Why should ordinary Zimbabweans care about the plight of prisoners when they are suffering too?
Zimbabwe is struggling towards freedom and democracy, and trying to move away from a culture of violence and hate and retribution. The principle that every human has rights exists to ensure that every one of us – without exception – is protected, and this value is sacrosanct in a civilised society. One of the definitive marks of a civilised society is one where everyone – even the least civilised – is treated in a civilised way. We need to remind ourselves that many of the criminals dying in Zimbabwe’s jails may have been driven there through desperation, turning to petty theft and crime as a means to survive hyperinflation and extreme hardship: a journalist jailed last year said charges against many of the people he shared a cell with were “almost arbitrary”, noting that many people were never charged, just detained and then released.59 This article does not seek to absolve those who are guilty of crime from being held accountable for their criminal behaviour; rather, it argues that s
Related Questions
- Why has the Inquiry not sought to extend the terms of reference to include identifying other prisoners who might have been involved in the murder?
- Were concentration camp Kapos sometimes Jewish prisoners, or were they always non-Jewish convicts and political prisoners?
- WHO BENEFITS FROM MENTORING CHILDREN OF PRISONERS?
