Film Reveals Horror Inside Zimbabwe's Prisons

by Matt Kelley · 2009-04-01 15:50:00 UTC
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Last night, the first public images from inside Zimbabwe's prisons aired on South African TV - showing people dying of starvation and disease, many unable to stand or control bodily functions. While the population of the entire country is suffering (as reported here on change.org's Humanitarian Relief and Stop Genocide blogs), there has been speculation about the deplorable conditions of the country's prisons. Last night's documentary, entitled "Hell Hole," was secretly shot by inmates working with a South African producer. In less than 24 hours, it has brought the attention of the world to the country's prisons and sparked the Zimbabwean government to call for help.

From the BBC:

The film's producer, Johann Abrahams, told the BBC the Zimbabwean government was now "appealing for donor aid".

"They're looking for... humanitarian aid to help them with food, clothing, legal assistance for prisoners, all of that," said Mr Abrahams, the executive producer of the South African Broadcasting Corporation's Hell Hole documentary.

"They just can't cope. They acknowledge that they have a serious problem and obviously it's the previous government [of President Robert Mugabe] that should be answering these questions," Mr Abrahams said.

Zimbabwe's new national unity government has so far not officially commented on the film.

The film, which I have not seen, is a testament to the power of images to awake international interest in humanitarian issues. If we could get cameras into prisons around the world, we might see the start of widespread grassroots efforts to change the way we treat our fellow humans.

"Just hearsay, without visual proof, is not enough to change people's minds," (producer Godknows Nare) said.

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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