From: barnhart@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Mr. Aaron Barnhart)
Subject: IPS:ZIMBABWE: OVERCROWDING IN JAILS CALLS FOR EXTRAMURAL TERMS
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1992 02:04:28 GMT
Organization: Evanston, Illinois, U.S.A.

Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Area: Africa, southern
Title: ZIMBABWE: OVERCROWDING IN JAILS CALLS FOR EXTRAMURAL TERMS


an inter press service feature

by godfrey karoro

harare, nov 3 (ips) -- with the number of zimbabwe's prison
inmates now at 21,600 -- 6,100 more than the prison capacity --
the government is pressed for a speedy implementation of its new
penal code.

''we have to find ways to reduce prison population by finding
alternatives to imprisonment'', says mike auret, director of the
zimbabwe catholic commission for justice and peace.

''throughout the world, (countries) are trying to do just
that and we should not lag behind'', auret, a human rights
activist, told ips.

zimbabwe's criminal procedure and evidence amendment act,
passed by parliament two months ago, is intended to alleviate
problems of congestion in the country's prisons.

to achieve this goal, prisons have the discretion to reduce
jail terms on good conduct, while judges and magistrates are
allowed to set aside or cut the length of imprisonment if there
is compensation for damage or pecuniary loss caused by the
offence.

an offender can also avoid lengthy stay in prison by
rendering some specified service to any person aggrieved by the
offence or to the community.

according to legal practitioners and laymen here, many people
are sent to prison for ''trivial'' offences, thereby increasing
the number of people in correction centres.

''many people are incarcerated for crimes which do not
warrant prison sentences at all'', says a practicising lawyer,
who cannot be named for professional reasons.

''for instance, some people are sentenced by the magistrate
courts to prison for receiving or buying stolen property which
they sincerely believe were acquired lawfully'', said the
lawyer.

according to zimbabwe's former chief justice, enoch
dumbutshena, trivial offences such as assaults and thefts should
be punishable by fines or community work.

''i always advocated that courts should resort to community
service whereby a person works in the community where he
committed the offence. if a doctor is found guilty, he should
work in a hospital for nothing'', says dumbutshena who retired
in 1990. (more/ips)


zimbabwe: overcrowding (2)

dumbutshena says for a long time judges were atuned to
sending people to prison.

''only a few prisoners who are taught some skill while in
prison benefit while the generality come out of prison worse off
than when they went in because of the influence from hardened
criminals'', he points out.

auret urges zimbabwean court officials to make more use of
suspended sentences and ensure fines are realistic by adjusting
them in a way that people are able to pay.

an official in the attorney-general's office told ips that
the purpose of community service is primarily aimed to make
offenders aware of the adverse effects of crime on the
community.

''we can never reduce the number of people going to prison as
people will continue to commit crime'', says the official who
spoke on condition of anonymity.

however, he warns against sending people behind bars for
petty and ''domestic squabbles''.

''when sent to prison, such offenders are spoilt by habitual
criminals and encouraged to commit more serious offences'', he
says.

''it would be more appropriate to let a person who beats his
wife to do community service at a hospital where he can see
bleeding patients coming in for treatment. hopefully, this might
discourage him from assaulting anybody'', the official adds.

agreeing that community service will reduce the number of
people in prison, auret says the public should be made aware
that there are alternatives to imprisonment.

''before it works, the community has to accept that form of
punishment. it could be applied to first offenders involved in
non-violent crimes such as housebreaking, fraud, tax evasion
and customs-related offences'', he suggests.

''zimbabweans must be made aware that the best place (for
an offender) is not always in jail. instead of looking at ways
to build more prisons, the community must accept creative
correction'', auret added. (end/ips/gk/ar/apc/92)