they are not even given the chance to explain anything.
They are simply locked away. There are many poor people in our prisons who have been there for years without attending court. What type of rule of law is this where there is no equality before the law, or equal protection of the law as it is often phrased? We know that equality before the law is fundamental to any just and democratic society.
But every day, the great majority of our people, the poor people, are not treated in a manner that one can say there is equality before the law for them. Whether rich or poor - all are entitled to equal protection before the law. But this is not the case in our country today.
We have criminals in this country who are not in prison today simply because they have money and they have political clout or connections. We have people who have been convicted for corruption but because they are rich and well connected politically, they are not in prison.
The law and law enforcement institutions have bent over backwards to accommodate rich and politically powerful elements like Frederick Chiluba and save them from going to jail. Court processes were manipulated by Rupiah Banda, with the help of his Director of Public Prosecutions Chalwe Mchenga, to set Chiluba free and save him from going to jail for corruption.
In a country where there is equality before the law, this would not have happened. The democratic state cannot guarantee that life will treat everyone equally, and it has no responsibility to do so. However, under no circumstances should those in power impose additional inequalities; they should be required to deal evenly and equally with all our people - rich or poor, politically powerful or otherwise. No one should be placed above the law.
There is very little justice for the poor in this country. The poor can't afford lawyers and very little legal aid is extended to them while the politically powerful sometimes don't even have to pay lawyers because they offer themselves to them for free.
But how many of our lawyers are offering themselves for free to poor people? We had Rupiah being represented for free in all sorts of matters by all sorts of lawyers when he was in a position to pay. But none of these lawyers offered themselves to our poor brothers and sisters who have been languishing in our jails for years without a lawyer.
Even when the politically powerful steal from the poor, from the poor people's government, they are not short of probono legal representation. Lawyers fall over each other to represent them. It is said that when a rich or politically powerful man stumbles, his friends will steady him, but if a poor man falls, his friends will have nothing to do with him.
When a rich or politically powerful man makes a mistake, there are many people to cover up for him and explain away all the things he never should have said. But let a poor man make a mistake, and he gets nothing but jail. Even when he has something to say in mitigation, nobody will listen.
It is pleasing to hear Michael speak for the poor in prison, saying he has been there and he knows their plight. It is said that no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. It is also said that a nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones - and Zambia treats its imprisoned poor citizens like animals.
We agree with the observations made by Archbishop Nicola Girasoli the other day over the plight of our prisoners. Archbishop Girasoli observed that "it's only those with money that have good access to justice and we have thousands of people who have cases that have not been dealt with, with some of them in prison while those with money are free on bail…Equality before the law is a very strong human right because this is what protects the minority".
He further observed that there was need to improve the image of the Judiciary in the country.
Our justice system is not promoting the common good and seems to favour the rich and politically powerful. This should not be allowed to continue. This injustice, this inequality cries out for justice, solidarity.
Michael has placed before us a challenge that we cannot sidestep and to which we must respond with a speed and boldness adequate to the urgency of the times. We need to urgently respond to the suffering of our poor people who are languishing without meaningful legal representation and access to justice in our prisons. We ought to sharpen the awareness of our duty of solidarity with the poor, to which charity leads us.
This solidarity means that we make ours their problems and their struggles, that we know how to speak with them and for them. This has to be concretised in criticism of injustice and oppression, in the struggle against the intolerable situation that a poor person often has to tolerate, in the willingness to dialogue with the groups responsible for that situation in order to make them understand their obligations.
Let us not forget that where there is injustice of this nature, there is a rejection of the Lord's gift of peace, and even more, a rejection of the Lord Himself. We say this because justice, understood as holiness, a gift of the Lord, is the basic foundation of social justice. By his example, Christ taught us to live what he preached.
Christ preached human solidarity and proclaimed that love should configure all our social structures. Today, as always, the spirit of Christ is actively giving impetus to history. It shows up in solidarity, in the unselfish commitment of those who struggle for liberty and evince authentic love for their incarcerated poor brothers and sisters who have no access to justice.
We highly welcome Michael's concerns for the poor in our prisons. Situations of grave injustice require the courage to make far-reaching reforms in our justice system. The fight against injustice is meaningless unless it is waged with a view to establishing a new order in conformity with the demands of justice.
The motivating concern for the poor must be translated at all levels into concrete actions, until it decisively attains a series of necessary reforms. We wish to appeal with simplicity and humility to everyone, without exception, to take seriously Michael's observations on the plight of our poor brothers and sisters who are languishing in our prisons.
We ask all of you to be convinced of the seriousness of what Michael was saying and of the individual responsibility of each one of you to do something to address the problem. There is urgent need for us to implement measures inspired by solidarity and love of preference for the poor.
This is what is demanded by the present moment and above all, by the very dignity of the human person. We also ask Michael to do everything within his powers to address the plight of our poor brothers and sisters in prisons. Michael has shown some great concern over this issue.
This is not the first time he is speaking about it. He has consistently been on this issue for some time now. We want to see more action from the action man on this issue.
