. Mambilima

By JAMES MUYANWA –
CHIEF Justice Ireen Mambilima has said the long custodial sentences have failed to curb defilement and related offences which are seemingly on the rise.
Ms Justice Mambilima said in Lusaka on Tuesday that harsh jail sentences against sexual offenders have not helped to reduce the number of defilement cases in the country.
She said the number of defilement and other sex-related cases were instead increasing.
“At the same time, we are aware that the long jail sentences have not brought relief to the prevalence of defilement and related offences,” she said.
Justice Mambilima said this in a speech read for her by Supreme Court Judge Gregory Phiri during a symposium commemorating the In But Free Prisons Project at the Taj Pamodzi Hotel.
Initiated in 1995 with the main objective of promoting HIV/AIDS prevention in Zambian prisons, In But Free is a community-based programme.
Ms Justice Mambilima said that the judiciary was aware that most significant number of long-term inmates was in prison for sexual offences of defilement, rape and indecent assault.
The courts have continued to pass long-term sentences with a minimum of 15 years because that was mandatory.
“We are compelled by law to keep those offenders in custody for a very long time. This is not a matter of choice on the part of the judiciary,” she said.
She bemoaned the fact that the Zambian prisons with the initial capacity of holding 8,000 inmates now housed nearly 20,000 of them, leading to congestion.
This is partly the cause of the high incidences of communicable diseases in the prisons
Ms Justice Mambilima said the judiciary believed that protecting the inmates against infectious diseases was, in the long-run, protecting the outside society.
She commended In But Free for its vigorous campaign for better health for the prison communities in the last 20 years.
In But Free board chairperson, Judith Kainga said the project was concerned about the threat posed to prison communities by HIV/AIDS in the country.
Ms Kainga said the people running the project did not believe that society intended that inmates should, while in custody, become infected with diseases including HIV/AIDS.