1,500 Prisoners Freed in Zimbabwe

by Matt Kelley · 2009-09-13 13:07:00 UTC
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I've written in recent months about severe overcrowding and deadly conditions in Zimbabwe's prisons, and I wanted to share the news that the country finally started addressing the problem on Friday. President Robert Mugabe pardoned 1,500 people -- mostly women and children and men serving more than 20 years for a non-violent convictions. The prisoners were released on Friday.

Amnesty International has reported that more than 1,000 people had died in Zimbabwe's prisons this year alone due to starvation and disease. The mass release is a welcome step, but it doesn't go far enough to address conditions in the prisons or the inconsistent system that puts some people behind bars in Zimbabwe for crimes they didn't commit, or even for years while they await a trial.

Here's a statement from the Zimbabwe Prisons Service (ZPS):

“Due to inadequate financial resources coupled with the unfavourable economic environment, the ZPS has faced challenges in fulfilling its set objectives and statutory obligations, which include the provision of prisoners' rations, clothing and bedding, toiletries among others,” reads part of the statement.

Sounds like California, doesn't it?

And here's an important point to consider in these releases, via Voice of America:

Chief Executive Edson Chihota of the Zimbabwe Association for Crime Prevention and Rehabilitation of the Offender welcomed the move to improve prison conditions, but said the general lack of resources in the country could hamper the reintegration into society of those set free this week.

The image above is from "Hell Hole," a South African documentary released this year with footage secretly shot inside Zimbabwe's Harare prison.

Matt Kelley is the Online Communications Manager at the Innocence Project and a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Follow him on Twitter @mattjkelley.
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