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The Jailed in Africa Are Left to Rot

By Jeralyn, Section Foreign Affairs
Posted on Sun Nov 06, 2005 at 05:45:04 AM EST
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I often criticize aspects of America's criminal justice system, particularly our over-reliance on incarceration and the unduly harsh sentences meted out to non-violent offenders. But I also try to remind people that for all its flaws, America has the best criminal justice system in the world.

Reports such as this in today's New York Times make my stomach churl. Read it before, not after breakfast. But please, read it.

Where are Bono, Geldorf and Live Aid? Where are Madonna and Green Day? If they are so concerned about the people of Africa, shouldn't they be doing something to publicize the plight of those imprisoned in Africa for years without a trial, in cells that house 160 inmates in the size of a 2-car garage where the only drinking water is from the single toilet that often doesn't work? Where inmates who have yet to be convicted of a crime die from diseases borne of the filth?

I'll stop now. But I will never give another cent to those promoting poverty relief in Africa unless they also propose relief from the inhumane treatment of the continent's prison population.

Ultimately, a society is judged by how it treats the lowest among it. As human beings, we are all diminished by our failure to respond to and intervene in the abhorrent treatment of those rotting in the jails of Africa.

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    The Jailed in Africa Are Left to Rot | 7 comments (7 topical)
    Re: The Jailed in Africa Are Left to Rot (none / 0) (#1)
    by scarshapedstar on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:09 PM EST
    imprisoned in Africa for years without a trial, in cells that house 160 inmates in the size of a 2-car garage where the only drinking water is from the single toilet that often doesn't work? Where inmates who have yet to be convicted of a crime die from diseases borne of the filth?
    Glory be, that sounds like justice was back in Jesus' Day!

    Re: The Jailed in Africa Are Left to Rot (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:13 PM EST
    But I also try to remind people that for all its flaws, America has the best criminal justice system in the world. ...Good God, and you said it with an apparently straight face, too. No, that's no more true than the claim "America has the best health care system in the world" or "America has the best education system in the world". Such things described in the article only happen in American jails kept outside the US justice system.

    Re: The Jailed in Africa Are Left to Rot (none / 0) (#3)
    by Dadler on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:13 PM EST
    Why is the American Justice system better than, say, Canada's? Interested to hear your answer.

    Re: The Jailed in Africa Are Left to Rot (none / 0) (#4)
    by Andreas on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:14 PM EST
    Talkleft wrote:
    I also try to remind people that for all its flaws, America has the best criminal justice system in the world.
    What is that? A display of American arrogance? 1. The United States of America is one of the few states left on this planet with the death penalty. 2. The United States of America organises torture arround the whole world. 3. The United States of America is also protecting some of the worst war criminals on this planet. In fact some of them are leading members of the government.

    Re: The Jailed in Africa Are Left to Rot (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:19 PM EST
    Andreas, with another huge exaggeration about what "the US of A" is. Here's a clue: Bigger than a breadbox. -- Canada, population 30 million. USA, population 300 million. -- Btw, TL, you don't mean 'stomach churl.'

    Re: The Jailed in Africa Are Left to Rot (none / 0) (#6)
    by Andreas on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:48 PM EST
    One should note that the previous comment (which defends US imperialism) was not written by a supporter of the Republican Party but by a Democrat. Sad that it is necessary to oppose such views in this thread. The people in Africa have nothing to gain from imperialism.

    Re: The Jailed in Africa Are Left to Rot (none / 0) (#7)
    by Aaron on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:49 PM EST
    Few Americans who haven't traveled abroad appreciate the legal protections we enjoy, a blanket that even projects itself beyond our borders to some degree, in most places. But for the vast majority of people on this planet, something even resembling justice can be a long time coming, if at all, and the consequences of this failing are vast and wide-ranging. I think this story has some especially important aspects, not the least of which being that a society is ultimately judged by how it treats the lowest on its social hierarchy ladder. If there is no justice to be had within a system, where is the motivation to adhere to any law? But I'm more concerned with the larger more practical implications of such a broken legal system. This story especially caught my attention because so often I see conservatives, especially African-American conservatives, condemning the peoples of Africa for their supposed promiscuous ways and lack of personal responsibility. I think this story exposes the realities of living in a society where you are deprived of fundamental civil rights, a condition that so many across Africa are faced with. It can't be overemphasized, the devastating impact and dire consequences of such failures, firstly for the individual, but no less importantly how such injustices branch out shredding the very fabric of the family and larger society. Times article: [Once a farmer near Dowa, a dirt-road village 25 miles north of Lilongwe, Mr. Sikayenera was sent here after he killed his elder brother Jonas. Their father, he said, gave him a choice tobacco plot that Jonas claimed was rightfully his. Jonas threatened to kill him if he did not surrender it. Lackson refused, he said, and Jonas attacked. "To protect myself, I took a hoe handle and hit my brother on the forehead, and he fainted," he said. "Then I went to the police to report that I had harmed my brother." The police jailed him, then moved him to Maula Prison a week later. That was more than 2,100 days ago. ] This man's wife/wives and who knows how many children, are probably struggling if not starving, not to mention being unprotected, no small concern in Third World countries. Times article: ["I have not seen my family since 1999," he said. "I was the only productive person in my home, and now there is too much poverty for them to afford transport to see me. The only communication I have gotten is from my first wife, who informed me, 'I am tired of staying alone here, and I am going to get married.' " "Life is very hard here," he said.] This situation begs the question, is it ethical or even acceptable from a legal standpoint to keep this man imprisoned? Even supposing that he is guilty of murder, at what point do the rippling ramifications of holding him in perpetuity begin to outweigh the benefits of having a possible murderer incarcerated? While a man who may be the guilty of no crime rots in some hellhole, his family members are left in a kind of perpetual limbo unsure of whether they should move on with their lives or maintain their hopes of his release. But at some point it's likely they will be forced to disperse or be ground under by a society that provides no safety net. Apparently this man's wives have already been compelled to fend for themselves and seek other husbands, not an easy task for any woman anywhere with children in tow, or with a husband in jail. Whether he is innocent or guilty, his family along with millions of others like them will continue to be victimized by such dysfunctional and socially destructive legal systems.

    The Jailed in Africa Are Left to Rot | 7 comments (7 topical)