The author, the Chairman of SPLM [IO] Youth League Chapter in Egypt, argues that inhumane prison conditions led to the riot in Kapoeta North prison. He argues that prisoners deserve to be fed adequately and that they have constitutional rights to not be treated in a cruel or degrading manner.
Thursday 26 March 2015 was a tragic day at the sprawling Kapoeta North Prison Massacre in the Eastern Equatoria. More than a hundred underfed and hungry prison inmates staged a demonstration against the deteriorating food situation at the prison.
On the rage for their peaceful protest which aimed to call for their administration’s attention to see their problem which was obviously the starvation and lack of small basic needs that any prisoner in this world would ask from their authorities, the unlucky prisoners of the 21st century were murdered in cold blood by the regime who is well known of letting the innocent bloods pour helplessly, leaving 10 of them dead and more others injured.
I personally condemn this unjust killing of Kapoeta North Prisoners.
This chronic style of killing unarmed souls in South Sudan must stop. The government must learn to instruct their security personals on how to keep law and orders properly.
It is a fact that prisoners at Kapoeta North, indeed, at all of the country’s limited correctional facilities, are on the verge of starvation largely due to insufficient food supplies. The lack of adequate food provisions is the other problem of crumbling infrastructure at the country’s prisons, most of which are no longer fit for human habitation.
Torit Prison one of the oldest prison in South Sudan. Built in 1946, it has since been condemned as unfit to house human beings. However, prisoners are still being kept at old, dilapidated, and crumbling prison complexes such as those at Kapoeta North and Rumbek.
In terms of a statutory instrument that any country do have, all prisoners are entitled to a minimum diet that will ensure that they will not succumb to malnutrition and other diseases associated with poor nutrition such as pellagra.
The unfortunate incident that took place at Kapoeta North last week is clearly symptomatic of a failed State. Any government that is unable to feed its prisoners is not fit to govern. Prisoners might have committed criminal offences, some of which are quite heinous, but they still have a constitutional right not to be treated in a cruel and degrading manner.
Denial of adequate food provisions to our prisoners is tantamount to cruel, inhuman, and degrading punishment. Confirmed reports point to a situation whereby at least 10 inmates were shot dead in cold blood at Kapoeta North, Eastern Equatoria State last Thursday as they demonstrated against the perennial poor diet.
This indicates that the SPLM-Juba regime has totally lost the plot. The regime continues to bury its head in the sand and pretend that everything in the country is fine and working.
To the contrary, the whole state apparatus has virtually collapsed as the antagonistic faction in the beleaguered ruling party, SPLM-Juba, continue to fight for power and control. Things have fallen apart and the center can no longer hold.
The country is at a crossroads. We cannot fold our arms and pretend that everything is in order. Under Salva Kiir’s watch, the conditions at all the country’s correctional facilities have steadily declined over the years.
Prisoners are terribly under-threat and mismanaged, and rampant abuse continues to afflict the entire administration of the South Sudan National Prison Service (SSNPS).
The SPLM-IO shall continue to clamor for the respect of the constitutional rights of all the people of South Sudan, including the rights of all incarcerated people.
All human beings should be treated with dignity whether they are in or out of prison.
I have spoken my words and may gods of the land hear my voice.
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