“Protect inmates and adhere to human rights,” protests ActionAid Zambia’s Jovina Nawenzake

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By Derrick Sinjela and Simon Banda

Dehumanising 2023 Prisons Audit Report revelations deemed alarming and a clear case of human rights violations by Zambian authorities have compelled ActionAid Zambia Interim Country Director Ms. Jovina Nawenzake to issue an alert.

Noted violation of human rights happening in Zambia Correctional Service (ZCS) facilities supervised by Minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security (MHAIS) Jack Mwiimbu have been classified as shocking compelling Ms. Nawenzake into challenging the United Party for National Development (UPND) Administration to swiftly intervene so as to nip traumatising inmate treatment in the bud.

“According to Article 4 of the United Nation’s (UN) Universal Declaration of Human Rights ‘no person must be subjected to torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment’.

Further, Article 9 states that no one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exiled.

Domestically, the Zambian Constitution outlines the national value of human dignity, equity, social justice, equality, and non-discrimination,”observed Ms. Nawenzake.

Reiterating her concern, Ms. Nawenzake regretted that the 2023 Prison Audit and Survey revealed unacceptable human rights violations including the right to food, right to bedding, right to come before a court within 24 hours, and the right to be held separately from convicts.

“It is unfortunate that these revelations are emerging shortly after the Zambia Correctional Service (ZCS) Commissioner General (CG) Frederick Chilukutu announced that there have been reforms made and that a conducive environment had been created among intimates to protect human rights and make prisons more humane.

However, Ms. Nawenzake says alluded to revelations from the 2023 Prison Audit and Survey Report contradict assurances made by ZCS Commissioner General Chilukutu.

“There is clearly cruelty and human rights violations behind the walls of Zambia’s correctional services,” grieved Ms. Nawenzake amid procurement of 50,000 blankets and 27,000 mattresses distributed to prisons countrywide and invalidate steps taken to operationalize an advanced Inmates Management System (IMS) following the commissioning of Zambia’s Home Affairs Public Security System.

“We feel that there is still need for significant reforms to ensure that there is quality of service delivery for inmates and officers employed by ZCS. Like several other government ministries and spending agents, the ZCS grapples with a staffing shortage which compromises on the delivery of quality of services,” noted Ms. Nawenzake.

A recent ActionAid Study (Fifty Years of Failure: The International Monetary Fund (IMF), Debt and Austerity in Africa report reveals the effects of austerity measures on the public sector wages bills across Africa.

Ms.Nawenzake is worried that current fiscal consolidation is likely to affect the government’s ability to adequately recruit, train and monitor officers in the ZCS.

Against a myriad of woes confronting Zambian remandees and convicts, Ms.Nawenzake recommended three (3) interventions; first posing a challenge to the Human Rights Commission of Zambia (HRCAZ) to take action and protect the rights of these inmates in prison.

In addition, the Human Rights Commission should conduct a countrywide inspection of prisons to verify issues presented in the report and make urgent remedial measures.

Secondly, Ms. Nawenzake implored Government through the Minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security or the Prisons Commissioner General to tender a public apology to inmates both past and present for the failure to uphold their human rights.

Thirdly, Ms. Nawenzake wants the Zambia Correctional Service (ZCS) to make a declaration of actions beyond the provision of additional beds and blankets to inmates – addressing the plethora of shortcomings revealed in the audit.

“As ActionAid Zambia, our vision is to have a just, equitable and sustainable Zambia in which every person enjoys the right to a life of dignity, ” reiterated Ms. Nawenzake. – Kwacha Magazine Zambia 🇿🇲 Kwilanzi Newspaper Zambia 🇿🇲 (KNZ) Zambian Developmental Media Alliance (ZADEMA) and Zambian Children Young People and Women in Development (ZCYPWD).