Labels: MICHAEL SATA, PRISONS
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Girasoli advises against selective justice delivery
By Masuzyo Chakwe
Fri 30 Dec. 2011, 13:58 CAT
ZAMBIA still has a long way to go in ensuring equality of all citizens before the law, says Archbishop Nicola Girasoli.
In an interview, Archbishop Girasoli the outgoing Vatican Ambassador to Zambia, said equality of all citizens before the law was an aspect that needed urgent attention in the country.
He said during his six-year tenure in Zambia, he had visited prisons and most cases for people in remand were not even considered.
Archbishop Girasoli said this situation needed to be addressed because prisons were overcrowded.
He said there was fear and sensation that if a person did not have a good lawyer, his or her case would never be solved.
"And unfortunately, people who have never been involved in any kind of judiciary process don't feel this problem but I have seen a very large part of society, a very much strong demand for this equality," he said.
Archbishop Girasoli said there was need to improve the image of the judiciary in the country.
"It's only those with money that have good access to justice and we have thousands of people who have cases that have not been dealt with, with some of them in prison while those with money are free on bail. But also in the civil judiciary system, there are a lot of people that really don't see their cases solved. When they start a case, maybe it may take years. Equality before the law is a very strong human right because this is what protects the minority. If you don't feel equal before the law, you are second-class citizens," Archbishop Girasoli said.
He said he had often raised the issue of equality before the law but it did not receive the required attention.
Archbishop Girasoli hoped that the judicial system in the country could be improved by, among other things, appointing enough judges and having rights incorporated in the new constitution.
Labels: JUDICIARY, NICOLA GIRASOLI, PRISONS
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Probe the deaths of Barotse activists
By The Post
Fri 15 July 2011, 14:00 CAT
Four of the 20 or so Barotse detainees have died within a space of three months.
We do appreciate that people are dying all over the country but there is something that appears strange with this group of people.
In a group of 20 people who were fit to be arrested and detained by the police and prosecuted by the state for participating in the Mongu riots, four of them dying within a space of three months is something that deserves probing. Twenty per cent of the Barotse Agreement activists who were arrested and detained in Lusaka and Mumbwa have died! Is this a normal rate of death?
These people were arrested mid-January this year. On April 18, 70-year-old Mwiya Sihope died in Mongu’s Lewanika General Hospital as a consequence of health complications that developed at Lusaka Central Prison where he was detained on treason charges. On April 22, 16-year-old Kabayo Kabayo died from suspected septicemia in Mumbwa Prison where he was detained.
And last Saturday, 92-year-old former Ngambela of Barotseland Maxwell Mututwa, who was released from Lusaka Central Prison where he spent over a month, died in Senanga. And before Mututwa could be buried, 26-year-old Pelekelo Likezo died on Tuesday due to illness that his relatives say started in detention. Whatever crimes these people were thought to have committed, they are human beings with the right to life.
We cannot claim to uphold the sanctity of life and yet watch people dying one after another in circumstances that raise many questions about the nature and conditions of their arrest and detention.
Life is sacred, a gift from God to be valued from the moment of conception until death. Human life is a precious gift from God, the Source of all life, and maximum care must be taken to preserve it. Every human being should have the chance to enjoy the wellbeing necessary for their full human development.
And consequent on his dignity as a human person and a creature of God, a human being has certain rights, which nobody can take away. The roots of human rights are to be found in the dignity that belongs to each human being. There is need to find out why all these people have died shortly after being released from detention. These are poor people but they are not without human dignity.
Every human life has a unique value. Human life is a precious gift from God, the Source of all life. In the book of Genesis, we read about creation: “God saw all the creation and indeed it was very good” (Genesis 1:31). The last and the highest form of life that God created was human life. “Let us make human beings in our own image, in the likeness of ourselves” (Genesis 1:26).
Consequently, every human life is sacred and demands the greatest respect and protection. Among the commandments given to Moses was: “You shall not kill” (Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 5:17). This is a commandment which has been fully endorsed by Jesus himself (Mark 10:19; Matt 19:18; Luke 18:20).
And we are mindful of the covenant that God made with us: “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today: I set before you life or death, blessing or curse. Choose life, then, so that you and your descendants may live in love of Yahweh, your God, obeying God’s voice, clinging to God” (Deuteronomy 30:19).
Choose life and not death! God calls us to protect and preserve human life. Indeed, we rejoice to find that this Christian teaching is also built in the United Nations convention on human rights.
The suspicious deaths of these Barotse Agreement activists who were detained in our prisons should not go unprobbed. There is need to investigate the cause of the death of every one of them.
And a competent commission should be set up to investigate what led to the deaths of those people in such a short time – within a period of three months, we have lost 20 per cent of these detainees.
By making this demand, we risk being accused of trying to fan trouble for the government and the ruling party, especially in the period of elections.
We are not accusing anyone of anything. We are simply demanding for that which needs to be done to be done. Even animals when they die in large numbers, veterinary experts are sent to investigate the cause of their deaths. If we can do that for animals, domestic and wild, what more for our fellow human beings?
