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| 200 Inmates Die In Mw Prisons |
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The report by the Malawi Inspectorate of Prisons has acknowledged poor sanitation, overcrowding, poor clothing, corruption among warders and breach of the 48-hour rule. The report, exclusively obtained by zodiak online covers the period between October 2008 and September 2009. In the report, the inspectorate talks about cases of deaths of prisoners who should otherwise have lived had there been handy means of transport to ferry patients to hospitals. The report indicates that at the first quarter of the year 2009, the Eastern region registered the highest number of prisoner death in custody, with a total of 110 deaths, Zomba Maximum Security Prison alone. The southern region followed with sixty while the Central region recorded twelve deaths of prisoners in custody. The Northern region registered the least with only four cases. Lack of transport continued to be a problem in the system making it difficult for authorities to speedily take sick prisoners to hospitals. This has been blamed for the most deaths. One prisoner, the report acknowledges, was denied access to hospital surgical services in this manner even when he bled profusely from the private parts indicating urgency for help. Malawi Human Rights commission Chairperson Mr. John Kapito said the findings are a true reflection of the situation on the ground which requires serious attention by authorities. Home Affairs and Internal Security minister Mr. Aaron Sangala to whom the report is addressed, declined to comment, saying he is yet to see the contents of the report. The Malawi Inspectorate of Prisons is chaired by a High Court judge currently Justice Sylvester Kalembera as per the constitution of the Republic of Malawi. According to section 169 of the constitution, the Malawi Inspectorate of Prisons, was established to monitor conditions and administration of prisons, among other things. Zodiak online blog comments powered by Disqus |
