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Zimbabwean jails in deplorable state
Zimbabwe Association for Crime Prevention and Rehabilitation of the Offender (ZACRO)
October 13, 2008

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Preamble

Largely, the Zimbabwe Association for Crime Prevention and Rehabilitation of the Offender (ZACRO) objectives revolve around catering for the welfare of prisoners and ex-offenders and seeking further penal reforms. The organization notes that human rights are;

• Essential to a human being without which one cannot live in dignity as a person
• Universal for they are minimum acceptable standards worldwide
• Inalienable for they can not be separated from existence of a human being nor are they a gift from another; and
• Interdependent, indivisible and interrelated

However, it is within the context of human rights of prisoners which are civil, economic and social natured that this paper seeks for their:

• Exploration,
• Realisation,
• Protection,
• Respect and
• Acknowledgement

In this light ZACRO focus on the right to - life, liberty, protection from inhuman and degrading treatment, torture, protection of the law, freedom to expression, association and assembly regarding those incarcerated and released from prison. Further analysis of the plight of prisoners reveals that - economic and social rights including the right to health, education, shelter, food, adequate clean water and to a family remain crucial and need to be attended to.

The Constitution of Zimbabwe clearly underlines that prisoners possess certain fundamental rights which are necessary to preserve their dignity and humanity. On the contrary these provisions are not closely respected and protected because the constitution has not been revisited and amended in view of realizing and protecting the human rights for prisoners. Hence there is always need for ZACRO to intervene and lobby for penal reforms which suit protection of human rights for prisoners.

Situational analysis of prisons in Zimbabwe

Prisons in Zimbabwe have remained secretive and closed institutions to majority people yet real experiences in the prisons reveal numerous human rights issues around plight of inmates which demand intervention by ZACRO.

This comes in the wake that conditions of prisons have deteriorated drastically over the past few years while political will has not been responding to the challenges facing Zimbabwe's prisons. Most disturbing is that the current economic environment has seen plight of inmates plunging into deeper levels of despondency while economic problems are forcing more people to commit criminal offences.

In addition, findings reveal that with a capacity around 17 000, the country's 55 prisons including satellites are holding over 35 000 inmates seeing them marred with numerous issues affecting inmates which need urgent address.

These mainly include:

• Overcrowding,
• Unhygienic conditions,
• Lack of proper food,
• Medical care,
• Spread of diseases
• Deaths in custody

Many individuals are imprisoned for long periods under unacceptable conditions without legal representation. In this context, ZACRO supports imprisonment for the benefit of society through correctional means with emphasis placed on rehabilitation, integration, provision of humanitarian assistance to the inmates and advocacy for penal reform

This intervention is in line with complementing efforts by Zimbabwe Prison Service (ZPS) which involve introduction of more professionals like social workers who are set to rehabilitate inmates while concerned with human rights for the inmates. This has become clear testimony involving shifting prisons from mere incarceration centers to correctional and rehabilitative institutions in the country. On this note - the following are descriptions of areas where human rights for prisoners which are economically and socially natured are of major concern in the country's prisons for they are mostly tampered with.

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