We want peace and reconciliation in our country.
But we shouldn’t forget that the Lord Jesus Christ spent his public life going about doing good – healing, forgiving, comforting and showing compassion and concern for all human suffering. At the same time, he openly confronted the evils that oppress and dehumanise people.
There is need for a change of heart. Efforts should therefore be made to instill in people’s hearts a respect for God’s commandment of “Thou shall not kill,” a respect for the principle to the effect that God has entrusted us with the lives of our brothers and sisters.
All politicians and leaders should be made responsible for their actions. Those responsible for the reckless way in which the grievances of the Barotse activists were handled and the way in which the Mongu riots were policed should be brought to justice.
So far, those in government have tried to buy peace in Barotseland with money, buying their victims all sorts of gifts, yet these deaths we are today witnessing are a concrete example of how political carelessness has caused deaths and untold and continued misery which we are experiencing now.
The government is indicting itself by not probing the causes of these deaths and arresting anyone for causing them. They want reconciliation, they want peace without anyone taking responsibility for what happened and is happening. We are aware that reconciliation is a long and difficult process.
We are also aware of the obstacles and difficulties set up on this road. The process of reconciliation and forgiveness involves the seeking of truth that ensures sincere and lasting forgiveness. It also presupposes justice.
As Pope John Paul II once observed, “There is no contradiction between forgiveness and justice. Forgiveness neither eliminates nor lessens the need for the reparation which justice requires”.
A human person should not be subjected to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment. The way the Barotse activists were treated does not accord with the dignity of the human person.
The Mongu riots require a critical appraisal of the deep roots of their causes. We know that the police brutality that the Barotse activists were subjected to was a result of those in government trying to preserve their hold on political power – the lust for power. Those who hunger for power can kill for it and do kill for it.
If peace is to return in Barotseland, the primary requisite is to eradicate the cause of the riots and disturbances that took place in Mongu. And in our view, it is important to maintain and strengthen democratic structures if we are to enjoy a peaceful and developing future as a nation.
If the Barotse activists were allowed space to exercise their freedom of expression and assembly, those riots would not have taken place and no lives would have been lost as a consequence.
Therefore, the pursuit of justice must be a fundamental norm of the state. And this calls for justice to be given to the families of those who lost their lives as a result of the inhuman conditions under which they were detained. And those responsible for this drama must humbly accept their wrongdoings and ask for forgiveness.
There is no need for them to pretend everything was done well as George Kunda told Parliament in an effort to justify this government’s brutality – the brutality and intolerance that has so far caused the deaths of not less than four people and left many of our brothers maimed for life.
Mututwa sought dialogue. He consistently called for dialogue over the Barotse Agreement. What did he get in return? He was arrested and detained. Dialogue, listening to others and sharing our own beliefs with others, is not a choice for us.
It is a must. Dialogue is an essential path for the promotion of peace and unity in our country. We say this because dialogue is rooted in the nature and dignity of human beings. In dialogue, one can compare different points of view and examine disagreements.
Peace is the fruit of honesty, truth and solidarity; it is the tranquility of order. And to guarantee peace, all are called to maturity, tolerance and responsibility. This is the spirit in which these deaths should be approached.
Labels: BAROTSE FREEDOM MOVEMENT, MONGU, PRISONS
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4th ex-Barotse detainee dies
By Mwala Kalaluka in Mongu
Thu 14 July 2011, 14:01 CAT
ANOTHER former Barotse detainee has died from a health condition that relatives say manifested shortly after his release from Mumbwa Prison where he was remanded over the Barotseland Agreement-related Mongu riots.
And burial of 92-year-old former Ngambela of Barotseland who was early this year arrested and charged with treason by the government over the Barotseland Agreement issue takes place in Senanga today.
Family members confirmed to The Post in Mongu that 26-year-old Pelekelo Likezo died at his Malelekwa home at around 19:00 hours on Tuesday after succumbing to his illness.
The deceased's brother, Lubinda Likezo said in an interview as sympathisers were waiting to take his body to Mongu Central Police and subsequently to Lewanika General Hospital Mortuary, that Pelekelo was not in poor health when he was taken to Mumbwa Prison over the Mongu riots.
“My brother was arrested on January 14, 2011 over these Linyungandambo riots. When he came back he stayed for about a month and he started having a problem of dizziness,” said Lubinda as his brother’s body lay on the roadside on a thin mattress with sombre-looking people surrounding it.
“He was admitted to hopsital on April 3, 2011 and after two weeks he started having fits and looking like someone who was getting confused.”
Lubinda said his brother was discharged from Lewanika General Hospital on April 16, 2011.
“About a week later the fits started again and he was taken to the hospital again. He was admitted and within a week, he was discharged again. The problem never stopped until after five days. Today afternoon we started noticing that he was not okay,” Lubinda said.
Lubinda said doctors at Lewanika Hospital had advised the family to take Pelekelo to the University Teaching Hospital UTH for specialist medical attention.
