RSS 2.0 FeedFebruary 2010 Vol 5, National News
Death rate said down in Zimbabwe prisons
HARARE, -- Overcrowding has been eliminated at prisons in Zimbabwe and the death rate has dropped by 93 percent, a government minister announced.
HARARE, (UPI) -- Overcrowding has been eliminated at prisons in Zimbabwe and the death rate has dropped by 93 percent, a government minister announced.
Amnesty International says before a power-sharing government was sworn in a year ago to ease political tensions, 1,000 prisoners died every six months in Zimbabwe's overcrowded jails, the New Zimbabwean reported Thursday.
The surprise announcement was made by Deputy Justice Minister Jessie Majome in Parliament this week, the newspaper said.
Prisons in Zimbabwe can hold 17,000 inmates, but as of Feb. 8 the prison population was only 3,361, Majome said.
President Robert Mugabe pardoned 2,500 prisoners last year including terminally ill inmates, Majome said, and that coupled with improving economic conditions caused the drop in deaths.
"As of 2009, we had a dark time as a country but we are encouraged to note that as of January 2010, the deaths were just seven ... a 93 percent drop in the death rate," Majome told Parliament.
