|
Of prisons, sodomy and HIV/Aids infections
2007-01-24 09:53:34
By Walusanga Ndaki
An ex-jailbird recently talked to a local newspaper one of The Guardian sister papers on how he got infected with the deadly HIV/Aids disease while in prison through, among other things, sharing of razor blades.
The victim, a young man from Mwanza region, whose name was withheld, said on entering the prison`s gates following his conviction in a framed-up case, he had been in sound health. This was after he had spent more than a year in remand.
He says on becoming a prisoner on August 14, 2006, he discovered that he had Aids in June 15, 2006 after undergoing tests following unending ailments at Segerea prison in Dar es Salaam.
Narrating bitterly about his predicament in prison, he says people outside its walls can hardly believe the obnoxious circumstances engulfing its inmates and the surrounding authorities in the neighbourhood.
``Some people may never believe what takes place inside prisons, but I am ready to reveal all realities when God avails me an opportunity like this,`` he says.
He says he was infected with the virus on account of poverty and the prison laws behooving prisoners to maintain smartness by always shaving their heads clean.
``Due to poverty, a razor blade can be shared by about five people,`` he says adding that during his stay in prison he used to share razors without comprehending the unseen dangers.
This was due to lack of money to purchase new razors, particularly on account that he had no relatives in town who could help in solving such a problem for him.
He also narrates of rampant homosexuality among prisoners, voluntarily and involuntarily, adding that some of the so-called ``sex bulldozers`` went to the extent of spitting in other people`s food to coerce them into surrendering to sodomy.
``I am lucky I did not succumb to such evil acts,`` he says pointing his accusing finger at the head prisoners and cooks who use their positions by making some prisoners go to bed on empty stomachs as means of intimidating them into the said unnatural, illegal sex.
In a long narration cut short about the atrocities obtained in prisons, the young man, who came to Dar es Salaam, for employment and ended up frying chips, chicken and eggs, calls upon the government to take deliberate moves to carry HIV/Aids tests on convicts on being sentenced to serve jail terms.
He also recommends establishment of educational timetables to inmates on the dangers of the killer disease and on respect for human rights in general.
``I advise the government to devise a mechanism which could serve the majority of people in our prisons by educating them on the dangers of the disease,`` he says with wet eyes.
The Youngman`s narration brings back popular opinion to the fact that rampant, unsafe sex amongst prisoners is a reality hence, according to popular opinion the respective authorities have to make the point of distributing condoms particularly among male prisoners.
But prison authorities have been adamant on this existing reality, claiming that the Prisons Force could not distribute condoms in its prisons as doing so would legalise ``a non-existing situation``.
Prisons authorities in Morogoro Region are on record for having pronounced remarks to that effect through the Deputy Regional Prisons Commissioner, Ally Mgalla.
Responding to call on the issue from various organisations and institutions, Mgalla said, the move of distributing condoms would raise a chain of questions on the issue.
He said as male and female prisoners stay in separated quarters, distribution of condoms in male quarters would imply that acts of sodomy take place among prisoners of the same sex.
He also disputed claims that people found with Aids viruses in prisons are those who had `acquired` them prior to walking into prisons.
Of late, the media quoted some of the non-governmental organisations pressurizing government authorities to distribute condoms in prisons in order to check the spread of the disease among prisoners.
Moreover, remandees in Isanga prison in Dodoma are on record for having called upon the government to devise strategies to combat acts of sodomy among male prisoners in order to arrest the spread of HIV/Aids infection and other venereal diseases.
Talking to the press, the suspects heavily castigated the prison`s authorities for taking no steps despite such acts being periodically reported to them.
With all the said claims of reality taking place in the country`s prisons regarding unsafe sex, the public expects the respective authorities to either make sure acts of sodomy among male prisoners are stopped with immediate effect, or condoms are distributed in the said places to be used in committing the sexual crime - a reality the authorities would not like to accept.
Talking on the appalling situation in prisons countrywide, the then Deputy Minister for Home Affairs, John Chiligati said the respective authorities were supposed to reckon the realities surrounding prisoners ``who are normal human beings and deserve respect for all basic human rights.``
|