“But we told them that we had financial difficulties to do that,” said Lubinda. “We were still trying to do that when he died. My brother was okay when he was taken to Mumbwa over the Mongu riots.”
Pelekelo’s death brings the death toll of Barotse detainees to four within three months.
On April 18, 2011, 70-year-old Mwiya Sihope died in Lewanika Hospital early this year as a consequence of health complications that developed whilst detained in Lusaka Central Prison on a treason charge.
On April 22, 2011, 16-year-old Kabayo Kabayo died from suspected septicemia whilst detained in Mumbwa Prison awaiting the disposal of his court case in the Mumbwa surbodinate court.
Last Saturday, 92-year-old former Ngambela Maxwell Mututwa, who was also arrested and charged over the Barotse treason and remanded in Lusaka Central Prison for over a month died in his bed at his Silele Village in Senanga.
And family members have confirmed that Mututwa would be put to rest in Senanga today after lying in state at Silele Village.
Mututwa was among over 20 Lozis that were in January this year taken to Lusaka and charged with treason on allegations that they wanted to secede the Western Province from the rest of Zambia using unlawful means.
Following his release from remand prison via a nolle prosequi, Mututwa asked President Rupiah Banda's government to explain why it arrested him when all he was trying to do was to find a peaceful resolution to the Barotseland Agreement controversy.
In later interviews with The Post Mututwa had called for the unconditional release of all those detained over the Barotseland Agreement discourse so that they participate in the dialogue process.
Mututwa was emphatic that dialogue over the Barotseland Agreement issue should take place before the country went to the polls later in the year.
Labels: BAROTSE FREEDOM MOVEMENT, PRISONS
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Prison congestion
By The Post
Sun 03 July 2011, 10:10 CAT
It is said that no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails and seen how prisoners are treated and live.
It is also said that a nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones – and Zambia treats its imprisoned citizens like animals. The question we ask is: what type of a nation is this that has declared itself a Christian one? What is Christian about the way this so-called Christian nation treats its lowest citizens, its prisoners?
There has to be fairness in the way justice is administered in this country. And there is need to draw the attention of the nation to the way prisoners are treated and live in this country. We cannot ignore or turn a blind eye to the unfairness and injustice that our brothers and sisters who are imprisoned have to endure. Some of them are remand prisoners who don’t even know when their cases will be heard.
We are told by Percy Chato, our Commissioner of Prisons, that our prisons today hold over 15,500 prisoners instead of the 7,500 prisoners the prisons where built to accommodate. Chato acknowledges that our prisons are congested and the environment is not good for the convicted individuals.
We are also told by Dr Chileshe Chisela, the Deputy Commissioner of Prisons, that the number of remandees was very high and this tended to have an effect on the number of people in prisons despite efforts to decongest them. And Dr Chisela says courts should quickly dispose of cases, especially the small ones, to ensure that the number of people in our prisons is reduced.
Congestion in our prisons is not a new phenomenon. Many people, including ourselves, have evidenced it and have spoken about it. Some of our editors have been in prison and have seen what conditions prevail in there. Stories have been written about how prisoners are packed like sardines without any room to stretch.
They sleep in a sitting position. They are open to all sorts of opportunistic diseases due to congestion. There is a limit to even how many sardines one can fit in a can. But it seems when it comes to prisons, our prisons have no limit to how many people they can take. Whatever number the courts send them, it would seem they have to accommodate even if they have exhausted their capacity.
Our judges visit prisons at the beginning of every criminal session. And they tell the same story about how congested our prisons are. But when they start sitting, they continue to send more and more people to these already congested prisons.
Religious leaders and other civil society activists have spoken about the congestion in our prisons and the inhumane environment under which our prisoners live. Politicians have also spoken about it. But it ends here – in speech. And no one seems to take responsibility. Everyone is washing his hands in the Pontius Pilate style.
No one seems to want to take responsibility for the congestion and the inhumane environment under which our prisoners live. The courts seem to be telling us that their duty is simply to send to prison those who deserve to be in prison whether there is space or no space.
And the duty of ensuring that there is adequate space and a humane environment does not lie with them, it lies with the prison authorities and those who supervise them. The prison authorities are complaining about congestion as if they are helpless and cannot say no to any excess prisoners that the courts send them. They seem to be telling us that even if their prisons are full to the brim, whoever the courts send to them they have to take him in.
There are many questions that the courts and the prison authorities should answer over this issue of prison congestion. Why do our judges visit prisons at the beginning of each criminal session? What do they go there to do? They don’t seem to be in a position to do anything about this congestion.
What would happen if the Commissioner of Prisons sent back to court remanded or convicted persons, saying he has no space to take them in and it is not his duty to build prisons?
In all this drama, the political authorities are quiet.
We are behaving as if there is no solution to the issue of prison congestion. We are behaving as if the number of people who are sent to prison is beyond our control in the same way as we have no control over rain. We have control over the numbers of people we should send to prison.
