News / National
Prisons in sorry state
14 Feb 2017 at 05:36hrs | Views
Civil rights activist Linda Masarira has bemoaned the state of the country's prisons and poor food provided to prisoners.
She said the state of Zimbabwean prisons is so pathetic that if one is sentenced to a few years it becomes tantamount to a death sentence as the conditions themselves can condemn one to death.
"The prisons are characterized by the absence of paletable food fit for human consumption. The kind of food served in Zimbabwean prisons would make a pig puke and has no nutritional value but the kind to keep flesh and soul together. We demand the immediate review of the type of food served in the country's prisons. We demand decent food that has nutrients to avoid rampant cases of pelagra often witnessed in our prisons," she said.
"The living conditions in prison also make on shudder to think if the prisons were designed for humans or for animals?. The cell occupation capacity is far surpassed by the number of prisoners contained in it at a time and the quality of blankets is not fit for humans but for dogs. The prisons have generally become overcrowded as a result of a partisan and corrupt judiciary. Political activists have been placed in prisons needlesly balloning the number of inmates thus surpassing the prisons' carrying capacities. The judiciary has been found wanting regarding the miscarriage of justice especially in political cases."
She said the conviction of Last Maengahama and others on trumped up and fabricated charges is an example of how the judiciary has been compromised by executive control and has largely become partisan in nature.
"We demand the independence of the judiciary from executive control,we demand impartiality and fairness in the discharge of its duties. Partisan judges must be compelled to retire from the bench for the law must protect all, not a few elite," she said.
"We furthermore implore the government to halt the constitutional amendments on the appointment of the Chief Justice, the executive must not interfere in the affairs of the judiciary as these compromises checks and balances that propagates democracy."
She said the state of Zimbabwean prisons is so pathetic that if one is sentenced to a few years it becomes tantamount to a death sentence as the conditions themselves can condemn one to death.
"The prisons are characterized by the absence of paletable food fit for human consumption. The kind of food served in Zimbabwean prisons would make a pig puke and has no nutritional value but the kind to keep flesh and soul together. We demand the immediate review of the type of food served in the country's prisons. We demand decent food that has nutrients to avoid rampant cases of pelagra often witnessed in our prisons," she said.
"The living conditions in prison also make on shudder to think if the prisons were designed for humans or for animals?. The cell occupation capacity is far surpassed by the number of prisoners contained in it at a time and the quality of blankets is not fit for humans but for dogs. The prisons have generally become overcrowded as a result of a partisan and corrupt judiciary. Political activists have been placed in prisons needlesly balloning the number of inmates thus surpassing the prisons' carrying capacities. The judiciary has been found wanting regarding the miscarriage of justice especially in political cases."
"We demand the independence of the judiciary from executive control,we demand impartiality and fairness in the discharge of its duties. Partisan judges must be compelled to retire from the bench for the law must protect all, not a few elite," she said.
"We furthermore implore the government to halt the constitutional amendments on the appointment of the Chief Justice, the executive must not interfere in the affairs of the judiciary as these compromises checks and balances that propagates democracy."
Source - Byo24News
