I was just reading about death row and conditions in Africa. I feel so naive, I didnt realize that there was the death penalty there. But what struck me was that some men were on DR for things like aggravated robbery and assault, not murder charges. :(
Here is some information about the conditions there.

Information about Zambia’s death row by excerpts of prisoners’ letters:

“Life in prison here is cruel and the environment is tough. My family can’t visit me owing to financial constraints. The prisoners are frail and sick, because we are held under circumstances which are appalling. The prison department is chronically underfunded by the government. The conditions are comparable to the fleet of ships used to carry the battered slaves from Africa to America during the slave trade era. We are slowly dying from a variety of very painful diseases. For any death would be better than this form of lingering torture.”

“The ‘Zambian Dungeon’ is hell on earth. Although we are not molested by the guards the food is bad. Vitamin deficiency is one of the gravest hazards in here among the prisoners.“

“(The prison) has dry toilets as there is inadequate water supply. (…) This is an alien place, a place where chaos is the order of the day and anything is possible. So little food, just a little water and in the winter it’s so cold. There is stark famine which the prisoners endure daily and thus we’re fed on half ration.”

“this place we live in was meant for forty-eight prisoners and has forty-eight cells measuring 2 meters x 3 meters. These cells now accommodate more than six prisoners in each tiny cell. At night we use chamber pots. (…) This is a place where prisoners are deformed by malnutrition. I witnessed five deaths which could have been saved. Two were T.B. patients, two suffered from high blood pressure and one was an anaemic.”

Kyla, thanks for posting this - South Africa itself does not have the DP, some of the other places in Africa do. But please let me be blunt and to the point here. I hope that many people read what I am about to say. That Africa, South Africa, all prisoners going to prison have the Death Penalty hanging over their heads. If the do not die of starvation and the actual Death Penalty in the African Countires, then they end up dying from AIDS due to prison rape. We have gangs in SA prison who specifically do this to people. They gang rape them and infect them with AIDS on purpose. Even in South African prisons the prisoners are lucky if their food is actually cooked and they dont end up eating raw porridge. They only get two meals a day. People in the African countries get put on DR for the stupidest things. Unfortunately SA cannot dictate to these places about the DP. People in Zimbabwe are being jailed for calling Mugabe a fool.

They say that more people die from starvation in African prisons than they do from the actual death penalty. Africa is a place where life is cheap, and an inmates life is even cheaper.

There is a prison in Kokstad, i was told by a warder of another prison, this is where the "never can be rehabilitated" prisoners go. They are all in indiviual cells and are shackeled 24 hrs a day. Locked in their cells for 23 hrs a day, still shackeled. 3 privlidges a month. 1 phone call, 1 visit, 1 letter. This prison is about 300 kms from where i live. Very sad but true facts about Africa and South Africa. The human suffering is a harsh reality. You go to prison healthy, and get given a humaitarian parole because you are dying from AIDS. :( South Africa/Africa does not need the DP, we already have one. :(

Keltria thanks for clearing that up. I felt so blind sided so to speak, because I was never aware of this, until today, when I was looking up some articles. I read this, and had to think on this, but I am still speechless. :(
About the prison, where they have 3 privelidges a month, one call, one visit, and one letter, that really had me lost for words. I have been thinking alot about sensory deprivation on these people that are so isolated, but they are being isolated more than ever, and my heart goes out to them.
The bit that left me not knowing what to say, was that these men can get infected with aids. THAT really left me lost for words, and upset. :(

OMG..I must be naive too! Thanks for sharing Kyla and Keltria! I mean..I dont even know what to say. Getting the death penalty for agg. assult and stuff like that...:( :blah:

And Kyla, I'm with you on the AIDS part. WOW!

As I said in a previous post the AIDS factor in SA prisons is around 45% of inmates, the man i spoke to said to me i should add on about 20% to that. That statistic is only for those that have been tested. Let me give you a sad story. I was told this by another person. A mother wanted to give her 19 year old son a fright because he was on the wrong road, she had him locked up, the boy now has AIDS from being in prison. This is something the mother has to live with, she signed her sons death warrant. We have children as young as 7 in our prisons. :( The sad part about this all is that the prison rape is not stopped, some of the CO's even bring the people to the gang members.

Actually i should correct myself here - AIDS is the number one executioner in African prisons, then malnutrition, then for those that have the DP being actually executed follows that.

That is a VERY upsetting story! dang..that mother..cant imagine how she feels! :cry:

The COs bring people to gang members..:eek: gah..seriously?? speechless..

Read some of JJ's comments in thread "Interesting facts on crime in SA" in this forum

The bit about the mother, got me thinking.
In Australia, while I was visiting the prison here, I met up with this lady, that did the "cruel to be kind" thing for her son, and it was extremely heartbreaking for her. Her son was on the wrong path, and she wanted it to stop for his own safety and well being. As a mother, I have never been in a situation like that, and I pray that I never will have to. But I dont totally blame the mother, without knowing the facts, she probably at the time, thought she was doing the right thing, for whatever reasons, to give her son a better future in a life without crime by what she did. I wouldnt hold her accountable, and I can imagine her heart is broken for life now, with what her son has endured and has to live with. The blame would lie within the prison system that sets this abuse up.
Extremely sad :(

Yea, I totally feel ya Kyla!

While i can understand the fact that people think the mother tried to do the best for her son, and perhaps change his life. What i dont understand is the fact that the AIDS situation in SA prisons is common knowledge. It is plastered all over the media and papers every day of our lives. The fact that she exposed her son to the possibility of being raped and being infected with AIDS is what is gets me, teaching your kids a lesson by putting them in South African prisons, is like putting a loaded gun against their heads and saying there are 5 bullets in a 6 bullet chamber, lets hope when you pull the trigger you get the empty chamber. There are other ways of teaching kids lessons, putting them in prison is not the answer.

For those of you who can read French: in issue 2293 of Jeune Afrique l'intelligent (19-25 dec) there is an article on the DP in several (French-speaking) African countries. Reason is that Senegal dropped the DP last year.
I will start a new thread as well...
http://www.lintelligent.com/gabarits/articleJAI_online.asp?art_cle=LIN19124lapeinoitse0
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