And the matter starts with the police and the courts. There are many people remanded in our prisons today who can be out on bail without much risk to public order and security. People are sent to prison for no good reasons. A good example of this is the case of Lusaka lawyer Nsuka Sambo who the Supreme Court unjustifiably and in the most questionable of circumstances imprisoned. They knew very well that our prisons were congested.
They also knew very well that there was alternative punishment Sambo could have been given. Sambo was not a common criminal whom if let free would cause more harm to society. Not even the argument of deterrent could be reasonably advanced to justify Sambo’s imprisonment. No alternative punishment was considered in this case.
Congestion or no congestion, Sambo was sent to prison to increase, and not reduce, the congestion. Out of anger, out of pride, out of unbridled ego, Sambo was vindictively sent to prison to increase the congestion. With this behaviour, can our courts really claim to be concerned about prison congestion? We so often see bench warrants being issued for the arrest and detention of people on very flimsy grounds.
People who are concerned about prison congestion cannot behave this way, cannot detain people in this manner.
Our politicians in parliament have done very little, if not nothing, to address the problem of prison congestion. As lawmakers, they have not come up with any legislation to help reduce prison congestion.
And the Law Association of Zambia has also not done much to address the issue of prison congestion. There is surely something the human rights committee of the Law Association of Zambia can do on this score.
Let’s not ignore or turn a blind eye to the plight of our brothers and sisters who are today languishing under the most inhumane conditions in our prisons.
Our bond of brotherhood and sisterhood in the one body of Christ and our solidarity as a people should, in love, compel us to anger for the justice and righteousness of the Lord in our prisons. In this context, we recall the words of Jesus at the beginning of his ministry:
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, for He has anointed me to bring the good news to the afflicted. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives, sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year of favour from the Lord” (Luke 4:18 – 19).
This appeal for fair treatment of our prisoners should be heard in all our institutions of the state and civil society. Those of us who have to pronounce judgment of persons and situations should view the exercise of their authority as a service of the truth for the common good as well as for the wellbeing of the individual. In particular, we exhort them to respect the rights of those accused of having committed offences. We appeal to those in authority to be more open to the protection of the human dignity of the people we imprison.
Prisoners should be treated with respect befitting human beings. Even the worst criminals do not lose their inborn rights. And we support those who believe a judgment to be a proper authority to determine the humanity of detention conditions. It is our collective duty to express our concern for the welfare of prisoners and other detainees.
Labels: FRED M'MEMBE, PRISONS
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Prisons have remained congested - Chato
By Fridah Nkonde in Ndola
Sun 03 July 2011, 10:10 CAT
COMMISSIONER of Prisons Percy Chato says Zambian prisons have remained congested even after embarking on a decongestion exercise. In an interview, Chato said there were over 15,000 prisoners instead of the 7,500 prisoners that are supposed to be in holding cells countrywide.
He said such levels of congestion were not good for the convicted individuals.
“Despite having too many people in prisons, we are making sure that these people are given normal and nutritious food. We have put up a budget of all the essential needs of the prisoners,” Chato said.
He also said prisoners did not only rely on the food supplied to the prisons but also provide supplementary foodstuffs by engaging in the rearing of animals and growing of different crops.
Chato said the food supplied to prisoners was examined by the environmental health technicians.
And Prisons Deputy Commissioner Dr Chileshe Chisela said despite the efforts made in decongesting the prisons, the challenge being faced was the turnover of remandees.
He said the courts should try by all means to speed up the process of disposing of cases, especially minor ones, because those with small cases awaiting judgment were the ones congesting the prisons.
“…40 per cent of the total number of prisoners are those under detention in our prisons which is quite a big number hence contributing to the congestion in prisons,” Dr Chisela said.
He said the decongestion exercise was successful despite the limited holding capacity of prisons.
Dr Chisela added that most of the prisons in Zambia were decongested during the exercise that was carried out.
“Kamwala Prisons which had seven hundred plus prisoners now has five hundred. Maximum prisons which had 1,700 now have 1,500, while other prisons such as Monze, Luwingu and Mpima prisons are under renovation,” said Dr Chisela.
Labels: PRISONS
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Court orders health checks on Mansa riot remandees
By Mwala Kalaluka in Samfya
Thu 19 May 2011, 04:01 CAT
A SAMFYA Court has asked the State to implement a court order that a medical doctor examines the health status of several remandees at Mansa State Prison charged for riotous conduct.
Magistrate Patson Chiluba, sitting as a magistrate in Samfya, on Monday reinforced the order that was issued by another Mansa-based magistrate hearing the same matters after several of the suspected rioters raised health-related complaints during their detention.
Magistrate Chiluba made the order during a plea hearing of a case where 46-year-old Vincent Kalaba of Mansa’s Chikotwe Village was in the first count charged with riot and in the second count charged with house breaking and theft.
Kalaba is in count one alleged to have taken part in a riot with others unknown in Mansa between 18 and 20 April, 2011.
Kalaba leaded not guilty to the charge.
