Africa press review 18 May 2017

We begin in South Africa - where the Sowetan carries a worrying story quoting Justice and correctional services minister Michael Masutha as saying prison population figures suggests that South Africa is increasingly becoming a violent society.

Masutha told MPs yesterday that long prison sentences of between 10 and 15 years increased by 77 per cent‚ while the number of short sentences of between six and 12 months dropped by 50 per cent between 2003 and 2016.

In the same period the number of offenders sentenced to 20 years and more had risen by a “staggering 439%” while those sentenced to life imprisonment had skyrocketed by a whopping 413%.

Long term prison sentences were generally handed down to people committing serious crimes such as murder‚ assault‚ rape and other forms of sexual violence and robberies with aggravating circumstances..

Masutha revealed the figures as violent crime has come under sharp focus - following the gruesome killing of Johannesburg resident Karabo Mokoena‚ apparently by her boyfriend.

The paper reports that four more bodies of women were found dumped in Soweto on Tuesday while 11 men were arrested on Monday for allegedly gang raping a pregnant woman in downtown Johannesburg.

*******

In Tanzania - the government owned Daily News reports that prisoners there are being treated relatively well.

Minister for Home Affairs - Mwi-gulu Nchemba - told Parliament that the rights they enjoy include separation in terms of age, sex, health status, behaviour, type of offence; right to food and other essential items; right to communication and be visited by relatives and friends.

Others include right to worship; health services; right to appeal in case of grievances, and the right to play/sports.

The minister admitted that there were challenges facing the country’s prisons service – including overcrowding, meagre budgets and poor conditions - because most prisons were built years ago, mostly during the colonial era.

The Minister hinted that the government would start building new prisons in urban areas where prisoners that would engage in productive activities such as farming and livestock keeping.

*********

In Uganda - an editorial in New Vision seeks to tackle to vexed question of whether torture by the authorities can ever be justified.

The author - Moses Kimuli - cites recent cases in Uganda - and what he calls "Weeks of footage of allegedly tortured suspects being taken to court."

"The Police must answer difficult questions," he says.

Of course, the issue is wider than what happens in Uganda.

He cites other examples - including a rather vivid one from the Philippines - worth quoting at length.

In 1995 - Al-Qaeda planned to hijack 11 airliners flying out of Philippines with 4,000 passengers and crash them in the Pacific Ocean.

The Philippines intelligence agencies arrested a man suspected to have been a terrorist.

They tortured him by breaking most of his ribs, burned his genitals with cigarettes and poured water in his mouth until he could not breathe any more.

After 67 days, he came up with information which enabled the Filipinos together with Americans - who were provided with the fruits of the interrogation - to frustrate the plot and arrest more suspects. Four thousand innocent lives were saved.

So - is it OK ?

Torture is immoral and should not be subjected to anyone innocently - Kimuli concludes. By which he means it should be used sparingly.

My advice to Uganda Police - he says - is to try as much as possible to reduce the incidents of arrests based on false intelligence and improve community involvement in policing.