Tanzania - Death Row Inmates Keep Increasing - The inmates on death row live in agony and despair

Daily News
Lack of proper procedures to handle inmates on death row in the country is weighing heavily on the Prisons Department budget and adding to the problem of congestion.The inmates who are waiting to be executed live in agony and despair of not knowing when the hangman will arrive, as a result if their demands are not met, they go on riot, placing the lives of those guarding them and other prisoners in danger.

He said the inmates who go into riots do not care about the implication of their actions since they have nothing to lose.

In his presentation on Overview of Tanzania Prison Services, positive development, challenges and prospects in management of prisoners under death sentence, Prison Officer Mr Dominic Mshana said the delays in execution of the inmates have resulted in unnecessary congestion in the prison cells since they cannot be mixed with the other prisoners.

He explained that the last execution took place in 1994, adding that those waiting to be executed live in agony, resulting in agitations and inmates making demands that if not met, riots would erupt in prisons.

Mr Mshana said the increasing number of inmates on death row is also weighing heavily on the prisons finances since they are not allocated any budget for their upkeep.

The Prison Officer was making his presentation in a two-day training workshop for Tanzania Prison Service that ends today, with the theme 'managing prisoners on death row: International Human Rights Standard.'

In his key note address the Executive Director of Inmates Rehabilitation and Welfare Services Tanzania (IRaWS-T), Deputy Commissioner (retired) John Nyoka said currently death row prison cells hold three inmates instead of the required one.

He said the whole concept of rehabilitation of prisoners is being compromised by the death penalty, stressing that inmates on death row cannot be rehabilitated as they await their execution.

He added that the constitution should be specific on what life sentence imprisonment is, stressing that this should substitute the death penalty or those condemned to death.

On overcrowding the retired deputy commissioner said despite initiatives efforts by justices organs aimed to address the problem, congestion still exists.

Among measures taken to address congestion in prisons include presidential pardons, community services, parole system, extra mural labour, case flow management committee and fines as an alternative for sentence to prisoners.

The Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) Executive Director, Dr Hellen Kijo- Bisimba, said after the workshop feedback reports will be forwarded to policy makers and the constituent assembly which is currently reviewing the second draft constitution in Dodoma.

Dr Kijo-Bisimba said the issue of death penality was not included in the first draft of the new constitution and neither is it in the second draft currently under discussion in the CA assembly.

According to an LHRC report of 2011 prisoners on death row are 295 men and 11 women by December 2010, with the method of execution noted as hanging.

The country still retains the death penalty as one of the punishments under the Penal Code and the National Defense Act.

There are three offences punishable by the death sentence which are murder, treason and misconduct of commanders or any military service man in the presence of an enemy.
By Rose Athumani