In the second count, to which he also pleaded not guilty, Kalaba on April 18, 2011 broke into the dwelling house of Ibrahim Sanaula in Mansa and stole one air gun with serial number 74181184, one water container and other goods all valued at K1,350,000 belonging to Sanaula.
The matter was adjourned to May 19, 2011 for trial.
Kalaba asked for bail because the police were failing to locate the person who had committed the offence for which he had been brought to court for.
“It is better the police find the one who stole instead of making me suffer like this,” Kalaba pleaded.
State prosecutor Victor Choongo objected Kalaba’s application on grounds that being a Mansa resident, he had not advanced any suggestions of how he would find money to travel to Samfya to attend court sessions.
Choongo said although Kalaba was charged alone, the indictment read that he was acting jointly with others unknown.
“These are the others the police are pursuing to bring to book,” Choongo said.
“The accused person in the dock...is likely to regroup with others who the police are still pursuing to commit various offences as the court has observed.”
Choongo said some of those that had escaped the police dragnet during the Mansa riots were still committing offences.
Kalaba did not say anything in reply to the State’s objection.
Magistrate Chiluba said the bail application was rejected because Kalaba might encounter difficulties travelling from Mansa to Samfya to attend court.
But Kalaba, still in the accused box, said he was sick.
“Even the doctor has not come to visit and even the way we are remanded has affected my right hand,” said Kalaba.
Magistrate Chiluba then asked Kalaba if he had informed the State of his illness and he said that he did.
He said he had not seen a doctor since 25th April when he was detained.
Choongo told the court that prison authorities informed him that a Dr Phiri was unable to attend to all accused persons because he went to the prison late.
Choongo assured the court that further arrangements would be made to recall the doctor so that he conducts medical examinations on all those that he failed to see during his last visit. Hearing in the matter continues.
Labels: MANSA DISTRICT, PRISONS
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Two Ethiopian nationals die in Malawi prison
By Nyasa Times
Published: May 5, 2011
An Ethiopian national has died while serving a four-month jail term in northern Malawi for entering that country illegally, authorities have confirmed.
Prison spokesperson Austin Mwasangwale said the convict died of malaria Wednesday barely five days after he begun serving his 120 days of imprisonment with hard labour.
The deceased identified as 31-year-old Moradi Hadallo hailed from Dulame district in Ethiopia and was part of 126 Ethiopian and Somali nationals currently serving various jail terms at the northern region city of Mzuzu and lakeshore district of Nkhata Bay respectively.
Mwasangwale said the deceased was admitted at Nkhata Bay District Hospital after opening bowels before being diagnosed of malaria.
“His body is being kept at Mzuzu Central Hospital morgue. At the moment, authorities from various departments are banging heads on how to repatriate the body,” explained the spokesperson.
His death comes barely a day after police reported that another Ethiopian, Mulafu Abul, 26, had also died after complaining of general body pains and diarrhea and died two days later in hospital.
The 126 were committed to prison late last month after they failed to pay fines ranging from K5000 to K8000 (about US$32 to US$52) after the court found them guilty of entering the country illegally.
A few days later, the court slapped 74 more Ethiopians and Somalis with similar fines but they too failed to pay and were committed to same prisons.
Currently confirmed reports say Mzuzu and Nkhata Bay Prisons have 102 and 98 Ethiopians and Somalis respectively.
Malawi Police in the region have so far arrested about 200 Ethiopians and Somalis for illegally entering the country. Most of them, aged between 17 and 34, pay hefty sums of money to crooked Malawians and people of other nationalities to facilitate their illegal movement.
Generally, these illegal foreigners arrive in Malawi very exhausted and frail after walking for long distances spending days and nights with insufficient foods.
There are over 11000 refugees in Malawi who have been escaping from their countries because of hunger and wars.
Malawi prisons are ‘death traps’ for inmates plagued by overcrowding, malnutrition and rampant disease and that prisoners continue to suffer conditions which are generally poor; in some cases these amount to deliberate cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.–(Reporting by Felie Mzumara, Nyasa Times)
Labels: PRISONS
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Explore community service to reduce prison congestion - Malembeka
By Edwin Mbulo and picture By Eddie Mwanaleza
Sun 06 Feb. 2011, 04:01 CAT
CONGESTION in prison continues to be a major source of concern in society. This problem has led to an increase in many undesirable vices as prisoners are left to live in inhuman conditions, subsequently making reformation difficult. The slow pace of the justice system has been blamed for the congestion as thousands remain in custody waiting for their cases to be disposed of.
Much as efforts are being made by the government to improve infrastructure for the courts to ensure that many cases are heard, the problem still exists and there is need for serious attention to the matter.
The Prisons Care and Counseling Association (PRISCCA) is one such organisation that is trying to address the welfare of prisoners in the country.
Association executive director Godfrey Malembeka says there are over 6,000 inmates waiting for their cases to be disposed of.
Malembeka says he recently asked parliamentarians to work towards ensuring that the justice system used non-custodial sentences for certain offences to reduce the numbers of people sent to prison.
