Following food riots which lasted three hours, 11 inmates died and several have been hospitalised. In the aftermath of the unrest, there are terrifying reports of correctional officers beating up inmates as punishment.
The Zimbabwe Prison Services (ZPS) has attempted to conceal the severity of the situation, by under-reporting the number of dead and attributing the casualties to a stampede, rather than gunshot wounds. ZPS claims officers fired blanks, yet there are 11 dead. In a prison where the standard footwear is soft canvas shoes, it is hard to think a stampede killed 11 people.
Everything is interconnected. ZPS owns several farms which, in recent years, have been underfunded and looted by government officials. The prison population of 18,000 exceeds the holding capacity (17,000). Several offences are as a direct result of economic hardship – ‘idle hands are the devil’s workshop.’ But what is really tragic is that an unspecified number of cattle from ZPS farms were diverted towards Mugabe’s 91st birthday orgy held in Victoria Falls, where 91 beasts were reportedly slaughtered to feed 20,000 guests.
In a report of December 2013, the Research and Advocacy Unit and the Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association highlighted appalling living conditions in the country’s prisons. Female inmates were said to recycle sanitary wear and sleep on soiled, lice-infested linen.
Post published in: News