by Patrick Chapita, Zimbabwe, July 1997
THEME = SOCIAL CONDITIONS
Cossa says: "These cells are killing us. Fat lice feed on us. If I don't die from disease and if I am eventually released, I will never return to this place". Cossa, 23, is among an estimated 100,000 Mozambicans held in custody in jails described by the local Human Rights League, and senior government officials as: "a frontal assault on prisoners' health".
According to Danila Nala, a human rights lawyer who recently visited the Beira police cells: "These cells do not meet minimum conditions for accommodating human beings. I visited every cell and found to my great displeasure that they in no way are appropriate for housing human beings - even if these human beings are criminals". He said that cells which officially are meant to hold 19 people, are actually filled with 67 prisoners. "Everything indicates that prison conditions are getting worse and worse". Nala has visited several prisons run by the Interior Ministry and is disgusted by what he has found. He promised that he will immediately inform the National Prisons Directorate, so that necessary measures can be taken to improve the situation.
Prisoners are obliged to urinate and defecate on the floor, as the toilet system is very poor. Ventilation is also poor and prisoners are made to sleep on the floor which is infested with lice. Both police and prison cells are filled beyond their planned capacity, frequently with remand prisoners, as the country still lacks qualified prosecutors and magistrates to deal with their cases.
Some of the prisoners are children under the age of 16, allegedly involved in criminal activities. According to Nazarinho Mourinho, Provincial Attorney in the central Mozambican Province of Sofala: "When I look at these children, I greatly fear for their future, and also for our country's future development. Prison conditions will help turn these children into hard-core criminals - a menace to society and to our country's future. The case-files of children held in prison should be closely scrutinised, since frequently, their parents or guardians are the ones basically responsible for what has befallen these young people".
Rough conditions in the prisons caused a riot in Xai Xai Prison in 1995. Prisoners protested about the poor conditions of the cells, and also the fact that they are detained without any chance of defending themselves in court. The government's response was to introduce free legal aid, which gave detainees access to lawyers. But nothing was done about conditions in prisons. The government says it hasn't any money to improve things.
As for Cossa, he says that he is now ill with pneumonia and this is going to send him to an early grave. "This place is hell on earth", he says.
END