Currently, according to Malembeka, the country has no legal instrument that compels judges, magistrates and presiding justices to impose non-custodial sentences such as community service.
“We have 16,000 to 17,000 prisoners in a space that was meant for 5,000. How do you keep people like this? Out of these, 6,000 are remandees. These are free people who are voters. We are keeping people who are innocent until proven guilty. The 6,000 are free,” he says.
Malembeka says the prisons have no well-defined areas for patients suffering from tuberculosis and this poses a risk for the other inmates.
Recently, home affairs minister Mkhondo Lungu launched the TB outreach project at Lusaka Central Prison which would also cover Kabwe complex and Livingstone prisons to enhance mass TB screening of prisoners and staff, thus implementing TB-HIV sensitisation.
Lungu said, “statistics indicate that TB related illnesses are a major health challenge in our prisons mostly attributed to the fact that people who are in incarceration are usually close to each other due to limited space.”
This is a problem that Malembeka says affects prisoners greatly.
He says the problem of fuel allocation for transportation of remandees to courts should also be addressed by ensuring that the prisons service overlooks the allocation and not the police to avoid setbacks.
However, he says it is good that the prisons now have a medical doctor as opposed to the previous scenario where it was difficult to get inmates to the hospital.
He says the government should now move a step further by increasing the number of clinics at the prisons from the current 15 against the country’s existing 86 prisons.
“When you look at the prisons Act Chapter 53 Section 71 and 72, prisoners have no full right to health. It states that the officer-in-charge shall select or allow who is to get treatment but when it comes to the inmate there is a doubt as it states that the inmate may access treatment and care,” he says.
“The prison Act requires that the officer-in-charge authorizes the movement of the prisoner and with the shortage of manpower it becomes very difficult to implement this.”
Malembeka spent four years in prison and decided to form an association after he was released to champion prisoners’ human rights.
“The congestion in prisons is so high that it is a breeding ground for airborne diseases.
Government needs to build two to three new prisons instead of just rehabilitating the old ones,” he says.
He says his association sensitises prisoners on their rights.
“With the funding from the European Union (EU), we have acquired desks and we hope prisoners can do distance learning and also write books on issues such as HIV/AIDS,” Malembeka says.
Due to the association’s programmes with the help of a grant from Alliance, he says, cases of sodomy in prisons are declining.
“Sodomy and drug abuse in prisons is a known factor but to what extent needs a research. But with the coming of PRISCCA we have seen a reduction. You can’t stop people with a whip or with guns. But we have told our friends the consequence of drug abuse and sodomy and some of my friends have lost remission because of cases such as fighting,” he says.
“As at now we have a Parole Board. Prisoners can be able to go on leave and so far we have released about 340 prisoners. We are checking on them and so far there is no complaint.”
He appeals to the prison-based non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to work together so as to strengthen advocacy.
“We need to strengthen our mouth piece on issues that are very important that we want the government to change issues. We want to be united, we want all our colleagues that are interested in prison work and all let us be united, knocking on the right ministries and knocking on the doors of the parliamentarians,” says Malembeka.
Labels: PRISONS
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Judge Mulongoti calls for more prisons
By Speedwell Mupuchi in Kitwe
Tue 04 Jan. 2011, 04:00 CAT
KITWE High Court judge Judy Mulongoti says government should give the problem of overcrowding in the country’s prison utmost urgency. Copperbelt prisons have a total of 3,417 prisoners.
Opening the High Court criminal sessions in Kitwe yesterday, Justice Mulongoti said that limited space due to limited number of prisons, increased prison admission, over detention (pre-trial detention), and slowness in the criminal justice process were some of the causes of the problem.
She said that government in its Fifth National Development Plan had policies to address the problem.
“I can only solemnly urge the government through you and through this forum lobby that the problem of overcrowding in our prisons be afforded the utmost urgency it deserves,” she said.
“And courts must judiciously consider alternative sentencing options. The parole system must therefore be given the necessary support and its enabling legislation must be strengthened to make it more effective.”
Justice Mulongoti said the Law Association of Zambia should encourage its members to take up cases and give legal representation on pro bono basis for the good of the public, particularly the vulnerable.
Justice Mulongoti noted that administration of justice and the fight against crime could not just be left to the police, prisons and the courts.
She said the judiciary had multiple challenges ranging from inadequate funds and infrastructure to inadequate machinery, equipment and cutting-edge technology in many courthouses, particularly the lower courts, to help in the quick disposal of cases.
Copperbelt minister Mwansa Mbulakulima who officiated at the occasion urged legal practitioners to avoid unnecessary adjournment of cases.
Labels: PRISONS
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This is a just struggle
By The Post
Wed 09 June 2010, 09:50 CAT
What is going on in our country today reminds us of what Edmund Burke once said in reference to the coming together of bad men. Burke said “when bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle”.
Those that thought they would break us by sending us to jail did themselves a disservice. Yes, no one likes to be locked up in prison. But there is no such thing as bad experience. Every experience has some use and can be turned into something good. If not, at least a good lesson can be derived from it.
It was good to observe that in the midst of much suffering and discomfort, the people in prison still try to look after each other. There is a sense of decency about the way they deal with each other. It was gratifying to see how prepared they were to share the little that they had.
In this place which is supposed to be the cupboard where the undesirable elements of society are kept, there is humanity. Those who are sick are looked after by other inmates. The atmosphere is definitely different from what we experienced some 15 years ago when attempts were made to crush us in the same way that Rupiah Banda and his minions are trying to crush us today.
We noticed that the prison authorities seem to have done a lot to change the way that the inmates relate to one another. It is however sad to realise that prisons are still perpetually underfunded, forcing the prison authorities to make do with very little. The living conditions are not the best in the world but it was good to observe human beings living in the most difficult circumstances trying hard to maintain their humanness.
This experience was rewarding because it brings into sharp focus the reason why we have to wage the struggles that we wage. It is not for ourselves; there are many people whose very lives depend on others being able to stand for what is right, what is noble, what is good. We cannot allow Zambia to be condemned to be a kleptocracy run by habitual thieves – kleptomaniacs.
A life of struggle can be a very lonely life. It is not always that we find comrades to fight alongside us and champion the causes that we feel passionately about. The world of writing by its nature tends to draw us away from excessive social interaction; we miss out on the small things of life.
Being in prison brought us into contact with other human beings that we would never have otherwise met. We listened to their joys and also learnt about their sorrows.
It was also gratifying to see that although we may sometimes feel lonely in the struggle, we are not alone. There are many people who feel exactly as we do and are ready to make the same sacrifices that we make. We enjoyed solidarity and support of many women and men of goodwill who came to keep our spirits high and remind us that our sacrifices are not in vain.
It is probably here, that those who tried to crush us made their biggest mistake. They gave us a chance to connect with many of our people who came to visit us and speak to us about their frustrations with things as they stand today, but also their hopes for what things could be if only we could continue the struggle and not give up. There is no chance that we could ever give up on the life that we have chosen and the struggle that we wage. But hearing others cheer us on and encourage us to continue gives us renewed vigour and strength to keep going.
This is what sending us to prison did. It recharged our batteries. And as the saying goes, let the games begin. Yes, we shall continue to fight those that want to abuse our people, steal from them and oppress them. We have no fear for anyone. This is not because we are reckless or do not value our lives. But it is because we know that giving in to fear is giving up on our people. We cannot give up on our people.
It was good to see Dr Kenneth Kaunda when he came to visit us the other day. Comrade KK was sent to jail for no reason by Frederick Chiluba. He has suffered more than we could ever claim. Today, comrade KK’s legacy is being minimised by Rupiah who has found so much to praise about Chiluba’s leadership qualities and does not have the same accolades for KK, the man who made Rupiah.
Comrade KK is a better man than both Chiluba and Rupiah put together. Comrade KK proved that he could be more tolerant than Chiluba and Rupiah could ever be. Comrade KK was a president just like Rupiah is today. We criticised him heavily but he never treated the media the way Rupiah is treating us today. It seems comrade KK realised the true value of a free media.
His good political instincts seem to have told him that a free media is useful to a government that wishes to remain in contact with the aspirations and expectations of its people. Indeed when we look back, it seems that the state media was freer in comrade KK’s one party state than it is in Rupiah’s pretended multiparty democratic state. Rupiah and his minions would like us to be part of their band of praise singers and sycophants. This can never be.
There are many others who came to see us. We know that not everybody agrees with us or should agree with us. But in coming to see us, our people were saying no to injustice, no to unfairness. Everybody wants a better Zambia.
Rupiah and his minions are uncomfortable with this newspaper because it dares to stand for what is true and expose them regardless of the price that it stands to pay. They call us names and accuse us of all sorts of things. But this does not bother us because we are not in this struggle to be praised by people like Rupiah or liked by crooks.
Yes, many of the people who want to destroy us are not fighting us because of any lofty principles. They are fighting us to defend what they consider to be their right to abuse our people and steal their resources. This is what it is about. They do not like it when we expose their corruption and fight their political patronage. But this will not stop us.
It was wartime British prime minister Winston Churchill who said, when faced with a rampaging Nazi German army, that “even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous states have fallen or may fall into…the audience apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end…we shall fight on the seas, oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and strength, we shall defend our land”.
We have no illusions about how determined those who seek to crush us are. But we shall fight them with increasing confidence and defend the dignity of our people. This is our calling, this is our contribution.
We are grateful to all those who found it in themselves to show us solidarity and encourage us when those who have always wanted to crush us thought they had won because we were sent to prison.
They may have imprisoned our bodies for a few days but they did not imprison our ideas and our dedication to fighting for a more just, a more fair and a more humane Zambia where those who lead do so for the benefit of all the 12 million, not just their stomachs and those of their children.
The association of our people continues to give us strength and in the words of Burke, we are comforted that we are not engaged in “an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle”. This is a just struggle.
Labels: FRED M'MEMBE, PRISONS, THE POST
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